Just Call Me Maverick:)

The adrenaline is still rushing through me as I type this. I cannot believe the afternoon I just had! While I wanted to stay in King Salmon until tomorrow, the pilot said it was going to snow tomorrow so decided today was the best day to fly. So this afternoon I had my stuff packed up and after a nice lunch with some good people, I was ready to go. Eddie got us loaded up and then we were headed back home. Once we were up in the air, Eddie looked at me and told me to take over..

He certainly didn’t have to tell me twice! I had the wheel in my hands before he could change his mind. Of course then I quickly and nervously asked what it was that I was supposed to be doing. He showed me how to steer and what to do to keep it steady. Then he just let me take control! Whenever Eddie wanted me to go a certain direction, he’d just point. We spent the whole flight just talking about flying and all sorts of things. He explained a lot about the technique to flying and explained how similar it is to driving a car. The flight path was pretty easy to follow because we were following the coast, but Eddie let me decide where I wanted us to go. We were about 200 feet above the ground for the majority of the trip but it felt like we were right above the water. 

While I was perfectly content with the opportunity to take charge in the air, Eddie took it one step further and taught me how to land! I was panicking at first, but he talked me through it (and helped a bit) and I was able to make a total of four beach landings along the way:) He also taught me how to take off both from a quick touch-down and a complete stop. I still can’t believe I was flew a plane for almost 100 miles! 

As we were flying, Eddie mentioned a few times that I would be very easy to teach how to fly. He is currently teaching another woman how to fly and he said I’d be a quick learner just like her (which I take to be a huge compliment as he’s mentioned her skill a few times in the past few days). While we talked, I became more and more interested in learning and I plan to ask him to teach me how to fly in the spring:) I think it would be an incredible thing to do and the freedom it brings with it is amazing. As children we are always asked what superpower we would want and many times our answer is “to be able to fly”; well today, I got to have that superpower and I want to be able to do it whenever I want. While Eddie claims he could teach me to fly in just a few hours, I think it would take longer (let’s not get ahead of ourselves). 

When Pilot Point came into view Eddie said I needed to buzz town. He then laughed as I excitedly said “okay!” before he even had the full sentence out of his mouth. I got to fly above my home and then I landed the plane on the runway! He showed me how to drive it on the runway and then as if no time had passed at all, I was back on the ground in Pilot Point. I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling as I got out of the plane and looked around. I flew a plane today! I’m going to keep saying that to myself all night and I don’t think it will feel real anytime soon. 

There are so many times when I question if this is truly my life, and today is just another on the list of instances. I constantly feel like I am in a dream and that I will wake up in my bed in New Jersey any second. However, even if that were true, I would be content. This adventure just never stops getting better and I am feeling both blessed and in shock at the opportunities that I am offered out here. It feels good to be back home in Pilot Point for my final stretch, but I am looking forward to when Eddie and I can go out flying again!:) 

Thanks a Million

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because it has always meant that I’d get to eat some yummy foods and spend the day surrounded by family. This year was my first time not being home for the holiday and I was anxious that the homesickness would really kick in. While I did ache for home throughout the day, I actually had an amazing Thanksgiving. There are so many things that I have to be thankful for that it would take pages and pages of writing to fully cover the whole list. However, I decided to list the top 10 things (in no particular order) that I am thankful for this year (I’ll try to keep it brief):

