Weekend in Quin

Hello friends!

It seems like the weekends here are so jammed packed I always have things to write about. So my time in Bethel was pretty productive. Got some training in—had some Subway (where a five dollar foot long is no longer five dollars) and then back to good old Quinhagak. I am sorry to report that my trip home was way less entertaining then the way there.

Friday around 6:30 I was reunited with the family (Gill and Allison) and oh it was great to be back together again. We ate some dinner and then set off for our new Friday night tradition…SLUSH PUPPIES…it was even better then last weeks! We have decided our new thing will be Friday night slushies. We then headed to Marsha’s (she is another teacher in our village) for…BEADING NIGHT..I had been looking forward to bead night all day long. So we beaded and we beaded, it was a great night. My craft may not look too professional, but hey I am just a beginner. Marsha has craft night at her house on Fridays…I am going to be super crafty by next May!

So after my super crafty night us girls took our first steam….for those of you who do not know what this it is part of the Yupik

culture. It is bacially like a tiny shack one room is where you change and sit after you have to run out of the steem part because it is so hot. It is basically like a sauna but WAYYYY hotter. I mean WAYY HOTTER…I did not last long in there at all. It was a good experience and something I have never really experienced before.

Saturday morning was like every Saturday morning thus far. Wake up make a little breakfast, drink a little tea and then just hang out. We cleaned our whole house and it is looking pretty darn good. We got some food this week that we ordered and I am proud to announce we now have enough food that we were able to organize by category. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE I KNOW. For those of you who have no idea, food here is way more expensive then I thought it would be. Really helps you appreciate the value of money when everything here is up to three times more expensive then back home. Some examples: pop tarts 5.50 a box (the little boc), a bag of chips is anywhere between 8-10 dollars, and one can of pop is 1.50. After cleaning we headed to the post office and then just hung out.

Today was a tough day because I got a call that my classroom had flooded, and some of my things have been ruinied. (books, supplies, personal belongings, etc) I’ve been pretty upset about this all day, but tried to surround myself with people who make me the happiest! I am really pushing myself to think that hey it could have been worse. It is just another little obstacle and at this point it is outta my control. And I will be able to go in and do what I need to do to fix my room before school on Monday.

A special announcement: Gill got a brand spanking new tank this weekend. It looks wonderful. It is Red and about 3 times bigger then the last tank. Gill is one happy fish! Very classy Gill, very classy!

So tonight had a relaxing night with Steph and Jim laughing and watching t.v. I have a new obession after the dinner we ate tonight. IT WAS SOOO GOOD—Made me forget about taco bell, wendys, and all the fast food places I have been missing oh so much. It was potatoes with taco meat and cheese. DELICIOUS. I have also found someone here who likes to online shop even more than me. And I thought I wouldn’t be trendy! This year is going to be great. We will both have all the latest fashions.

So I leave ya with a final thought (I am really starting to enjoy these final thoughts) The final thought/word for today is perservance. If you truly are searching for something, you must not give up. When things get tough you just have to reply on the others around you to help you get/find what you are looking for. As the days continue to pass and I miss home more and more I realize that what I want is to embrace this experience, teach these children, and learn about myself and the people around me—to do this I must have perservance and a few other things I have still yet to discover.

planes, kids, and CARIBOU

Today my friends is an exciting blog, oh the stories I shall share with you today—I can’t sleep so I’m sitting in the hotel (I’m in Bethel) feeling all important with my laptop on my lap sipping on some tea with some music lightly playing in the background.

So I never wrote about berry picking that was on Sunday…what a fun time…I knew that this would be much like fishing and if I didn’t find the perfect berry, I would in-fact becoming over berry picking as well! So the girls and I set off (looking pretty darn good I might add) to collect some berries…my favorite part of the trip was when Steph asked Rachel to bring her weapon…weapon to berry pick? Oh yes I’m in Alaska I remember and there are scary bears who may try to eat me…but Rachel had us covered. So we picked and we picked and we picked some more…my poor fingers were aching. I took many breaks where I just sat on the tundra. Ate about 338749348394839 berries and thought I was going to vomit. I may have eaten more then half of the berries I collected. And you guessed it after about an hour, my legs were sore, my teeth were turning a purplish blue, and a had one heck of a belly ache. So berry picking was a great time, but much like fishing. If I’m not finding marvelous things I am done…goal for next time..FIND RASBERRIES…they are oh so delicious, really hit the spot

