Stuck in Bethel and Tununak

Jimmy and I had a busy week and then weekend. On Thursday I was busy at school until around 8:00. I had the after school program with the high school and then I had a family night. Family night is a night that the 3T-5th grade puts on and we have family members and their children come up to it. We ended up putting on a valentine card making session where the parents could have their picture taken with their child and put it on the card. It turned out to be a bigger hit than we had planned and a lot of community members showed up which was really nice to see.

This weekend Jimmy and I both went our separate ways to chaperone the middle school basketball teams. I went to Tununak, which is on Nelson Island just up and down the large hill (mountain) that we can see in Toksook. We left on Friday around 12:00 on snowmobile. It was quite the trip. You really have to bundle up when you travel in Alaska in the wintertime. I had on 6 different layers and my coat, a hat, mittens, snow goggles, -30 degree boots, wool socks, 3 pant layers, and my snow bibs. I felt like I weighed 15 more pounds and had a hard time walking. The trip over to Tununak was very rocky. I was taken over by one of the maintenance guys that works in our school. We also had to tow a sled of equipment behind us. There was more than one time that I thought I might fall off and die and then the sled would run over me. I thought that the half hour trip would never end! The thing that surprised me was that they don’t wear helmets on their sleds up here in Alaska. It’s something that I have gotten used to in Michigan, and I felt so much safer with one than without one!

When we arrived we had to play in less than 20 minutes so the coach and I got the girls to put their things away and quickly get ready for their game. Their first game went really well and the girls won. The rest of the night was spent watching the other 3 teams compete against one another and we also had another game that night. I had forgotten what it is like to be in middle school, and probably for a good reason. The girls were very nice but hyper for most of the time. They spent their free time in the gym and couldn’t get enough basketball. They played until 11:00 PM when we kicked them out! Then they didn’t want to settle down and I was still yelling at some at 1:30AM! I was sure exhausted come Saturday morning when we got up for breakfast at 8:00 AM. We then were supposed to play one game and be home by 2:00 PM. Unfortunately two bad things happened. We lost our last game and then the weather was horrible. We weren’t able to leave until around 8:30 PM. I was just thankful that we were able to get out. The other two schools were snowed in for another night. The coach and I were jumping up and down ready to leave and head back to Toksook.

Jimmy had similar issues. He went to Bethel with the boys. The boys won all 3 games but they also got snowed in. They were supposed to arrive on Saturday afternoon but didn’t return until Sunday afternoon. Thankfully Jimmy spent his morning calling the airport otherwise he would have been stuck for another night. The small window (1 hour) of good weather only lasted the time he was in the air. The weather is horrible again here with the wind blowing really strong.

Needless to say we are both exhausted but look forward to another week. I can’t believe there are only 14 more weeks left. Hopefully winter won’t be for the rest of them. I am ready for the snow to melt and to start enjoying positive temperatures again.

The pictures you see are ones that I took in Tununak of the school and village. The painting is one that is hanging up in the school that I thought was really cool. The village reminded me a lot of Toksook besides that it is a lot smaller, they have a smaller basketball court, and that the large mountain we see was on the opposite side than it is in Toksook.

We also added some pictures to an older post we called Berry festival. They were pictures form Jimmy't trip to Umkimuit and of the cross country course that we have in Toksook. It's nothing like the one in Newberry or the other towns that I used to run in, thats for sure!

The snow continues

The past week has been really busy for both Jimmy and I. A lot of people were out sick again this week with the flu and cold. I ended up subbing the after school program on Tuesday because no one else was not sick and able to cover. This meant that I stayed until 6:00 this week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. It was nice that I could help out, and even nicer that I will get a large paycheck. However, it did burn me out. The past week seemed to crawl for the both of us. I had two full mornings and an afternoon full of Terra Nova testing with my kids. The kids were really great sports about it, which was a huge relief.