1. The professor at Centenary who brought LPSD to my attention- Without him, I would never have known that this opportunity existed nor would I currently be on the adventure of a life-time. He also provides me with support along the way and it’s nice to have someone in the lower 48 who knows what it’s like out here. 
2. The support I receive from my family and friends-Never once have they questioned my decision to move out here and have continued to support me from afar. The letters and care packages I receive get me through some tough days.
3. Skype and Face-Time- Being able to see my family and friends when we talk has been great. I always look forward to skyping with my dad while I’m getting ready for school throughout the week. This journey would be much harder without the ability to see the faces of my loved ones.
4. Having a job- I still cannot believe that I secured my first teaching position four days post-grad. Nor can I believe that I actually get paid to be living this dream. 
5. Supportive co-workers- At this point I consider many of my co-workers to be great friends. I can’t believe the incredible personalities that I have the fortune of working with; from my principal to our guidance counselor and so many other teachers. There are many times when I get emails or messages from co-workers who just want to check in and see how I’m doing. I am so thankful for the friends I have made along the way and hope that we only continue to become closer. 
6. The district’s tech guy- Somehow along the way I got lucky enough to find him. Sam puts a smile on my face and makes me laugh throughout each day. I’m so thankful to have been able to spend my Thanksgiving weekend with him:)
7. Amazon- And any other company that ships to us out in the bush. While I don’t buy much online, it’s just nice to be able to buy what I need. It’s also exciting to have it waiting in the post office whenever it makes its way to PIP. 
8. Pilot Point- My first home on my own and the place where I have grown so much. The people in my village have welcomed me and have made this experience so much better. I love to wake up each morning and look out at “my” lake and “my” volcano. Pilot Point will forever own a piece of my heart. 
9. My students- My “kids” as I call them have been a pain at times, but at the end of each day, I care for them all so much. I feel so lucky to be able to be their teacher. I am going to miss them all, but I am so happy for the time that I was able to spend with them. Even on their worst days they make me smile, and I have grown so much as a teacher because of them. 
10. My camera- Not that I could ever forget the beauty of the state I’m living in, but it is great to be able to get pictures of the sights I have seen. Whether it’s an animal, my students, or even the empty tundra, I am so thankful to have a camera to snap some shots. I don’t want to lose any memories in the bank of Alaska moments, so taking pictures helps me remember the way I felt at certain times. Whenever I look at my pictures, I am reminded of the moment in which it was taken and it’s like I’m reliving it all over again. 

I have so many more items that I could add to the list, but these are just a few of the ones that I feel thankful for each day. I feel so incredibly blessed and fortunate to be on the adventure that I am living. I can only hope that others feel as fortunate as I do, no matter what their circumstance. I try to capture each moment and take part in every opportunity offered because you never know when situations will change!

Not Your Typical Holiday Road-Trip

Oh did I say road-trip? Because what I really meant to say was Air-Trip (well maybe that’s not right either, but moral of the story is that this post is about a plane ride not a car trip). I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend Thanksgiving in King Salmon which means a 40-minute plane ride from PIP. Well that’s 40 minutes on a good weather day and Wednesday was a great day for flying so I was excited for a quick flight.

The woman, Jenny, who had invited me up for Thanksgiving was able to fly in and pick me up with the pilot, Eddie. I was anxious because this was the smallest plane I’d been in yet. It was only a three seater and my seat in the back was more of a beach chair than your average plane seat. This in itself was enough to make me anxious, but I was a bit nervous to be flying with a pilot with whom I’d yet to fly. I was also a little confused as the Eddie turned the plane south instead of heading north towards our final destination. So begins the best plane ride of my life..

Eddie wanted to give me a view of Pilot Point from the air which I’d never been able to see yet. It was so great to be able to see my home from above. But then things got even better as he said that he was going to take us to see Ugashik; this is the village that has about five residents and is about 15-20 miles from PIP. I couldn’t contain my excitement as he flew us right above the water and gave us a great view of the village. He then landed the plane so he could say hi to two of the people who live there, both of whom I’d actually gotten to meet when PIP’s store opened. While we didn’t get out of the plane, I can officially say that I have been to Ugashik. Another great thing was that the view of “my” volcano was incredible from Ugashik. I wished so badly that we could have flown to it, but I am content knowing that I was even closer to it then when I’m home.  

While I thought this was the extent of our excursion, Eddie quickly proved me wrong. He continued away from King Salmon as he took us to see different parts of the south that I had no clue even existed. We got to fly past a house where only a man and his wife live. It was a gorgeous home in the middle of the bush and my understanding is that when they decided to retire out here, the man’s wife agreed only so long as she had “everything”. Well I’d say that they have everything, and I just can’t believe they live there alone with no people for miles and miles. As we flew by, the man was out on his deck taking pictures of us (which Eddie later got in an email, it was so cool). 

