Weekly Reflections - Week 3

This week was a harder week for me. I've gotten used to not having my bush order (thank you Swanson's from Bethel) but I was starting to feel lonely. Don't get me wrong, the people here are great, but I only have a couple of people who I would consider my friend. But that takes time. It was hard going from one place where I had many friends (how many "send-off" did I have? i seriously love you all!) to a place where nobody really knows me. My only "safety net" was my cats. I think I miss being around people who know me. I miss my family & friends, sure, but I had a little pity party for myself.

Thankfully, my friends are a phone call or message away. I was told to get over myself by a good friend. That wasn't really what I was expecting to hear, but good advice nonetheless. Actually, I was told to remove something from somewhere else, but you get the idea...

And magically, things got better. I went to a cake & ice cream party (oh so good!!!) and had a fun time. I was told I would love this one movie and invited to a movie night (with popcorn too!!). My roommate had invited a co-worker over to dinner, so my social life is actually more eventful in the Alaskan Bush than in urban California. My doing nothing has gone from a day spent to only an hour or two.

I wanted to take this time in Alaska to figure out my issues with food. So I brought this book about emotional eating and started going through it. Now here's the funny thing: my issues with food are so different here. It's limited in both options and amounts. Because I don't have a whole lot of food, I no longer eat a whole lot of food. Everything's different here. I don't eat junk food. Cake & ice cream? Popcorn? Holy cow!! That's a party!!! That's a big freakin' deal around these parts!

So after 3 week, my pants are looser and I can fit a ring that wouldn't fit before I left. I wasn't sure how I was going to live with no fast food or pizza, but I am finding that one can live without it. It sounds crazy, I know. And the other thing I've found? When you don't have sweets, cake and ice cream taste like heaven here on Earth!! Let me tell you, food up here tastes so much better!!

Careful Where You Jump.....

So I was walking to the school one night when I came across two of my students playing nearby. We were excited to say hello and they asked me where I was going & if they could "follow" me. I said sure and they went trailing me down this path.

This path is actually pretty cool. It's very woody & bushy. Along the path grow high bush cranberries and even raspberries. It's very dense and lush....overall a great walk to work.

So my students are following me when I hear one of my students say, "This is where I saw the guns."

ALL STOP.....HEART IN THROAT....


I turn around, "What did you see?"

Student, "Nothing."

So I keep walking, and listening.

Up the path, the student says, "I saw them right here."

I turn again, "You saw guns here?" I'm panicked because I'm not quite sure who I tell about this....there's no 911. I'm going through my list of who to contact, but my first concern is to keep those kids from touching those guns....

Student 2 says, "They're not real Miss Ruark. They're blue and yellow."

Yeah, sure. I'll just hang around just to see.

Student 1 says, "They're right here." And he disappears into this massive bush.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

Where he holds up a 3 foot long bright blue Nerf gun. It was half his size. And he pulls out a second smaller Nerf gun.

Student 2 says, "Hey! That's my brothers!"

Student 1 says, "That's okay, we're just borrowing them."

They proceed to play. I tell them I'll see them later.

"No Miss Ruark, we're following you!"

Oh yeah, that's right.

:)

NOTE TO SELF: stop jumping to conclusions

And Speaking of Dogs.....

So last night I was getting ready for bed when I heard this howling. It was faint at first but grew louder and louder. I went to the window to see if there was an injured dog on the road....nothing. But I couldn't really tell where the sound was coming from. Every window I went to, the dog seemed to be right there. I couldn't see anything.

Then it occurred to me: The dog is under the house and it's following my footsteps. The dog is screaming at this point and I just think: What do I do? I say a quick prayer to help the dog find it's way but then I wonder, what if the dog's stuck and can't get out?

So then I decided to go out (it was midnight and dark) and try to help it get out. I grab my maglight, put on my boots and venture outside the house.

I can hear the dog yelping as I came out. I shined my light under the stairs..it was a pup.

I called it and out it came....a black puppy no bigger than my foot. it must have been four weeks old.

What do I do now?????

I picked it up to stop it's yelping and to try to process this situation....dogs were shot earlier today, did momma get it? Who do I contact? What do I do????