Alright this week has flown, I am slowly starting to get into the swing of things I believe. This week has been one of the toughest weeks on me personally thus far, but I believe that these things happen for a reason. My math class is going well and I was happy that one day this week I got 10 out of the 16 in my class to turn in their homework, I was so proud! It is fun implementing my own teaching strategies and trying to think about every single student in my classroom. These are all things I had to sit through and hear about in boring lectures for 4.5 years. And now that I get to try things on my own..I LOVE IT.

Monday Steph’s parents came to Quinhagak to visit! Sipped on some hot chocolate (and I may add this was the best hawt chowlate ((people here think I have a funny accent)) I’ve ever had. Jim thought we were making fun of him, but it’s the small things here you begin to love. It was soooooo good! Roomie and I were talking about it for days!

Later in the week, we did our part as citizens and registered to vote in Alaska. I felt so important, got a sticker and all! Doing the small things makes me feel like part of a community, and something bigger.

We also let children visit our house. Visiting the teacher’s house is a HUGE thing here, its equal to me getting to go tanning, those who know me know I love my tanning. So anyways we let some children into our house. The first thing we always do is introduce them to Gill, because hey he’s one g-o-o-d looking fish. Then we got out all our paints, markers, crayons..and ladies and gentlemen it was Picasso time. We had a great time creating beautiful pictures for our fridge (pictures to come) After pictures—I always give a piece of candy and they are on their merry way. It makes me realize the small things you can do for people to make them happy. The children love the chance to just sit and get to know us. We don’t have to do anything big, just be ourselves (charming and witty of course) and take time to get to know the children in our village

So the best part of this blog is going to be about my trip to Bethel…So Thursday at 11 am my principal told me that there was an opportunity for me to go to Bethel for training, I said okay thinking this baby wouldn’t be until a few days and that would give me time to mentally prepare to leave my roomie. So I told him okay and he responded with Okay you leave at six. SIX I THOUGHT? OOH NO I HAVE TO LEAVE ALLISON—So I spent the afternoon writing some sub plans and preparing myself for a night away from the person I’ve been with non-stop for the past month. We did our routine mail run, our routine after school snack overload , I packed, and then we waited. The three of us (Gill, myself, and Allison) had some quality music and bonding time before I left.

If any one knows me, going to Bethel on a small plane alone, staying in a hotel, and then trying to find my way around Bethel is WAY out of my comfort zone, but I am proud to say I am doing this now as I speak. This truly is an experience where I am pushing myself to do things I normally wouldn’t want to do.

So I get to the airport and I see the smallest plane I have yet to be on. I instantly want to pee in my pants. I tell myself that I’m 24 and I should be able to do this. So I climb in, it’s only me I thought so I said If I freak out there will be no one there to judge me. BUT WAIT…The pilot informed me we needed to taxi over to pick up the caribou. And then he goes I hope it doesn’t smell to bad. I didn’t know what this meant and I was as scared as a little bug about to get squished so I just smiled. I don’t think I actually knew what that meant. So we taxi over, I’m looking nervously. I see a big tarp that is all covered up. And THERE IT IS. A BIG OLD SCARY SCARY DEAD CARBIOU. IT HAS HAIR, BLOOD, AND ALL. At this point I think I am going to be sick. I ask the pilot what on earth this is and where it’s going to go. Right next to you he replies. Again I thought this was some sick kind of joke, and my friends were going to pop out yelling April fools. So they haul this caribou into the side VERY close to my seat and I get a look. I was mortified. I wanted to walk to Bethel, not ride next to this dead animal. On a positive note it was confirmed I had no one to impress so if I freaked out like a baby, the caribou wouldn’t judge.

So the pilot gets back in and I must have had this look on my face like I was going to hurl. He said are you okay? I was like yes I think I am just super creeped out that there is a dead caribou next to me. At least it doesn’t smell he replied. YUCK YUCK YUCK! The ride wasn’t too bad and the pilot kept looking back at me to ensure I was okay. WHEW that was one heck of a trip!