Our journey continued as Eddie flew us around and just told me so many different things that I didn’t know about the region in which I live. I was blown away and couldn’t stop asking questions. At one point he gave me his phone which has a flight app (seriously there’s an app for everything) and he let me tell him which way he needed to be heading. We landed once more (if you even call it that, we touched down and were right back up again) on an airstrip at Fort Jensen (I think that’s what it was called at least..) where there’s now a hunting lodge. Again all of this is just in the middle of tundra where you’d never think people live or even get away for a vacation. Alaska is full of surprises!

As we headed back towards King Salmon I was once again feeling like the luckiest person in the world. And then it got even better! We were flying along the coast when Eddie turned around and said we were going to land again, on the beach.. I couldn’t help but let out an excited shriek. I had no idea this was even possible and both Jenny and Eddie got a kick out of my excitement. While it seems I have this feeling often out here, I felt like a kid on Christmas getting the gift that they’d begged Santa for. Eddie landed us and then turned the plane to face the water; I sat there speechless as I looked around in awe. I’d have loved to have gotten out to walk around, but we were only there long enough for me to take a few pictures before Eddie had us back in the air. 

The rest of our trip was filled with my peppering Eddie with questions about where he’s flown and the things he’s seen. As we neared Naknek  (which is about a 20 minute drive from King Salmon), Eddie flew us around pointing out all of the processing plants and giving us more history lessons. Once we landed we even help push the plane into the hangar and I could not stop smiling as I thought about our trip. Of course I then had to answer some texts of people who were worried about why it took 2 hours to get from PIP instead of 40 minutes (oops). Everyone was understanding once I explained that I’d gotten to go sight-seeing. I still can’t believe how blessed I am to be experiencing so many amazing things in such a short time! Just another incredible day in this beautiful state:)

The Moment of Truth

This morning contained my least favorite of all my moments since my whirlwind journey began almost four months ago. Today was the day that my co-op and I decided it would be best to break the news of my departure from Pilot Point. I can’t remember the last time I was so nervous to talk to a group of children. As they all gathered in the welcome room for our morning meeting, I didn’t think I was going to be able to go through with it. 

Had my co-op not have been telling the kids about her replacement and the tutor that will be coming in January, I would have chickened out. The kids have known since the start that my co-op would not be returning, but none of them knew that I was only hired on a half year contract. The look on some of their faces when I told them won’t soon be forgotten. My third graders seemed to take it the hardest as my little girl started to cry while one boy looked away and the other got the most somber face I’ve seen on him since my time here. Another one that got to me was M, my 11th grader with whom I’ve built a strong connection with. It was rough, but I held in my own tears as I excitedly told them about their new teacher. 

Once we shifted into my classroom for reading, the questions began. I was able to explain it a bit more and I think they get it, but still I am so sad to be leaving them. It made me happy to hear them asking if the new teacher would make math fun like I do, if she would have “Fluency Friday” , and if she would use the Smartboard like I do. Happy teacher moment knowing that the strategies I’ve been using with them have stuck with them. We created a list of questions to ask the new teacher before she comes and I am hoping to be able to email her this weekend. My third grader who always comes out on runs with me asked if the new teacher would go on runs too while the other asked if he could come in my suitcase. We were able to laugh as Mr. Norman asked “But what if she’s like the Trunchbull??”. Of course I then I had to promise that we'd watch Matilda before I leave (which is convenient because I just got it in the mail this weekend). I also let them know that they aren’t getting rid of me anytime soon and that I will be still Skyping in with them as often as I can. 