While I was pondering all this, the puppy had cuddled up to my chest and promptly fell asleep. He (a baby boy) would whine if I sat him down. So as not to wake my roommate (okay, I tried but she wouldn't wake up) I cuddled with him all night long. He woke up at one point and tried to suckle the fatty tissue around my thumb. I fed him some high quality cat food and some water & he cuddled up and fell right back asleep.

I found out later that some people dump puppies by the teacher housing in order for them to be rescued.

I loved that puppy, but I ended up not keeping the puppy. 1) There was a family with two stay at home women who would mother that puppy far better than I would and 2) my roommate doesn't want me to have a dog.

But I am not ready to have a dog yet anyways. I think I was the instrument of the dog's placement into it's forever home. I found out later that some people had heard it's yelping but didn't think to do anything.

Yeah, leave it to me to be the one who goes out in the middle of the night in the Alaskan Bush armed with a maglight to rescue a screaming animal.......

Sometimes I'm so brilliant I could scream......

His new family named him Captain......and I heard he's been cuddling with them all day. :)

Please Don't Shoot My Dog....

So my morning announcement this morning went something like this: The sheriff is shooting stray dogs today, so if you have a dog, make sure it is tied up.

One of my students came up to me and asked me, "Can I go call my mom so she can tie up our dog? I don't want my dog to die."

"Of course."

Oh my.....


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A man came into my classroom to help me set up my computers. One of my students came up to him and asked him who he was in Yup'ik.

My student was shocked when I turned to the gentleman and said, "He wants to know who you are." And then I turned to my student and introduced him. The look on my student's face was priceless!! He wanted to know how I knew that...well, I've been paying attention!!

They have Yup'ik everyday for a half hour. I've been going, not everyday, but I've gone several times. It's tough, but I've gotten a few phrases and words down. Mostly I know how to tell them to hurry up. It comes in handy.


*******************

Does anyone have any questions they want to know? Let me know & I'll be happy to respond.

Pics of Alaska

This is my attempt at a slide show.....we'll see how this goes....

These are pics taken from Akiak...the peach house is my house.

Nature Walk

After my complainy (and my mom mentioned misspelled) post, several things have happened.

After work that day, I went for a walk with a couple other teachers. I brought my camera and took some amazing pictures. Which you can't see just yet, but there's one I am particularly proud of. But it was really neat walking around the village. I got to see places I hadn't seen before. I tell you, it's just beautiful here!

I got issued a new laptop....with ALL the keys on it! Yay!!!

I ordered from that store again, and got some more food. I'm feeling pretty good. Still no bush order but it's only been 2 weeks and 5 days....maybe when I hit week 3 I'll be lucky. We are getting closer to week 4 every day and so I know it can be any day now.

Okay, I'm just going to say this: I don't know how effective last year's teacher was with my students. I have been very spoiled having a great first grade team at my last school. It makes such a huge difference. So I had a rough day yesterday but I came back today with a plan: we are going to work on classroom basics. And my god these kids are awesome! Once I let them know what I wanted, they worked very hard to give it to me.

I cracked a joke today....just a stupid little one that mostly cracks me up. This quiet little boy whispers, "You crack me up." It was a delightful moment. I am loving these kids. They are so sweet.

One thing happened that wasn't so hot. I was debating whether or not to even mention this aspect, but it happens. My house was on lock-down on Saturday. Someone was causing some trouble in the village and a call went out for all teachers to lock the doors of their houses. I totally slept through it, but I am very well looked after here, and one of the janitors came & checked my house to make sure my roommate and I were safe. Everything was fine, but this tells me two things: make safety number one and I am very lucky that there are so many wonderful people here who help me even when I don't know it.

I certainly chose a wild path when I decided to come up here. I am finding you have to focus on the beauty and look past the ugly. But it's still hard up here. Everything is more of a challenge, except love. It's easy to love these kids. That's the one thing I don't struggle with. But I miss Benicia. I'm about to hit the longest I have ever been away from it. That's sad....I think I just found some new strength!! :)

Weekly Reflections - Week 2

Ahhhh...the joys of living in the bush....random power failures that fry wireless routers and leave you with no internet at home. I can use the internet here at school, but i've been running to the post office everyday in anticipation of my bush order arriving. I have gotten some amazon orders & the box my mom sent but still no bush order. I see another $120 bag of groceries in my future.

