The Countdown is On!

Wild Horses in the Outer Banks, N.C.

Whoever coined the phrase “time flies when you’re having fun” really hit the nail on the head. It feels as if the end of the semester happened in hyper speed and I kept putting off blogs, waiting for a lull in the action. However, the school year rolled into an action packed summer which has left little time to blog (as if to prove my point, it’s almost one a.m as I type this, exhausted yet fueled by the need to put words on paper). I don’t know where the past few weeks have gone, but what I do know is that my “sleeps” in the Lower 48 are suddenly winding down. Seemingly without warning, this summer has flown by and the time to prepare for another year in the bush has arrived!

Seeing Matilda on Broadway in N.Y.C.

While I have butterflies at the thought of going back to Alaska, it is a much different sensation than the panic I felt at this time last summer. When I got ready for my first semester in the bush, I felt less prepared than I ever had before. My childhood and time in college had not been meant to prepare me for life in an Alaskan village; and yet I found myself packing up my life in a few totes and trusting in the leap of faith that I had taken. Fast forward twelve months and here I am gearing up for my second year. I remember being so nervous about sending my totes last year, terrified that something would not make it. Today however, mailing my only tote from home was just another thing to cross off my to do list. I suppose my priorities have changed and I realize that there are more important things to worry about than whether or not a tote of replaceable goods is going to make it to it’s destination.

Spending a day at Epcot in F.L.

Another difference I see in myself, as I try to plan for the upcoming school year, is that I have come to accept the lack of control I have in many aspects of my life in the bush. Teaching (and life in general) in rural Alaska is much different than anywhere else in the

Some history during my trip to M.A.

country. The truth of the matter is that I don’t know which students will be in my village when I return. Maybe all of the families will have stayed put over the summer, or maybe they decided to hop over to another village to live with relatives. Perhaps they went to Naknek for summer fishing and won’t return until halfway through the semester. Will I have more students on my special education caseload, or fewer? What problems, if any, will the village have faced over the two and a half months that I was on the east coast? These are questions that once would have overwhelmed me and caused sheer panic. Now, however, they are just passing thoughts I have but do not dwell on. My questions will be answered in a few weeks when I return to Nondalton, and from then on I will roll with the punches. One thing I know for sure is once I step foot in Alaska, the craziness will begin and I’ll just have to hit the ground running. Until then I plan to keep appreciating fresh produce, taking advantage of free shipping (to the bush nonetheless!), and soaking up as much family/friend time and sunshine that I can!

Land of the Midnight Sun

Early April, Nondalton 8:00pm

While this is something I have mentioned a few times in blogs past, I wanted to take some time to talk about the phenomenon that is daylight in Alaska. To me, that’s what it is; a beautiful and mind-blowing thing that I am still getting used to. When I came out in August, I was on the "losing daylight" side of things. Sure it was light at 11:00pm and again at 5:00am, but I knew that slowly we would lose that daylight. This still amazes me as much now as it did when I first arrived in Alaska. 

Mid April, Six Mile Lake at 9:30pm 

This semester, however, I am on the opposite end of the spectrum, and I get to experience the gradual increase in daylight. Each and every day since I have moved to Nondalton, I have gotten to see the tiniest increase in light. At first it wasn’t anything too noticeable, but now, it is hard to miss. For example, last night when I went to bed a little past 12:00am, there was still a faint hint of light in the sky. It was dark, but not nearly as dark as I am used to for that time of night. 

Late April, Iliamna Lake at 11:00pm

This morning when I woke up, it was rainy, but it was still light out. Back home on really stormy days, it seems as if it is night-time and there is no daylight to be seen. In Alaska however, even when it looks as if the sky is going to open up any minute with a rainstorm, it remains light out. As one of the other teachers who has lived out here a long time has said “we can guarantee daylight, but not sunshine”. 

As I look out my window, the sun is fighting its way out from behind the clouds, and I hope that it makes an appearance today. Regardless of whether that happens or not, some of the other teachers and I are going to go for a honda ride down the beach. We have been wanting to get out and explore a little bit to soak up the beauty of the village before we head to our respective homes for summer. Today is my last Sunday in Nondalton, and this time on Wednesday I will be heading into Newhalen for a few days before making my way back to the lower 48! I am looking forward to getting home, but I know that I will miss the seemingly endless amount of daylight that is found here. 

Going Postal

My Alaskan certificate finally made it to me! 