As the day progressed, some of them would just look up at me and say “I’m going to miss you” or just give me sad eyes. It was mutual and we took a lot of time today talking about the things we want to do while I am still in Pilot Point with them. All I know is that I promised to go on a lot of runs.. When my older students joined me in the afternoon, I was able to talk to M who broke my heart when he asked if I was leaving because they “had come on too strong” to which I couldn’t have said no quicker. While this seemed to make him feel better, I think he and I will be having some more conversations in the next few weeks . By the end of the day, all of our students had seemed to grasped the reality of my co-op and I leaving. My next worry is for tomorrow once all the parents have gotten news of my leaving. I can only hope that the adults will be just as understanding as their children. Today was definitely not my favorite, but I am so relieved to have this out in the open and not worry that someone will find out before I have the chance to tell anyone. 

Stop, Drop, and Drive

This is just another one of those posts that I’ve been meaning to write since August but keeps getting pushed back because it’s one of those continuously occurring events. One of the frustrating things about living in the Bush is the flights in and out of villages.. Not only does it cost and arm and a leg, but flights don't work on a precise schedule out here. While planes may be set to come at a certain time it truly means nothing because the pilots fly based on the weather. If it’s a good weather day, they might take advantage of this and leave early. On the other hand, if it’s too windy or there's little visibility, they might be delayed or not able to fly at all. 

The only way to really know when a plane is coming is to call the company or pilot the morning of a travel day to get an estimate. If you’re lucky, they’ll give you a call to let you know when they’re on the way. Sometimes though, the only warning we get is when we hear the plane coming in. One of the quickest adjustments I made when I got here was to pick up the sounds of an incoming plane. Sure I’d heard planes all the time back home, but now I know it means one of three things; visitors, mail, or a plane passing by on it’s way to another village. 

One of the worst parts about this is that before we had our school bus up and running again, it if we had visitors, either my co-op or I had to stop our lessons when the plane buzzed the school. We’d give the other a heads up to ask them to watch over our class and then hop in the truck to get to the airstrip. There were a few times where this was inconvenient, and we were happy to have the bus fixed so we could leave a vehicle at the airstrip for arriving visitors. 

Another downfall is that on days when people are traveling in or out, you never know what to plan for. For example, we had visitors this weekend and we’d been planning to get out to the beach for a walk. However, before we were able to do so they got a phone call saying the plane would be in PIP in about 20 minutes (meaning that the plane was about an hour and a half early). If we had been out on the beach, they might have missed their plane; You just never know. So we quickly got their stuff packed up and headed to the airstrip. Of course communication had been off and we ended up waiting for about 40 minutes, (which is okay because I didn't want to see them go anyway) but that's life out here! Only a few days until I get to head up to King Salmon for Thanksgiving, so fingers crossed for a nice weather day with an on-time plane!:)

Because of Winn-Dixie...

I got to see the best smile on one of my student’s faces this morning. From earlier posts, this is my student who likes to go by “Mr. Norman” any time that he can. While he is one of my students who often has behavioral issues, K is also my weak spot because he’s such a sweet boy. Two weeks ago, we read an excerpt from the book Because of Winn Dixie in our reading group. As we read, K expressed his interest in wanting to read the book many times and since then he’s been asking to find the full book in the school library. 

The teacher in me noticed right away that this book had become a hook to get K motivated to read more. So of course, I hopped on Amazon and ordered a copy which just came in over the weekend. I was so excited to see K’s face when I brought out the book. Of course this morning when I planned to start this as our read aloud, K was the only student in my reading class to come to school.. While he usually likes being in my class, reading is not his favorite. When it’s just us he isn’t thrilled because it means he really can’t get away with not doing work. 

While I didn’t really want to start the book without the other three, I decided that it was worth it to reward K for being in school. As he got his things together for the morning, I pulled out the book to surprise him. When I showed him, he let out the briefest and most genuine smile I’ve seen on his face yet. This fleeting moment was the one that keeps teachers going and I was so excited about seeing that smile. I made a big deal of the fact that he got the special privilege of hearing it first while the other kids will catch up another day. For me, today was all about getting K motivated and excited to hear this story. By the time we were done today, he was asking when we’d read the next chapter and was clearly still happy that we’ll be reading this book. I can’t even imagine the look he’ll give when I show the movie at the end of the read aloud:) It’s all about the little moments!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice-Cream!