I am using my laptop that the school gave me & the delete key has fallen off. I have it on the key but do you know how often I make typing mistakes? This is somewhat annoying.....although I did enjoy it when the tech guy asked me which key I was missing and I said, "This one." and handed it to him.

My heater is still broken in my classroom and let me tell you, it feels like august in here. I could make another reference but I'll refrain.

So my weekly reflection ~ Teaching is exhausting but I'm seeing progress. Which is good. These are good kids who are so smart. It's just really hard to keep their focus.

I heard some gnarly stories involving puppies who follow their kids to school in the wintertime and get left outside. That was disturbing.

I was able to upload pictures to my laptop so I could publish them on my blog. Of course they aren't on this computer, so a lot of good that does me right now....

The hardest thing about this week was the fact that I got sick. I lost my voice, had a bad sinus cold, etc. I was able to work and I really wasn't all that miserable, but it was hard because I don't have any over the counter cold medicine. I had tylenol and that was it. I had some teas but not my whole assortment that I liek to have when I'm sick. I haven't gotten any of my cough drops and I totally forgot about throat spray. So I've just been bearing it. And you know what? I'm doing okay. Man, I'm going to be so tough after all this! I'm gonna have to order some plaid fannel shirts to go with my hiking boots to go with my grizzly toughness. Okay, not really, but I bet they are warm.

But my two weeks out here have changed me. I've been thinking about it and I've made a list of things I will never complain about again:

1) It raining all the time in California. Here's why: it's raining almost everyday here. Which means the river is really high. If the river doesn't go down before it freezes, then come spring our village will get flooded out. Rain in California is just annoying, not dangerous.

2) Going to the store. Man, I would love to go to the store. I would love to need something and get it within an hour. That's freakin' sweet!

3) Traffic. You're at least in a car and not walking.

4) Having nothing to do. The power went out. Which means the pumps wouldn't work for our water. My battery was low in my laptop and I was going to recharge it later. I had to become inventive with my time for 3 hours. I was bored out of my mind.

5) Darkness. We'll see about this but right now I miss seeing the stars and the moon. I know they are out there. I may miss the sun in a few months.

6) Plumbers: what I would give to have a good plumber....my toliet, tub, sink, washing machine and pipes leak. I would wait hours for a decent plumber.

Okay, I feel like all I've done is complain. I tend to get grouchy in the heat. Which is one of the reasons I moved to Alaska. And it's hotter than Hades in this classroom. But I will leave this blog entry on a positive note:

My roommate and I went down to the river after being invited to another teacher's hosue for dinner. We played Just Dance on the Wii and had a great time. But down on the river (which is seriously right by my house), it was so beautiful and peaceful. I saw a fish jumping. That's still the only wildlife I've seen besides ducks. But it was a lovely way to end the day. Life here is really very lovely....

You've Got Mail

Have you ever seen The Money Pit with Tom Hanks & Shelley Long? Well, there's this scene where Tom Hanks finds out they rebuilt his stairs and he's driven to tears of joy over having stairs again. He tests a few and then announces to someone "I'm gonna go and use my new stairs!" I now totally understand that moment. I got to finally do my laundry!!! I got some laundry detergent!!

If you are wondering if I got finally got my bush order, the answer is NOPE! One teacher got just got hers and she ordered it two weeks before I did. So I have no idea when it's coming.

BUT what I did do was call this grocery store in Bethel. I gave them my order: small container of laundry detergent, some girlie stuff, soda, bread, orange juice, big bag of chips, apple sauce, bananas, turkey for sandwiches, and oatmeal. I called it in this morning and it was waiting for me after work. And it only cost me almost $120. I swear....it really was that much. They airmailed it to me. And I was never so excited to look in my fridge. I actually said to myself, "Wow! What do I want to eat tonight!?!"

