Today, on my day off, I planned to spend the day in my classroom prepping for the week. Then, however, I was kindly invited to go watch some villagers set nets to catch some salmon. I decided to give myself some fun time and quickly accepted the offer! I drove down to where they set their nets and along the way, my co-teachers’ 10 year old grandson and I stopped in awe as we saw a bald eagle sitting on a telephone pole about ten feet from the truck. I had a staring contest with a bald eagle today, something that will probably never happen to me again. It was one of those moments where I sat there and thought “I can’t believe I’m really here”.
When we got down to the nets, there were quite a few seals trying to steal all the salmon. While the villagers didn’t want them there, I was enjoying watching them swim around and play with their food:) The villagers sort of laughed and smiled at me as I enjoyed my first sight of seals and took pictures. I was jokingly told that I was allowed to point and shoot with my camera this time, but next time I need to be pointing and shooting with a gun (I think they were mostly serious though..) After standing and enjoying everyone’s company for awhile, we saw a salmon in one of the nets. One of the villagers pulled it in, and after it was cleaned, he asked if I would like it. Of course I gratefully accepted, and we made our way to the bench so he could filet it.
He got his knife and was about to do it, when he looked up and without words, handed the knife to me. Then he showed me how to cut it and I got to work. When I was done, I proudly showed off my work, and got his seal of approval (pun intended). He said I’d done pretty good for it being my first time! The few people that were there gathered around as I proudly showed off my work:) I left there feeling extremely empowered in a way (I’d gotten my own dinner!). When I walked into school and told my co-teacher that I’d gotten dinner for all of us, I swear I was acting as if I’d just won the lottery or something (my heart was racing and adrenaline pumped through my veins- I may have been over-excited but oh well)! Time to go enjoy my dinner (don’t worry, no blogging and cooking tonight). Today I feel Alaskan:)
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