Since the moment I arrived in Pilot Point, there are certain things that I have heard again and again; “last year our teacher did this”, “Miss Norman that’s not how we did things before”, and many variations of these two sentences. But there is nothing I’ve heard about more than the phenomenon that is ice-cream making. My students have talked about making ice-cream so many times since August, and finally this past week we were able to make some.

The process was relatively simple because all we had to do was add water to a mixture, stir it around, and then add it to a machine. However, the process is not instant and it took many rounds to complete the whole batch. Each round took 45 minutes and yielded about 6 cups of ice-cream. I think we had to do 10-12 different batches (I lost count somewhere after the fourth batch). Once it was done, the students put it in cups and then took it to the freezer so it could set. 

By the time our family game night rolled around on Friday, we had people who don’t normally come waiting at the door just to buy ice cream. When one of my students made an announcement to the village about family game night and how we would have ice-cream, the locals became really excited. Ice-cream is no joke in PIP... We sold the ice-cream as a means of raising money for PIP’s student government and we made a pretty good earning from both family game night and the ice-cream sales. My students were happy that they’d been able to make it again and it was nice to be able to see them working hard to get it ready. Hopefully this will keep them motivated to want to make it again. While it certainly wasn’t Mackey’s (my favorite ice-cream place back home) or Dairy Queen, it was pretty tasty and I’m happy there are extras for when an ice-cream craving sets in!

H is for Honda!

While the cat’s away, this mouse will play! Last week, I was given the gift of freedom when I was lent a Honda by my favorite cook. He was heading to Anchorage and thought I would like to get out and about. His wife, not knowing I’d ridden one before, was worried that I would crash. I reassured her that while I’m from Jersey that I know how to ride a honda. Before they left, I was given the orders to “ride the hell out of it”, so that’s what I planned to do.

However, mother nature had some other plans in place and of course the first three days after I got the honda were rainy, windy, and cold. Knowing that it sat in the shed, waiting to be ridden, was killing me. Finally, on Friday I was able to take it out for about an hour and I was like a kid on Christmas. I flew down the beach, simply enjoying the fact that I could do so. I think I could have gone up and down the beach for hours and it wouldn’t have gotten boring. 

My plan had been to get out for a few hours on Saturday, but of course luck was not in my favor. When I went out to start it up I encountered a problem; it wouldn’t start.. After trying unsuccessfully for about 15 minutes in which the weather had taken a turn for the worse, I retreated back to my house. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Having the honda in front of my house, right in my sight, and knowing that I could not ride it was torture. 

While I don’t like to bother anyone out here, especially on the weekends, I also knew that I couldn’t sit back and waste away my Sunday inside. I went out and gave it my best shot at starting it up and again had no luck. So I texted the mom who owns the dog that I run with and asked if her husband could spare any time at all to take a look at it. Within minutes, he was knocking at the door and had already begun to give the honda a charge. After a few minutes, he was able to get it started and instructed me to let it run for a little while before heading out. I thanked him over and over again and then I ran inside to get on some warm clothes on. I can’t describe how excited I was that he had been able to get it running. 

Twenty-five minutes later, I was cruising down the beach, in the direction that you can only travel with on a honda. Down the beach a little ways sits a group of houses that belong to the set-netters who come to fish over the summer. I’ve wanted to get down to see these houses since I got here in August. Better late than never right? I drove around and snapped some pictures (which we all know by now means too many) and then went to ride around the village. During my ride, I ran across some of my students who were clam digging which was cool to see. I was also able to watch about 30 or so beluga whales swimming in the bay. Watching them never gets old. I still can’t believe that I can see them on almost any given day!