AND ON TOP OF THAT: two of my missing four tubs showed up! Yay! Including all my lotions and cleansers that I didn't need for that week in Anchorage but hoped to have here. It really made my day!!!!

Did I mention that we finally got doors for our bedroom? Yeah, that was pretty cool too. Lola kept going in my roommate's room and now the door stays shut. Plus we both have some privacy. Which is always a good thing!

This afternoon was just what I needed because jobwise, this is the hardest gig I've ever had. The kids are really great kids and they are smart. The problem is the books I'm required to teach from. We were supposed to be reading a story about a grandpa messing up the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The level was much too hard for these guys and it assumed that everyone knew the story of Little Red Riding Hood. But I'm in a Yup'ik Eskimo Village....guess what story isn't a huge part of their childhood? And then I'm supposed to discuss the differences between the "normal" version and the "funny" one. If I didn't have people from the state coming in and making sure I'm teaching exactly how I'm supposed to be, I would redo that lesson with a Yup'ik legend they all know. I have been teaching 2nd grade for four years now and this is the most advanced stuff to start out with I have seen. Sorry California....but this stuff is tough for your second graders too...who already have the background knowledge.

Seriously though, I've gone from thinking moving here was the craziest thing I've ever done to this is the hardest thing I have ever done. And it doesn't mean I've made a mistake. I don't feel that at all. I just feel that this experience is going to test me. To make this a successful year, it's going to take everything I've ever learned about teaching and a few new things as well!

I believe this will be hard but there's going to be a lot rewards and smaller victories. The kids are truly amazing. They like to touch my ears. I wasn't sure why until I realized that most women's ears are pierced just once....not four like mine. They also were shocked about my tattoos. "You mean you have that forever?". I guess I'm hard core for the village! One of my students asked me, "Why are you white?" I just said, "Cause my mom and dad were." She nodded and carried on satisfied with my answer.

That's it for now. And on a side note: Thank you to everyone who commented on my posts or sent me an e-mail. I'm very pleased everyone seems to be enjoying my adventures here. I think once the new school year settles down, I should be going out and doing some things. That would be nice!

Weekly Reflections - Week 1

I've decided to make a weekly reflection feature on my blog. Just cause it sounds cool. :)

So today marks my first week in the village, not counting the week I was here in June. This week has been very different. I don't have many gnarly stories. Or any for that matter. This week has been a work week. But I do have some musings to share.

For one: I have armed myself with bug spray and I am so much happier this time around than before. I was warned that the gnats are out & are worse than mosquitoes. But they respond to bug spray so I'm doing good. I have two bites, but two is waaay better than 30, so I am way ahead of the game!

I don't find the village quite so intimidating. I have been walking to the stores (there are two) and I stick to main roads...okay, there's one short cut I take but it's right past the jail where nobody every goes. People have been very friendly. Yesterday a bunch of kids swarmed me & gave me hugs & held my hand. One boy was shouting "She's my teacher! She's my teacher!". It was awesome.

Today has been a busy day with bush planes....they have been flying over my house. It's very windy & I wonder if that has something to do with it. Last night it rained really hard. I found the sound of the rain falling on a tin roof very soothing. Okay, this was a random paragraph.....whatever, I'm reflecting.

Last night, I dreamt my brother & sister-in-law came up for a surprise visit and they brought my niece. I miss her tons. I wish my family could come out and visit me but it's very expensive, so I understand. I'll be sure glad to see them for Christmas. Both my brother and my grandfather are moving to Benicia this month. Fate works in funny ways. As soon as I leave, they come!

So back to Akiak. I am really liking it up here. I find there's a rhythm here that seems to fit me. The way time flows, the wind blows, I don't know. There's never a hurried pace. Maybe it's because you have to walk everywhere. So you say to yourself, "I have to get to the post office before 4:30." So you do but there's no hustle about it. Maybe it's also because there's a chance that the post office is closed anyways. For no reason whatsoever. Actually, there's probably a reason having to do with the guy's private life, but I'm not here to make accusations of government workers on the internet, that and he's a nice guy.