When you live in rural Alaska, you have to adjust to the inconsistency in the postal system. Mail only comes to villages a few times a week and that is dependent on weather and room on the planes. It takes some getting used to it, but you just have to accept that no matter what the estimated delivery date is, your packages will most likely arrive a week or so later. Sometimes larger packages take even longer, but eventually all of your mail will get to you; unless you live in Nondalton that is. 

Over the past month or two, an odd thing has been happening and I am just baffled by it. Apparently when people attempt to mail things to my address, the postal system confuses Nondalton, Alaska for North Pole, Alaska.. My dad first encountered this issue when he tried to send a package and was told that he had the wrong address. He texted me for confirmation and then had to go as far as pulling up my school’s website to prove to the woman at the post office that he had the correct address. She adamantly told him that my package would not get to me, but he sent it anyway. Two weeks later, my mom had the exact same problem at a different post office! Similarly to my dad, she knew she was correct and sent her package to me. Seemingly without issues, I received both packages about a week after they were sent. 

Mail days are fun:)  (Thanks Rachael!)

My next run-in with this issue was when I placed an order with Target in early March. After three weeks of waiting, I got an email saying my shipment saying my items had been delivered; to an address in Indiana… I was getting ready to call customer service when I got an email saying that I would be getting a refund for my items. The end of the email stated that if I didn’t initiate the return that it meant they weren’t able to deliver my package. The confusing part about this is that I have had things shipped from Target to Nondalton a few times in the past without any issues at all. It just doesn’t make sense to me because clearly there is something going on when my address gets input into the post office database. Yet none of my packages went to North Pole, so that doesn’t make sense either. 

Another teacher at the school wasn’t quite as lucky and a package that her husband sent her, from Alaska, actually went to North Pole and back twice before finally making it to her in Nondalton! In her search to find her package and figure out why this was happening, she spoke with different people in the postal system who had no answers as to why this was occurring. Even after she explained that this had happened to packages sent from NJ and PA, they blamed faulty addresses. No amount of explaining that she knows her address could convince them otherwise. For now, the problem remains a mystery and I play an annoying game of Russian Roullete in ordering online and asking for packages to be sent from back home. Oh how the quirks of living in the bush certainly keep things interesting! 

Academics and Athletics Anonymous

It was a snowy week!

The past few weeks have been busy here in Alaska! This is the first year that schools in the state have switched to the Alaska Measures of Progess (AMP) test which is computer based. This whole school year has been spent preparing for the transition but like any standardized test, the weeks leading up were crunch time. Not only were we preparing for that, but in the middle of our allotted testing window, many of our students and teachers were gearing up to travel to Naknek for the annual Academic and Athletic (AA) Meet (side note- not the best name to give to an event for teenage students who all understand what AA typically refers to). Again, a switch-up for the district because the AA Meet is normally held in Newhalen, but this year it took place at a school that we partner up with often. The two weeks in which these both occurred were quite the whirlwind! 

Blood Spatter Analysis 

Cold Water Survival Training 

After the first week of testing, with the knowledge that I had successfully proctored my first standardized test behind me, I was eager to head to Naknek! From the time I arrived in Alaska I had heard about the AA Meet and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. While it meant spending four nights sleeping on the floor of a school, I was willing to pay the price! To make a long explanation short, the AA Meet is designed for any eligible middle and high-school students to come together and spend a week taking part in different classes/activities. This year’s classes ranged from geocaching and compass orienteering to launching bottle rockets and learning crime scene analysis techniques, and more. As a chaperone, I was able to sit in on all of the different classes and learn alongside the students. The sessions were led by visiting students and professors from the University of Alaska as well as LPSD teachers; the mixture of experience levels and variation in subject matter made for a great week. 

One of the NYO games

While our days were quite busy, our nights were equally jam-packed with events. Nightly activities included a science fair, a talent show, and competitions for the Native Youth Olympics (NYO). The NYO events were both exciting and impressive to watch. I’ve spent the past few days trying to figure out the best way to explain the activities that are apart of NYO but it is a difficult feat. Students have been trying to explain the activities to me since August, yet I still wasn’t able to form a clear picture until I saw them in person. The games are meant to represent different historical native traditions and events; for example, two events signify jumping from icebergs. A few of the events are the “Seal Hop”, “Indian Stick Pull”, “Eskimo Stick Pull”, and “Wrist Carry”. One of the activities requires students to hang from a pole by one wrist while two people carry the pole as far as the hanging person can hold on; one student hung on for an entire lap around the gym! Another includes students fighting for control of a small wooden stick/pole. The hard part about that one is that the stick has been greased with Crisco! Hence the difficulty to explain the competitions to people who have not seen it or who have not experienced native culture*. Several of our students received scores that deemed them eligible to travel to the state NYO competition in Anchorage this week! 