I have a few more stories about this trip but I am running short on time.

So this leaves me with some thoughts I’ve really been pondering the last few days. The word I’ve been thinking about is embrace. The last few weeks and before I left people kept telling me how proud they were of me. Proud of what? I have been asking myself this the last few couple of days, because I felt I wasn’t truly embracing the moment. I feel that now I owe it to myself to truly dive in and get to know everything and anything about this experience and the people around me. I am committed to getting to know my surrounding so I can walk away from this with a new understanding and appreciation for life that is different from my own. I am going to try new things (which I think I am doing a good job of) and try to look at the positive things..which is an aspect I have always needed to look at. I am going to be more confident. If I am confident about this experience, my teaching, etc it can only be good!

Alright enough of all of that!

MISSS YOU ALL =)

One fish Two fish Red fish Blue fish

And it’s Monday again---time for a new week! I ended up having a nice weekend after all, was not sure what was too be expected, but after my great Friday night with the girls I had high expectations.

Saturday morning didn’t do much of anything, just hung out with rooms and relaxed a bit. Then we came to the gym to shoot some hoops. THEN…the best thing ever happened….we got the call to go…FISHING!! As many of you know—before this Alaska adventure I had never fished before in my life…but now I do believe I am one heck of a fisher woman. So myself and Allison got all geared up (we were looking mighty fine I might add) and set off to go fishing – we made a pact we were not going to scare Jim and be calm so he would want to go fishing with us again. Before our fishing adventure, we had one great great dance party getting all our energy out and bonding. Just you wait until we unleash all of our new dance moves

Once we were out on the river it was BEAUTIFUL…I felt like a legit fisher -woman..I had on my boots, lifejacket, and water pants ready to catch a big ol fish. The first fifteen minutes were used to teach us how to cast. And let me tell you…I am one GREAT caster. At first I’ll admit, I almost took myself out a few times with the hook, but by the end…I was a PRO and could even cast behind my head. And I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I thought I caught something but it was either stuck or just some grass!

The first catch was done by Allison…we were startled..I think I let out a little yelp because hey that is creepy watching a fish flop all around. We got it inthe boat and that is when the fun began. It was flopping around like a kid on a trampoline…that is when the sad part happened. I turned my head and plugged my ears as Jim used a paddle and WHACK killed that little guy. His little eye shot out and then it was over. Apparently if you don’t have a stick that is what you use. So there I was still no fish and Allison had one.

So we continue down the river…and to my surprise Allison gets ANOTHER one!! We do the same thing to this little fella except once the boat got going again he kept flopping around the boat…it was really creeping me out, so I told Allison to use the paddle again…she tried but just didn’t have the heart. So here we were again Allison 2 me 0.

Any of you that know me, know at this point I was getting over fishing. My arms were hurting, I was getting rained on, and getting angry that no fish wanted a piece of my fishing line . So we took a little break and stopped to clean the fish we caught. Jim taught us how to hold a fish because my dream was to hold one of them up proudly. After several attempts, I was brave enough to do it!! And let me tell you I looked pretty darn good.

We then had to gut the fish. The first time I watched someone doing this I couldn’t even stand in the same room. I wanted to vomit everywhere, but this time I dug deep and was determined to do it. So a grabbed that knife and cut along the bottom of the fish. I’ll admit I wanted to puke but yay I did it. I didn’t go any further then that but now I have a new goal to accomplish by the end of the year.

We did a little bit more of fishing and my roomie caught one more fish so we ended up night Allison 3 me zero…but hey just think of how GREAT my stories will be the day I catch my very own fish!

Ended the night eating CHEESECAKE (oh how great it tasted) and having a nail painting party at Rachel’s. Who needs a nail salon when you have great friends in Quinhagak?

On a side note the other morning myself and Allison got dressed came out of our rooms and noticed we were in fact wearing matching outfits…I do believe it’s a sign, this will be a good year. Shoutout to all my friends/family reading my blog..miss you all—and my address

That’s all for now—I’ve got more stories but I gotta keep ya guessing-- I'll leave ya with one more final thoughts, its important to set goals for yourself. The first time I saw someone gutting a fish I was like oh no, I will never be able to do it. And ya know what? I was able to take baby steps and accomplish part of my goal. I think I am learning a ton here and it's only been 22 days!!