I am having a hard time with not having all of my stuff. My bush order still hasn't come yet. I have four tubs with items that I was using up to the last moment from home that I'm still waiting for too. I got mud on my new jeans and don't have laundry soap yet. Little things like that make me feel isolated from the rest of the world. Which actually aside from the shopping, I kinda like that feeling.

I like that the weather has become so much more important to me. Not bad, just different. One day you have clouds, rain , and a Arctic wind. Today is clouds, very windy but it's a warm wind. I also like that I can read mud. As in, which mud is slippery and which mud will you maintain your balance in. I like that my commute to work now involves a mud puddle obstacle course. I like that a cloudy day with patches of sky & sunlight can be a beautiful day. Which everyone comments about, "Enjoying the weather?"

I am getting used to having a roommate. This is a new thing for me. I am actually an introvert. Which means I have to been alone to recharge my batteries. My roommate is an extrovert, meaning she needs to be around people. Today she's duck hunting in Akiachak (the next village over) and I am here having a quiet day to myself. So far it's working out. I think it's a good idea that I have a roommate, especially in a place as harsh as this one. But it takes some getting used to.

I've been away from home for two weeks as of tomorrow. It feels like longer. Having my cats here makes me feel like I am home. They don't cuddle with me as much, but they have more space & Daisy's still mad at me. Lola's cat toys are in those missing tubs....so I really hope they come soon.

My school schedule seems really long. I get there at 8 a.m., class starts at 9 and gets out at 3:20. It's really only like 20 minutes longer than my old schedule but it seems longer.

My school is a k-12 school. One wing is for elementary school the other one is for high school. Which means I see some major teenage drama unfolding. That and I got a funny comment from one of the high schoolers. "I didn't know this school was hiring supermodels...." Uh-huh! That one made me laugh! I think I'll be sticking with my little ones thank you very much!

Okay, that's my reflection for the first week. I do think it's gonna be a good year. I will have some hardships, sure, but I think I'm gonna like it here!

Back to School...

Today marked my fifth first day of school as a teacher. By now, I wasn't sweating. This was my fourth time introducing 2nd grade to the little ones. No problem. The first day of school is mostly talking....talking about procedures, rules, what to expect, etc....and throw in a couple of fun little activities and bam! you're done. I've got this down pat.

Man, I got schooled. This was my first day as a Yup'ik school teacher & it might have well of my first year as a teacher. Oh arrogance....how quick you are to mock!

Okay, it wasn't that bad. My students are just not ones who you should talk at a lot. They learn best by doing/touching/feeling. So within 15 minutes of my start of the day, I was tossing out my procedure plan. We jumped into my activities. And I'll let you in on a secret....I ended up covering all I had planned anyways. Only what used to take me all morning to cover had taken me less than an hour.

We were finished with my plans for the day by lunchtime. And the heater was broken in my room. How many of you thought that means my room was cold?....try the opposite! We were sweating buckets.

The one good thing about teaching for now five years, is that I have a pretty good bag of tricks! Meaning, I have a bunch of different activities we can do. And so we did.....

I have planned 2x the amount of activities for the day tomorrow. Curriculum actually starts on Monday. I have 12 students, maybe 13 since 1 was missing.

The kids are very sweet. I will say that normally, you have a "honeymoon" period with students. This means that they come in on their best behavior, then after they get more comfortable with you, their "real" selves come out. Not true in Akiak. These kids are who they are the minute they walk in the door. And oddly enough, they brought out the real me in me as well!!

On a side note: Bush orders - not so much fun. I still haven't received my food order that I placed last week. Other people are starting to get their order. UGH! But I did get my Old Navy order. Good to know: Old Navy is faster than grocery. Only in Alaska!!

Oh! For the teachers/parents who know the song Victor Vito: my kids got a big kick out of the line: "They drove from El Cerrito all the way to Alaska." Those kids love to sing!!

Cross your fingers for me that my bush order comes tomorrow! One can hope! Oh and don't worry about me starving in Alaska, I've got some food to last me & my roommate has been very generous.

I've Arrived!!!

Well, I got stuck in Bethel. Not because of the weather mind you, oh no....I got stuck because my plane was delayed & the company my school district hired does not fly past 8:00. So I spent the night in Bethel.