It seems like everyday this week we had to shovel a mound of snow when we got done with school in order to get back into our house. Whiteouts were a common thing around Toksook. This morning (Sunday) we got woken up at 4:12 AM, 5:00AM, and 5:30AM this morning because our heater was not working properly. When the wind is as strong, as it was last night, the heater can’t get the fuel on its own. Therefore, we have to turn the heater off and pump it manually then turn it back on. If you choose to ignore it, it will continue to have a nice loud, high-pitch beeping sound until you get up and turn it off. Then it was hard to fall back asleep each time because the wind was knocking so hard it seemed like the windows were about to break! It was so windy that at times we couldn’t even see the house next to us! Our neighbor and her son came over and shoveled a little bit for us so we could get out. The picture you see here is what it looked like this morning when we were trying to go outside. Jimmy spent awhile shoveling it out. We were informed it was better to shovel stairs going up and then down instead of shoveling the whole thing out. This way you are only shoveling a little, instead of the whole walk way every time. It is just amazing how quickly the wind brings the snow back once you have shoveled. Thankfully, this should be our last month of really hard winter until the spring comes! Jimmy is the brave one that usually shovels as you see in the picture. I was warm inside cleaning and doing dishes. To cover up and keep warm when you are shoveling Jimmy is sporting the usual clothing that we have to wear – boots, bibs, hoodie, coat, hat, gloves, scarf, and then goggles. I know you are all going to run out and get cool gear so you can look like us!

I just received my ipod today. I was so excited to open it, and today is spent trying to put songs on it. We are currently at school right now, and we are supposed to be working on our lesson plans for the week. However, it is VERY cold in here (around 57 degrees) and our hands keep freezing. Jimmy and I both have our hoodies on and winter coats but we are still both freezing. It gets like this in the school on windy days because the wind comes right through our walls. The sad thing is Jimmy’s classroom is actually colder than mine because it’s upstairs. I think we are going to have to come back tomorrow on our vacation day and type our lesson plans. Then, we can borrow the key from another teacher (who has a classroom in the new part of our school) that can set the temperature.

It will be nice to have a short week and my kids will have to endure another round of testing on Tuesday. This time it’s to see if the kids are proficient in English. They say February is always testing month and I now see that it is true! Thankfully the most important tests that the students take aren’t until April. Only 15 more weeks of school left until we fly back to Michigan where there is warmer weather, trees, cars, highways, stores, TV, and Internet at home!

Birthday and Snow Day all in one

Well today is Jimmy's 24th Birthday! Unfortunately, he had a large migraine and had to call in sick to school. I on the other hand braved the weather to go to school. On my way, I kept being blown over. We had wind chills -50 below! These were winds like I have never experienced before! I couldn't see anything because the wind was whipping up the snow. Then I kept hitting drifts of snow and falling down. I actually missed the door to the school and had to go back to try and get it because the wind lead me away from it. Then, after I had been there for about 15-20 minutes they delayed school for an hour. I began to work and warm up (my room was around 60 degrees all day). Well we all waited around for a bit, and then they called off school for another hour. We then started school at 10:45. I have to say, it was pretty humorous to watch the kids try and walk into the school. They were barley moving and almost being swept away. When I got done with the elementary after school program at 6:00 I began to walk home. I had to reach down to get the door handle. Then I actually had to jump in. The picture actually looks better than it was. Then Jimmy and I spent some time shoveling us out of it. Just remember when you think you have experienced bad weather, realized that it is nothing compared to an Alaskan Bearing Sea storm!

Update!

Well it’s been a long time since we last updated our blog. Let's start from the beginning. Jimmy and I both enjoyed our trip home. It was a nice refresher and although we had a lot of delays, we made it back safely. I cut my hair while I was there and donated it to Locks for Love for young children that have ailments that prevent them from growing their own hair. Since we’ve been back, my students have been much more well-behaved!! This has of course been a huge relief. I still have some problems and struggles but overall things have calmed down a bit.

Last week, Jimmy and I were super busy planning for conferences and getting ready for classes the next week. I was sick this past Monday with flu like symptoms. I was happy to be back at school, and so were the teachers. We have been getting a lot of snow and wind in the past few weeks. We had a ton of teachers that left for a union meeting and our principal was also out for a meeting. They were all supposed to arrive on Sunday last week. However, they were all snowed in at Bethel. We had a total of 6-7 teachers gone, our head custodian, many aides were sick or snowed in, students were spread out in different villages, and our principal was also snowed in. This lasted until Wednesday at 3:00 when they were finally able to land their first plane. The school seemed like it was bursting at the seams! The kids were not used to that many substitutes and it got really rough. I felt like this past week was 3 weeks rolled into one! It was on Thursday and Friday having all of our teachers back and getting things back to normal.

Yesterday was spent making Yupik masks and making up a Yupik dance for our culture class that we have today. It’s crazy and exciting to think we only have 16 more weeks of school!