It's business, it's business time

Whew—I survived my first week of teaching!! My reading portion of the position hasn’t started yet so this week was my 3^rd grade math class. It is fun getting to know my students and learn about them. I have fourteen s tudents. At the same time it’s hard to think I’ve already been away from friends and family for nearly three weeks!

So I’ve been talking to people back home and they always ask have any plans for the weekend? This life is different my friends…I no longer can do the things I once took for granted…no more driving to a friends house, going to the movies, going out, or going to a fast food restaurant. Here for fun I go to the neighbors, take a walk, or watch friends on DVD since we don’t have cable yet. And you know what? It doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Instead I am exploring this beautiful area, getting to know some great people, and appreciating this experience that has been given to me.

That brings me to….FRIDAY NIGHT IN QUINHAGAK

Allison and I weren’t sure what we were going to do. After leaving school, stopping at the post office, and then stuffing our faces with an after school snack (becoming our routine here) we decided it was naptime. Around 6:30 I got up, made myself some dinner, and was just lying on the couch.

Stephanie called Allison --and all I know was Allison was suddenly telling me we needed to hurry up and go outside for some type of party.

A party in Quinhagak AK? I thought this had to be some kind of sick joke. To my amazement as I walked down the street I saw a crowd of people standing around a truck as a family threw various items at the crowd. An event such as this is called a “throw party” It is used as a celebration when something big happens like a child kills their first animal,( there are other reasons, but I am unsure yet). The family celebrating will gather a bunch of things and throw them to people. This throw party was in celebration of someone catching their first rabbit, another child killing their first seal, and the youngest child being able to go to the big school now. Various items were being thrown such as (candy, hangers, silverware (we had to be careful on that throw), Tupperware, laundry baskets, and many more useful items. Children and adults were standing there waiting to collect.

I am happy to announce that our household collected…a hanger, Tupperware, a butter knife, and… A DOILIE

After that we headed back to Steph’s house for some quality girl time. Our excitement consisted of watching television and waiting patiently for Steph to bid on her e-bay auction that ended at nine o clock. As a side note…my addiction to online shopping has become quite out of control…I online shop so that it will be my source of mail for the day. Once Steph had won her item, little did I know my night was only going to get better.

We then headed to Sammy’s store. Sammy’s store is a place that sells candy, pop, and they have movies you can rent. They stay open later then the grocery store, so that is where the children go for all their sugar needs. After a long week we decided to reward ourselves with a nice, tall, cold….SULSH PUPPIE! It was very delectable and tasty and I look forward to trying many other flavors over the course of the school year. The rest of the night consisted of hanging out, watching tv, and enjoying our lives in Quin!

I’ll leave you again with a final thought…. situation’s are always going to be what you make them—there are times when I get sad and think about home, but then I realize that there is a reason I decided to come here to teach and that is what I need to focus on. This experience here is only going to be as good as I make it.

All these useful things I end my blog with are things people once told me that I never really understood until I came to a place like this and am expericing a new type of living and experience.

Stay tuned for details from Saturday night!!

Some Pictures

The view of my village from afar
Only in AK would there be snow mobile signs
This is what you do to kill the fish...I was very appalled at first
Rachel and Allison enjoying the tall grass!
The famous..... HONEYBUCKET
Kitchen (before we put everything away)

**Just found this website, has very good information on my village =)

http://web2.lksd.org/quinhagak/Quinhagak_school/village.html

wish I could think of a clever title

So the last few days have been interesting as I feel everyday will be since let’s face it I am in Alaska!!

Been busy getting to know my students and figure out a routine that works—my memory with their names is not impressing anyone though…when they change clothes…in my mindso do their names—I do believe though I am really going to enjoy this school year, the kids are great and I am already greeted in the mornings by the children, which is a great feeling! In the mornings I have also been helping out to motivate the children before school starts. We have different activities going on so the students do not just have to sit in the gym.

Currently we are babysitting our neighbor’s dog. I do enjoy watching him although today he ran away from my room mate and we had to chase him around the village…and anyone who knows me knows I do not like physical activity if I don’t have to so I was NOT happy.