But it wasn't all bad....I didn't have any kitty litter, so a teacher from another village who was stuck with me walked me to a grocery store (some kids call "the mall") and I found the perfect bag of kitty litter. Then we stopped by a cafe. Overall, not a bad night. I had to kennel my kitties and they weren't pleased. Daisy rubbed her nose raw trying to find a weakness in the kennel. She couldn't find one...not because it was a great kennel but because she was looking up & not down. The bottom part was velcro.

Then we found out that our 10 a.m. flight was delayed due to fog. The pilot says "I dunno...you guys mind flying low? We could try it." We said yes, just because we wanted to get to our villages. The pilot asks us again because he says we have to be sure we agree to this. Then he stands up and says "Wanna try to fly?" So this tells me that flying low is dangerous. And maybe we shouldn't do it. Oh, but what's the fun in that!?! So of course we say "Sure."

I really didn't notice us being that low. I expected to barely miss the tops of trees and we were way up there. He kinda got me all nervous for nothing. I looked for moose....nothing. I tell you: Alaska better start delivering on this wildlife claim they've got going. So far it's been a ginormous snooze fest as far as that goes.

So I arrive in the village and there's the school janitor waiting for me. She shouts, "Welcome home!!" and gives me a hug. Over all, a wonderful arrival into Akiak. I spent the rest of the day unpacking. And I'm pretty much done. Just waiting on some tubs to get here. They will either come tomorrow or two months from now. Note to self: always send priority mail. ALWAYS - unless you have two months to wait for something. I am not so patient.

And now for the weather. I guess me flying to Akiak bypasses the other seasons because it's cold & rainy which is very much a Northern California winter. Except it's August. I so wanted to take a picture of my ensemble today. It was a winner: I pegged my pants (hello children from the 80's) and tucked them into my socks. Then I put on my calf length rubber boots. I put on my powder blue thick jacket. Over that, I put on a reversible rain poncho. I finished my look with my purple, black, & gray backpack & my black mittens. I rocked that look!

Truthfully, I was warm & dry so I really can't complain. I intend to get a picture of it though.

I started working on my classroom today. Second grade has had a new teacher in that room for at least the last five years. I have gone through a bunch of stuff but I'm still waiting on my package of bulletin board stuff. Hope, hope, hope it gets there tomorrow.

So far, I'm happy here. We had a teacher dinner at the principal's house on Saturday and tonight I had dinner at another teacher's house. He brought his wife and five of his seven children to Alaska. Plus their dog, cat, & parrot. It was a fun night! Both nights actually. I haven't seen many people out & about but with this weather, I'm not surprised. Either that or they are berry picking. Blueberries, salmon berries, cranberries, and I think one more type are in season right now. They grow wild here & the villagers pick them.

So that's my update....mostly housekeeping. School starts on Thursday. It's just a matter of setting things up, and of course, calling my mommy to ask her to send some things to me.... :)

To Akiak or Not To Akiak..

....and that is the question on deck. The weather's been bad here. Okay, not my definition of bad...just clouds & it's raining. Which means I missed the northern lights that came past Anchorage this week. Drat! Anyways, the weather may be to dangerous to fly a bush plane into the village. So I may have to spend the night in Bethel.

I didn't get my driver's license here. I had a bunch of identification but not the one piece they required. I studied very hard too. Ah well.

Shopping was a huge deal. Since there's not a grocery store in the village, you have to buy everything & ship it out. And you should buy in bulk. So let me tell you about my experience. I went to Sam's Club with my roommate. We loaded up two carts full of stuff. I bought dry goods & toiletries. Oh! and cleaning supplies....about $550 in groceries. Now this store has a bush shipping department. So they'll pack up your purchases & ship them to your house. For a charge of 49% of your total order. Add in some other fees and my shipping fee came to about $400. So I spent close to one grand at Sam's Club.