It was raining and pretty cold so I only stayed out for two hours. My co-op thought I was crazy for going out in the rain, but she also understand my need to get out and explore. By the time I got home I couldn’t feel my fingers (I had gloves but didn’t take my really warm ones out), but it was worth it. I am hoping that I’ll be able to keep it until this weekend so that I can get out again. Seeing as how I’m the first to drive the honda since fishing season, I don’t think this will be a problem. It’s blowing rain right now as I write this, so fingers crossed that the weather clears up a bit before then!

Lights On, Lights Off: The Sequel

Well I apparently spoke too soon when I wrote about our power outages last week. Since then, we’ve had four more outages; all of which have been in the span of 48 hours. The wind just keeps blowing and PIP’s power is not strong enough to endure it.. As I type this, I am experiencing the worst outage of my time in Pilot Point (of course when I am able to post this, it will mean the power has returned). 

While I have many power outages under my belt from back home and know what to do to take care of myself, village power outages are different. Especially when the sun has yet to come out.. I woke up this morning at 6:30 (this whole not being able to sleep in on the weekends is starting to get annoying) and quickly realized that the power was out. When this happens back home in the lower 48, your first instinct is to look out the window to see if it was just your house or if the other houses on the street lost power as well. However, out here, if one house is without power it almost always means that they all are.

So when I went to look out the window (like I said, instinct), I saw only black. Normally when I look out my windows at night or in the early morning I can see a small light from outside the school, a streetlight, or even the lights from the house across the lake. It isn’t much, but it is always a comfort knowing that I am not in total darkness. This morning though, I am in complete and utter darkness. It’s as if someone has covered my house with a black curtain and if you can’t already tell, it’s freaking me out. Not only is there no light, but the normal, ever present hum of the generator in the building next to the school is absent this morning. All I can hear is the wind, but even that takes breaks; besides my typing right now, there is no sound at all. I’m currently cursing my aunt and uncle who made me watch “30 Days of Night” before I moved out here.. I  have locked myself in my room with a few candles and I am just waiting for when it becomes daylight. I don’t care if it’s rainy and gloomy, as long as there is some light outside I will be happy. 

*The power has since come back on. And then gone out. And then come back on. Seeing as how it's only 9:00am, it looks like it's going to be one of those days! It's light out now though and there's now rain which is a plus. It must be a sign to stop lesson plans and get outside on "my" honda (blog to follow) for awhile:)

Strike a Pose

Every time I think I’ve witnessed it all out here I get proven wrong.  Each day, the travel coordinator from district office sends the list of who will be flying where the following day. Sometimes this is the only warning we get to let us know that we will be having visitors in PIP. On Tuesday we were surprised to find that we’d be having visitors the following day. And so begins the story of the village event that is known as picture day.

Our two visitors were the school photographers and they would be in Pilot Point for 24 hours taking school photos. You would think that with only 12 students (our senior finished this past week and so she’s no longer in the village) we wouldn’t need that much time. However, the photographers not only take school photos, but they also offer a window of time for families in the village to come out and get pictures taken. At first I didn't think that any of the locals would come, but I was happy to find that the families with younger children all wanted pictures of their kids. 

Once they got set up and ready to take pictures, we had been planning to send the kids out one by one. Our initial hope was to try to keep out daily routine intact.. Well in traditional PIP fashion, our kids could not help but want to know what was going on in the library where the pictures were being taken. I can’t blame them because I wanted to be out there too. The photographer was a really funny guy and we all kept hearing giggles. Slowly, we all started making our way towards the library to get a glimpse of what was going on. Before we knew it, Chris and I had both put our lessons on hold and picture day officially became auditions for Alaska’s Next Top Model.

As each student went up for their picture (wearing a variety of clothing choices from PJ’s to sparkly dresses and button up shirts), they had a small audience cheering them on. Not only this, but our kinder was commentating the event and her innocent brutal honesty was hilarious. Our students had so much fun with the photographer and watching each other make their best picture perfect smiles was a  great break in our afternoon. Granted, this didn’t last very long because we only have 12 students, but we were all laughing by the time pictures were done.