So tonight I took another trip to our local grocery store and picked up a 15 dollar pizza. At first I was a little skeptical about paying fifteen dollars for a pizza but THAT WAS THE BEST PIZZA EVER….tasted like GOLD—at this point I am getting desperate eating grilled cheese and ramen are no longer doing it for me. I am happy to announce that we are placing an order for Span Alaska and will have great tasting food soon—

Now its time to meet the people in my village aka my new ALASKAN FAMILY…..

*First we have Allison K also known as Ms. Kirchoff, my roomie—She likes to cook me dinner, listen to my stories, and we both LOVE the song Dynamite..It’s only been two weeks and we’ve only made memories that will last a lifetime…she is a brave soul as she was the first one of us to empty the honey bucket—we currently have the perfect family with me her and Gill—soon we will be getting a young pup.

Next we have Steph and Jim—They are always there to offer a hand when Allison and I are having a crisis (aka not having any food, not knowing how to shop for groceries, or our many other questions we have faced in the last few weeks)—I can already tell we are going to be having some great quality bonding time this year! They are like my big brother and sister I never had =)

Our next door neighbor is…Rachel--She was my first person I talked to when thinking about Alaska—she has a very uplifting personality and is always there to offer advice or just a friendly smile.

Down a few houses live Alison and John. They come from MA. They live with their two puppies and are as eager to explore Alaska as we are. Alison is doing a great job already teaching fourth grade.

Shout out- Thank you to all the wonderful people who have been sending me e-mails, cards, etc…you have no idea how exciting it is to get mail and its sad but I so look forward to school getting out so I can run to the post office before I head home and hope she says “Yes you have mail”

Well that’s all for now =)

cooking like betty crocker

Time for another fun filled update.

So the last few days have been rather eventful waiting for school to start and helping all the other teachers prepare their room, lots of bonding, laughing, and good times. Definitely been enjoying getting to know my new Alaskan family and having heart to hearts.

I am very proud to announce that Allison (my roommate) and I had our own dinner party Sunday night. I always envisioned all of us teachers eating together one

last time before school started and Sunday it all became possible. When we found out it was in fact going to be at our house we quick cleaned our bed rooms made our beds, washed our dishes…and did a little excitement dance! I do believe we know how to host a dinner party!

We impressed everyone with our mad spaghetti making skills along with corn and apples as a little snack. We tried to make bread with butter in the oven…but hey we are no Paula Dean..cooking is a skill we both hope to pick up by the conclusion of the school year. I am proud though to announce that I can now make one mean pitcher of kool-aid. And my water distilling skills are at their peak right now.

After our dinner party we went on a relaxing walk to reflect on our lives and have one more bonding experience before school started. We made sure to go to b

ed early to prepare for what was to come.

Today was the day….school started….we were pretty excited not going to lie…after our fashion show Sunday night we at least knew we were going to look good. We woke up early got ready and then it was picture time…and you know what? We looked pretty snazzy…best two looking teachers I’ve seen in a while.

First day went pretty smooth, met my class who I think was slightly afraid to talk to me. Helped around the school and after 8 long hours, I came home to more packages—its great opening up boxes I packed and having no clue what was inside.

After cooking quite the dinner (some call it supper) for my room mate I de

cided it was time to bake. I made sugar cookies for my friends and boy were they DELICIOUS….LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I THINK WE HAVE AMERICA’S NEXT TOP CHEF ON OUR HANDS…..so now as I sit on my bed about to take a tiger snooze before day numbero dos…I leave you with some final thoughts…this adjustment to this new lifestyle has its tough moments but the people I’ve met, my principal, and my room mate are making this process so much easier. They have been in my shoes before so when I get down they cheer me up with words of wisdom. And secondly---things are not always as tough as they seem and if you give it your all you can do anything (This lesson was learned as I was brave enough to empty the honey bucket alone too) I made people proud!

That’s all for now =)

Picture Walk

So here are some pictures from the village and when I went to the beach...walking a mile to the beach is something I need to get used too-- My legs were burning....