Oh wait, but I'm not done!! I still had some other items to buy. So we went to Walmart, who also has a bush shipping department. I didn't need a lot. A bottle of ketchup lasts me more than a year, so I got items like that. Now for Walmart I just had to take my cart up to the Bush Shipping window & fill out a form for COD delivery. That way, in case my order gets lost or stolen, I don't have to pay for it. But I pay all the fees to the Post Office when it comes.

And that's still not including my meat, dairy, & other perishables. I am ordering those online. But I don't need a whole lot of that stuff.

Food is expensive in the bush. But with the internet, it makes things a lot easier. If I run out of something, I can just order it online & pay a huge fee.

Had I known about the 49% charge, I would have brought empty tubs, filled them up with my purchases & taken them to the Post Office myself. But by the time I found that out, I was leaving the next day & it just wasn't an option. But live & learn.

My new cell phone drops calls & other carriers don't recognize it as a cell phone. They think it's a landline. Which who cares, but I was hoping to text on it & I can't text with some of my friends unless they contact their own carriers & tell them my number is in fact a cell phone. Geez louise!!!

This is certainly nothing like I've ever experienced before!! I'm glad to be doing it though. I'm telling you, the people here are so much fun! You have to be a little bit crazy for doing this and it's like I'm among my people!!

and that's just the teachers....

I'll update you on Akiak....as soon as I can!

So Far, So Good....

The last couple of days have been a blur!! The cats did great on the plane! Sure, they hated every minute of it, but I was expecting that! Did I mention that I was planning on bringing my two cats to the village? Yes, I am....hey - I'm halfway there actually!!

I like Anchorage. But what I've really liked is the people here. Everyone is really nice and they all have a great sense of humor. I've been laughing and having a lot of fun. Okay, the inservice is still an inservice. *Shocking secret alert - teachers don't like sitting down all day stuck listening to lectures!!* But the information is interesting and it's always good to get new ideas to try out.

I really like my hotel. I have a roommate, which worried me with my two cats. My cats have boundary issues and I really don't like them getting in someone else's space. But I'm staying in a suite with two bedrooms. I even have my own bathroom!! And housekeeping won't come in my room with the cats loose (which doesn't bother me one little bit) so it's been really cool here.

It's raining and about 66 degrees today. But it doesn't feel cold yet. It gets dark about 11:30 p.m. so I am seeing some darkness. The picture of me was taken about 10 p.m. so you can see it's pretty light out....

My welcome dinner was really well done. The food was tasty and it was held in the Alaskan Native Heritage Center. On the way there, I was looking for moose. I really want to see one. Anyways, they brought in some Eskimo dancers for entertainment. After a few dances, they invited anyone who wanted to to come up and dance. I really wanted to try it. I was chicken at first (the belly dancer in me was calling!!) but I saw some other people were going up and I thought, "Why not?". So in front of my new co-workers and bosses, I went up and tried to keep up. I got compliments afterwards so I don't think I made a complete fool out of myself.

I have some things I have to take care of while I'm in Anchorage before I leave for the village (Friday afternoon).
1) Get a cell phone (there's only one kind that works in the bush & it's not a major service
2) Go shopping for food
3) Get fingerprints redone (sheesh!!!)
4) Get Alaskan Driver's License

And I still have a couple days of inservices...but I still have time....whew!! I'm pretty busy these days!!!

T Minus 19 Hours....

Wow....this last week has been an interesting experience. A big thank you goes out to my mom, my music teacher friend, my step-dad, & my cousin for helping me get ready. My brother also helped move the couch out.

I found out that my Alaskan life fits in 20 containers. I'm wondering if I am bringing too much stuff. But I also got rid of half my apartment so what do I know? So I'm sitting here at my mother's house after printing up my boarding pass. I bought a new laptop, but there's no wireless internet, so here I sit.

It's a weird mix of emotions that fill me. I'm excited, sure. And terrified. I'm happy to see my new friends again. And heartbroken to leave my old ones.

There's so many things I'm going to miss.....and yet so many new experiences are waiting for me....

But tonight....tonight I'm remembering why I love Benicia so much. Benicia is more than simply a town, i love the geography, the weather, and the people...

Some cultures do not say goodbye unless it's an absolute "I'll never see you again"...so in that regards I leave Benicia with these words:

Until we meet again...