That night, a few different families came out to get pictures taken, but there aren’t very many families so that didn’t take long either. Because I live there, I was at school during this time. I spent most of the evening talking with the couple that came out to take the pictures. They were so friendly and as we talked, I felt like I had known them for years and not that I had just met them a few hours earlier. What I have come to realize about meeting new people out here is that we aren’t shy to share our lives with each other. We live in an environment where someone is always coming and going and so we don’t have time to hold back. When we have visitors, we don’t make small talk about the weather, we dive in and get to the “real” stuff. I love the honesty and the stories that come along with the people I meet. My favorite thing to learn is everyone’s “Alaska” story; I’m always curious to know if people have grown up in Alaska or if they are like me and they’ve just been lucky enough to stumble upon the opportunity to come out here. In just a few hours, I knew quite a bit about this couple and their lives. Needless to say, my Wednesday night was spent in good company:)

The next morning our photographers had to push the schedule forward because their plane was coming earlier than planned. It was blowing hard outside so most of our planes would be grounded for the day if they didn’t get out at the right time. Thursday’s schedule only consisted of shooting the whole school photo (which my biggest fan chose to opt out of) so it didn’t inconvenience anyone. There was a very brief break in the rain and the wind in which it looked beautiful outside, so we went and took our picture in front of the lake (yes with schools as small as ours, our photos can be taken outside!). As we stood there waiting for him to get ready we all became shorter as we began to sink in the mud. The ground had looked firm, but we quickly learned that it was not; a few of our students had to just wear their socks for the rest of the day because their shoes got so muddy. And just like that, our photo was done and the photographers were out the door and headed to Egegik. It was a very nice albeit unexpected visit to break up the week. We’ll see how the school photo turned out when my copy arrives in two weeks!

When in Doubt, Dance Party

Today was one of those days where the weather couldn’t decide what it wanted to do. One second it was rainy and the next it was sunny. I left the room for I’m not even joking one minute and I came back and all I could see was white out my windows. In the time that it took me to go to the other room, fog had taken over PIP. A few minutes later, as if it had never been there, the fog was gone and the sun was back out. 

Much like the weather, my brain was having one of those days where it just couldn’t decide what it wanted to do. I sat down to work on lesson plans this morning and before I knew it, it was mid-afternoon and I was still sitting at my table doing schoolwork. My Sunday had slipped away as I did work. I was feeling frustrated, but then I also had one of those moments where I thought “well if I wasn’t lesson planning, what else would I be doing?”. Thus began my wallowing in self pity.. There was a brief period in there when I saw a rainbow and it turned my whole day around. I also talked with some friends which made me happy and sad at the same time. I’m laughing now as I think about how I spent my afternoon in a mess of emotions as I still continued to update grades and plan lessons. They always say that your emotions transfer into the food you cook; well I sure hope the same doesn’t hold true with lessons because this weeks will be all over the place. 

Needless to say, by the time I skyped with my dad a few hours later, I was an emotional wreck. In a way that only dads can do, he spent half an hour giving me his best pep talk. After I talked to him, I decided to take back my Sunday. I hit the kitchen to make myself dinner and prepped my workout clothes so I can get over to the school for a mind-clearing run later. Then I did what my friend told me should happen everyday. I had a dance party in my kitchen. If anyone who lives in the house across the lake was looking out their windows, they definitely saw me “shaking it off” to some T-swift. I regret nothing. It’s never to late to turn a gloomy day into a sunny one. Here’s to remembering that you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain:)

Lights On, Lights Off

I haven’t written in a few days so I thought I would tackle a topic on the list of “blogs to write at some point”. Seeing as how it’s currently raining as I type this, it might be the perfect time to post about this topic. Living in a village certainly has its quirks. From having to call someone 5 times throughout any given conversation to specified 2 hour windows in which you can get gas and only getting mail three days a week, the list goes on an on. Many of these things I can work around. If I drop a call I just move across my house and redial, I don’t ever need to get gas, and I plan my trips to the post office religiously around the plan schedule. There is one thing that I cannot control however and that is power outages.