As fun as it was to watch the NYO games, I think the most exciting night of the week for everyone was the prom. The middle school students traveled home a day earlier than the high-schoolers so that the older students could have a fun-filled night to dress up and dance. While most students in the bush wear the same clothes for days on end, this was a night for fancy dresses and dress pants. Boys and girls alike were anxious as they got ready for the big dance. The student government hosts prom and they did an amazing job of decorating the gym to make the night even more special. Pictures were taken, roses were given, slow dances were plentiful, and fun was had by all who attended. Then, in true bush fashion, the students came together to help tear down and clean up the gym afterwards. It was a long end to a hectic week, but everyone contributed and it was a great time. 

Recovering at the beach in Newhalen

Once prom was over, everyone was ready to get home to their respective villages. It had been a busy and tiring week for both students and teachers and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all desperately wanted a long shower (Naknek= sulfur water=gross tasting and smelling= dehydration and quick showers) and then to sleep in real beds. Friday morning was spent waiting on flights and hoping that the random snowy week we had would not keep planes from making it to our villages. Luckily planes to the north were not affected  and when my group got to the runway, there was an open space on a plane headed to Newhalen so I took advantage and hopped on. When I got on the plane I had to laugh because you simply cannot do something like that anywhere but here in the bush.

As I write this, it has been a week since I’ve returned from the AA Meet and I think I am just finally recovering from the lack of sleep and general exhaustion caused from a week’s worth of being with middle and high schoolers during every waking and non-waking minute. Once again I am feeling thankful for each chance that I get to bond with the district’s students and travel throughout this beautiful state. The adventure just keeps getting better with each passing day! 

*I wish I could describe the NYO games better, but since I am unable to, I have included some links for those interested in learning more:

http://www.anchorage.net/articles/nyo-games-alaska

http://www.adn.com/node/1614746
https://youtu.be/0HY6LCaIhi4

What's It Worth?

Yesterday after school, one of the local women brought in some of her latest beadwork. Among other things, she makes beautiful earrings that I have a hard time resisting. I had bought a pair from her in the past, and yesterday another pair caught my eye. I checked my wallet to make sure I had some cash, which is something I rarely use out in the village, and I was in luck. I happily paid the asking price of $15 and had myself a new pair of earrings. As I was admiring my new purchase, the woman who made them said something that I can’t stop thinking about.

As she was leaving, she thanked me for buying the earrings because it meant that she would be able to go to the store and buy some things. The $15 that I so easily gave away would help provide food for this woman and her family. My family is by no means rich, but growing up I knew that I would always have three things; a roof over my head, food on the table, and my family. I never once had to question or worry about where my next meal would come from, and for that I am thankful. However, so many families out here live with that burden. Many days, I know that the only meal my students will eat is the lunch that is provided for them at school. I see the look of hunger in their eyes both in the morning and in the afternoon, and it breaks my heart. Most of the teachers in my school keep snacks in their rooms for the students, and I think this is something our students look forward to on the days following rough nights. 

There are so many times where someone out here says or does something that just helps put life into perspective, and this was just another one of those times. Fifteen dollars bought me a new pair of earrings yesterday; it also helped put food on the table for a family. I know that I cannot take in all of these children and feed them dinner, nor can I provided them with other things that they need. As an outsider, there is a fine line that I must balance so as to not offend or anger the people in the village. However, what I can do is keep snacks stocked up in my classroom and it's the least I can do to make sure I always have some jewelry money on hand. 

Carnival Round Two

Last weekend was one that I had been looking forward to for weeks. A nearby village, Kokhanok, was having their winter carnival and I decided to use that as an excuse to go visit some friends. I knew our school had a day off on Monday so I decided to take Friday off and make a four day weekend out of it; Sam and my friend Cailtin did the same. I was excited to spend a weekend in Kokhanok as I had yet to visit the village and because two of my friends, Kelsey and Kylie, live out here. The last time I’d seen either of them was in the beginning of January, so I was eager to visit with them and have some much needed girl time.