The last two days I've spent working hard in my classroom, and ya know what? It is looking pretty cute right now! Got some boxes in the mail yesterday..getting mail is the BEST feeling in the world when you are in Alaska

And so it begins

So I’ve been here over a week and I figured its time to update my friends and family on my new life in Alaska. I’ll start with the flight—well the flight was long, I met a teacher from Anchorage though which helped ease my nervousness as I traveled to the big AK. Me being me decided it would be a good idea to pack my sweatshirts and jackets all in my suitcase so needless to say I was FREEEZING at the airport, tried to sleep but it was just too cold. After two hours of feeling like I was getting frost biten I bought the ugliest maroon crewneck that says Alaska across the front. It was a joke amongst my new Alaska friends about the looks of my new sweatshirt.

I arrived in Bethel and I was in shock—definitely not what I expected. The houses looked different and from the plane I could see only water, not to mention it was raining. I instantly had a mini panic attack but assured myself I could get through the next few days. Once I got to the district office everyone was super friendly, I made instant best friends with people all over the US just looking for adventure and their first teaching job, just like myself.

In Bethel it was just training after training, but the BEST part of Bethel was not my new friends, the fact I still got to use a flushing toilet, or there were still restaurants, it was the fact that I GOT TO GO FISHING. So we go on a boat , got a little lost—but it was beautiful…chilly but beautiful. So this was my first fishing trip ever, I was a little nervous but determined to catch a silver. I cast my line into the water and I felt a tug , I became so excited like a kid on Christmas…I caught something I caught something I yelled. Then it got stuck and I got worried, I can’t pull it I called out…Cory the boat driver came over and to my surprise he told me I had indeed caught something…BUT it was just the ANCHOR…talk about the embarrassment.

On Thursday it was time to head to my village. I got on a plane with only six seats….talk about scary. Flying to my village I was filled with excitement and nervousness. After forty minutes I arrived in my village, we were greeted by Eric (my principal’s) family and Steph ( a veteran teacher). We first got a tour of the school and then headed to our house. Myself and my new room mate Allison have been very busy fixing our new home (MY FIRST REAL HOUSE) up, it’s been quite the experience. We have no tv or internet, so one night we decided to draw a picture and color it to decorate our walls.

As many of you know, I was very skepetical about the fact I would no longer have a toilet…and let me tell you it is taking some getting used to. I am starting to appreciate the little things in life…that is for sure.

The past few days have been filled with getting to know my surroundings and learn about my new home and the new faces that will soon become my family. Quinhagak is much more beautiful then I ever expected, the sun does not set until at least 11, which is quite the difference. The weather is in the mid 40’s and rainy, sometimes windy and quite the adjustment. The village has no restaurants—one store—a post office –and well that’s about it I think. I am going to post pictures of my actual village when the weather becomes a little nicer. I’ve been spending a lot of time getting to know my room mate, exploring, and at school.

I have met some children in the village and their smiles and eagerness to get to know me already touch my heart. They come knocking on our doors to say hi and get to know us. Every time we are walking to school, we can expect a friendly smile and hello from someone in the village. Their warm heartedness and friendliness is definitely something I can not wait to be around.

I am trying to think of other things to blog about, but is hard to put this last week into words. It’s been tough, but the tough experiences make us who we are and are the times when we have to give it all we got. I tried caribou for the first time, I’ve eaten grilled cheese for the past week, I’ve learned to use the honeybucket.

Since Monday I have been in Bethel again for another training, really getting to know my staff and learn about my new teaching position. And ya know what? I think this adventure is something I can handle…I have had my doubts, there has been times when I think being in Ohio would be better, but ya know—I am already learning so much about myself and other people that hey I think I can do this—The people I am going to be working with already seem like incredible people and have helped myself and room mate making sure we have everything we need. I can tell that this year is truly going to be an adventure and a remarkable experience.

That’s all for now—School is starting on Monday and this shall be one busy weekend for me. Shout out to my friends, family, and Nolley staff—I truly miss each and every one of you. When I get down though, I keep in my mind that there are people rooting for me and thinking of me at home…and those are the thoughts that will help me as I begin my first year of teaching in rural Alaska!

I almost forgot….we added a new member to our family today….his name is GILL!! He is a beautiful Beta swimming so peaceful in his bowl right now. I had my doubts if he would make it through the plane ride—but Gill is tough and he is now a part of my new AK family!