Swamped....

It's been a while....I know.....stupid homework!

My visit to California went well. I didn't get to see as many friends as I hoped but it was great seeing the ones I did. And my family! I do wish I had spent more time with my grandfather, Papa Joe (T'amo!!) but it was a quick trip. I have decided to go back at Christmas time. This time - I'm bringing Dakota!!

One goal I had for my trip was to do things I don't normally get to do....I ended up going to the movies almost every day I was out there. It was awesome!! My brother Adam brought over Thor and Captain America for me to watch before I went to see The Avengers. My baby brother joined my mother and I for that one.

Getting home was an adventure! The plane tried to land in Bethel and had to turn around. They were doing construction on the runway and it was a smaller runway. Add that to a very windy day and I was out o'luck! So I ended up spending the night at the airport. Sadly, I discovered the quiet, dark, perfect for sleeping area too late, so I ended up sleeping at my gate. I covered myself up with my coat and slept on a bench. I scared the crap out of an agent right by me when I woke up. I woke up and jumped up, throwing off my coat not remembering where I was. From now on I am going to keep some travel sized, emergency toiletries in my backpack. Ever feel "not so fresh"? Yeah, hose me down like in Tommy Boy with a fire hose to get the airport funk off me please!!!!

When I finally did get home, my Reading, Language, and Culture class started. I was taking it online in the mornings. The class was a GREAT class and so interesting. But the amount of reading I had to do everyday was waaaaaay too much. I had to read 4 books and countless articles. The basis of the class is how culture affects your language, and that affects your reading. The basic idea is that as a teacher, it's not fair to have a one size fits all outlook when it comes to your students. For example, in some cultures it's considered disrespectful to look an adult in the eye. And in my culture, it's disrespectful not to look an adult in the eye. So a child will be showing a teacher respect and be treated like he's not.

I gained so much from the class. The biggest idea I took away from it was the idea of "code-switching". For children who speak a different dialect (even village English or Ebonics) the idea is that you don't correct the language (making them feel bad) you teach language as two ways: informal and formal. And you have the kids translate sentences into those forms. So "I go Bethel." becomes "I am going to Bethel." And "School starts in 3 days." becomes "School start in 2 sleeps." It's not wrong, different dialects have their own rules of grammar. I can't wait to try it.

That's the reason I haven't posted anything, my days followed the same pattern: get up --> class --> work summer school --> walk Dakota --> do homework --> go to bed

It was so much work!!!

Summer school was a lot of fun though. I love interacting with the kids during summer school. I did arts & crafts with the kids. We'd blast music while the kids worked. On the first day, a group of boys got the kids all to sit down and I called them "Security". Then we went for a walk and I overheard one of the boys say, "Hey! We're Security! We gotta keep these kids with the group!" And they did. So I got 5 black shirts that said Security across the chest. From then on, if I wanted the kids to sit down at the end of recess by shouting "SECURITY!!!" and they would do all the work. Then they would stand behind me, guarding the line until they were dismissed. It was fun!

I did meet several of the new teachers. My schedule kept me pretty busy and it wasn't until the last day they were there that I really spoke to any of them. Most of them are experienced and hopefully it will all work out. One guy taught in Japan for several years, which is cool. I think the culture is very different but he seemed comfortable experiencing the Yup'ik culture.

One thing happened last month that kinda sucked. I knew my 4 wheeler was running low on gas, so when I ran out on the way to work, I was embarrassed but not shocked. Owen came to my rescue and brought me some gas......and it was at that point I realized some tubing was hanging out of my 4 wheeler....Owen looked at it and announced: my gas didn't run out....it had been stolen. And when he tried to put the gas line back, he discovered it had been sliced...actually more like stabbed. I guess the thief got mad at me for not having a whole lot of gas in my tank.

Teachers are the highest paid workers in the villages. So I'm sure I made a pretty good target for stealing gas. I'm sure the thief thought I would have a full tank. Well, the joke was on him. Because while I can afford gas, I am also incredibly lazy. I hate pumping gas and I have always waited until I absolutely had to before getting some. So ha ha on the thief! And just to continue to piss off the world of gasoline theft, I won't be keeping my tank full. Just for the satisfaction of pissing off gas thieves.

Here's a pic of my 4 wheeler:

The Grizzly

The other issue I have been having as of late has been my constant summer foe: mosquitoes!! They are worse than last year! I have stocked up on bug spray (personally, OFF works for me) and I recently purchased a bug zapper. Which has become my new nightly habit: trolling for blood suckers! A couple of days ago, I posted on Facebook that Dakota has been swarmed. His eye was swelling up and he's got bites all over his snout. A bunch of my friends gave me some advice and I now have some repellent to help Dakota headed my way. 

One thing that's been fun that I wasn't expecting has been driving the work vehicles. As you know, I do have an Alaskan driver's license but I hadn't driven any of the vehicles. Well, now that everyone's gone, they needed someone to drive here, etc. And so I stepped up to the plate! One vehicle is a big truck and the other one's an Expedition. The Expedition's gear thingy is messed up and so you can't see what gear you are in....luckily, it's an automatic. So I devised this handy rule of thumb: if the car goes backwards - you are in reverse, if the car goes forward - you are in drive, if the car doesn't move - you are either in neutral or park. Mind blowing, isn't it? The Expedition is such a piece of crap. The door handle is busted now so you have to reach out the window to let yourself out. And someone left a container of fish in it that spilled, so it stinks to high heaven! It's hard to exactly describe the stink, so let's just say: it's from rotten fish and it smells vile!!

The truck is much more fun to drive. I'm so high up! One day, the road crew had two different roads blocked (one of them being the main road) so I had to drive (both vehicles that day) on these back trails...that was an adventure. I was driving on trails that if I miscalculated I would end up in a ditch....or the trees were so low, I found myself ducking....and in a car with a roof, ducking does no good. But it was fun!

I have been wanting to take more pictures of Alaska, but when I'm walking Dakota, it's hard to manage my camera and the dog. So while in California, I bought a camera that would fit in my pocket. And I put it to use! Enjoy the pictures!!