From easter egg hunts to "coffee can” races, Kokhanok lived up to its title of having the best carnival. There were plenty of unique activities to keep us busy and I had a great time getting to take part in them. They even set off fireworks and had a big bonfire down by the lake despite the cold temperatures and strong winds. As an outsider, I feel like there are many times in which my involvement in village activities is not always welcome. However, we were all welcomed into the festivities this weekend which is a reassuring and comforting feeling. Carnival is a time when everyone is just happy and seemingly carefree and it’s fun to watch as the community comes together.

Not only does Kokhanok’s community take part in carnival, but people from Newhalen/Iliamna, Nondalton, and Igiugig flew in for the weekend as well. I think having these events to look forward to breaks up the long and dark winters for the locals. Also, everyone knows someone or is related to someone, so they always know they have family to stay with if they travel between villages. It was great to see some familiar faces from the other villages and to feel more connected to the people who I’m starting to see more and more often. By attending these events, I hope to show that I’m invested in the communities and their traditions. 

While it was a long weekend, it was a great time. I was glad to be able to visit with my friends and take part in another carnival. I was scheduled to travel to King Salmon on Monday, but I almost got weathered in because it had started snowing on Sunday and went into Monday morning. Flights out here travel based on wind and visibility and with all the snow coming down, the visibility hadn’t been so great. However, by the afternoon the snow had stopped and the visibility was just fine so we were able to fly. I wouldn’t have minded getting weathered in Kokhanok, but I was also excited to get to King Salmon. The longer I stay in Alaska, the more villages I have been able to visit, and I am happy to be able to cross Kokhanok off of the list of places to visit! 

Here Comes the Sun

In the past two weeks I have found myself singing this tune many times. After a few months of living in Alaska’s darkest period I have been craving the seemingly longer days and sunny nights that I was greeted with back in August. To back-track, when I first got to Alaska, it was light until around 11:00pm and then bight again at 6:00am. During my last week in Pilot Point (in December), the sun was setting somewhere around 4:30-4:45. My last day in Alaska before winter break was the winter solstice which meant we had our shortest day of the year and that from that point on, we would begin gaining daylight again. 

While I don’t think the darkness really have a lasting negative impact on my daily moods or emotions, I still missed the ability to go out in the daylight after school. When I got to Nondalton and walked home from school the first time, I think I left at 4:30 and by the time I got home less than ten minutes later, it was just about closing in on my window of comfortable walking light. As I adjusted to my new village that first week, I began to stay out later and later each evening; I would go on runs after school, always staying close to home in case it got too dark. By the end of my third week in Nondalton I was able to stay out until close to 6:00 by the time it was getting dark. At first I thought my comfort level within the village was just expanding, but then I remembered that our nights were starting to get longer. 

In Alaska, when we start getting our sunshine back, it occurs quickly. Each day we get back about 5-6 minutes of sunlight (split between morning and night). Two weeks ago when I left my house for school at 7:30 in the morning, I no longer had to turn on my porch-light because the sunlight was starting to come up from behind the mountains. Similarly, at night, it was about 7:00 before it started to get dark. The temperatures were also starting to rise making me think that my first Alaskan spring was right around the corner. (Insert daylight savings time here).

Back when I was in PIP, I’d been asked so many times by family and friends if Alaska turned the clocks along with the rest of the lower 48 for daylight savings time. The answer was and still is yes. So last weekend when everyone else was “springing ahead” and losing an hour, we were doing the same thing here in the bush. However, it really is a win-win in my opinion. The effect of changing the clocks means that we now need the porch-light again in the morning when we’re going to school. But it also means that it doesn’t start to get dark until after 8:00 each night! This is something I have been eagerly waiting for and it has definitely made me feel more energized the past couple of weeks. 

Not only does it get darker later, but we are still gaining that daylight every day. This means that in just a few more weeks it will be getting lighter earlier in the morning and it will be even later before the sun sets at night. I love every second of it! While I’d like to be able to take advantage of this and go on walks or runs that late at night, winter has made its way back to Alaska with a vengeance. The past week has been bitterly cold and windy in the villages, and it makes me want to stay bundled up at home (even the natives don’t want to go outside much!). I’m hoping the cold weather won’t last too much longer before letting me get outside to enjoy my night-time sunshine.