One of the things that can put a kink into daily routines is the lights going out, which happens more often than you might think. We’ve been lucky recently and haven’t had too many outages, but when I first got here I quickly got used to working with the emergency lights on. It seemed like we lost power at least once a day. Luckily we haven’t had an incredibly long blackout, yet.. With the storm that’s coming in the next couple days I’m sure we’ll be losing power for a bit. Most of the times, thankfully, the lights kick back on within a few minutes. 

However short the power outage is, my students are just like any other kids when the lights go out. They freak out for a split second and then get more excited than the situation calls for. One of these times I think I’m going to plan an “outage” just so we can get together to tell scary stories (they’d be over the moon about this). Needless to say, it disrupts our classroom routine and takes me at least 10-15 minutes just to get them refocused. Worse things could happen so I will gladly take all of these power outages any day (just as long as the lights come on before the sun goes away for the day). Just another day in the life of a teacher in a village! 

Just Put One Foot in Front of the Other

When I got to school yesterday morning and looked down at my lesson plans, I was so happy I could cry (I’m actually proud of myself for not crying thank you very much). What I saw staring back at me was a full week’s worth of plans. I think we all remember when it was an accomplishment for me to have a week’s worth of reading prepared. What I had yesterday though was reading, math, social studies, employability, and PEP lessons planned out; for each of my many levels and students. For an entire week! 

It’s crazy to think that just two months ago I thought I would never get a handle on all the lessons and subjects to plan for. Of course my plans are never set in stone because you don’t know who might not show up or what lessons will take re-teaching. But I also know that what I don’t get through this week will carry over into next week, and that’s okay! Some days I might not feel like it, but one day at a time I’m getting a hang of this teaching thing. 

Saving Daylight and Other Sunday Shenanigans

Quite a few people from home have asked me the same questions over the past few days; “do you guys have daylight savings time?”. I just wanted to write a quick post to confirm that yes, we do take part in daylight savings time in Alaska. On Sunday morning, instead of the sun starting to come up at around 9:15, it was showing signs of its approach by a little after 8:00.

Not one to pass up the PIP views on a clear morning, I quickly decided to start my morning off watching the sunrise. There is a small hill right behind the school that I walked up to get the best view of the mountains. I think it’s pretty safe to say that I was the only one out and about at this time, and I didn’t mind that at all. Watching the sky change colors as the sun started to come up from behind the mountains was breath-taking. 

Even without the sunrise the mountains alone are an amazing sight to see. Each day the snow line gets lower and lower and the mountains get more and more beautiful. Add to this the sun hiding behind them and it was almost too good to be true. Not even the best picture I took could capture what I really got to see (this is the same for most pictures I take out here). It was 8:55 by the time the sun finally peeked out from behind the mountains and I couldn’t help but look around me in awe. It was just another instance of the  “I can’t believe I really live in Alaska” feeling. While I couldn’t feel my fingers, I didn’t mind because this was the best spent hour of my weekend.

Even out in the villages its all too easy to get caught up in your work and you can easily miss out on things going on around you. I have to stop and remind myself of the amazing things happening outside of my windows. Just yesterday my students and I stopped class to watch a fox walking around outside (He’s always around and I plan to tame him and make him my pet..). It’s nice to live in a place where you can do that and it gives the students a chance to become teachers; they love when I ask them questions about things they know more about than I do. 

So on Sunday morning, I was all too happy to lose feeling in my fingers to snap some (okay way too many) pictures of the sunrise. My afternoon was spent taking Anya for a walk and collecting three of my students along the way. The boys and I walked along the beach where they filled my pockets with rocks and pumice that they thought I should have. They had so much fun running up and down the beach trying to compete with each other to find me the most unique stones. When I thought my pockets were going to rip from being so full, I took the boys  and Anya back to their respective homes.  It’s all about the taking the time to enjoy the little things:)