October reminds me of upstate NY...

I lived in upstate NY for 20 years and fall was the most beautiful ever! When I moved to Kansas, it was the one thing I missed the most; there really isn't a fall in Kansas and there isn't a fall here in Togiak, AK either because the tundra doesn't have trees!

A few weeks ago, I went to part of a dedication service to the new Moravian church here in the village. The old church didn't have indoor plumbing and the building had a few other issues. Samaritans Purse came last year and built a new beautiful church - indoor plumbing and all - for the village. This link is one of the best descriptions of Togiak I've ever found. Please tae the 5 minutes to read this and look at the amazing photos. You will be humbled and grateful for all you have.
http://photo.samaritanspurse.org/healing-quiet 

The article mentions so many things (one thing it talks about is how there are 2 parts to the village - the village and the hill... I live on the hill - the school is on the hill too)

Ginger and Chloe have a new chew toy...

We had some bear excitement this week - 2 bears were behind the apartments on the tundra. I didn't see them but sure heard all the commotion over them! Several guys went out with guns to find them. Word around the hill is the bears were shot at but not sure if either were hit. When there are bears or wolves close to the village, they are typically hunted down to be killed. While this may sound horrible, you have to remember the safety of our kids here. We do not want such dangerous animals to become comfortable coming into the village for food or shelter.

I'm finding out that wind storms are part of life here. We had a good SOLID 17 straight hours of wicked and strong winds that just beat against the apartment windows. The wind howls through the stove vent, the bathroom vent and up through the stairway even when the door closed. There is some rain mixed with this, but not too much really; it is just brutal winds. I don't know the force, as sometimes it's hard to get accurate weather details for this area online. What I find amazing is I could barely move out in it and there are kids outside playing!

Those of you that work know how great a Friday can be! This Friday, several of us teachers sat outside the back of the school just before 9am and drank some hot lemon tea, enjoyed the peacefulness of the school before picking up our kids and watched the sunrise - the best way to end the school week!

I went berry picking again - I LOVE that my freezer is getting full of berries so I can make yummy things come cold winter evenings. Berry picking is so relaxing and I feel in touch with the village while I am out there playing in their world of work.

I had a terrible sweet tooth yesterday and didn't have anything at all to fix it! But I did have a few staples that I could throw together for some cookies. My first use of blueberries was some blueberry cookies... they were the cure!

I also had fish for dinner - I try to eat Salmon on the weekends. I have so much in my freezer and want to make good use of it. My favorite way to eat it is as a patty, but I wanted to experiment and see if I could make salmon taste like catfish from back home - the answer, YES! It's all in the coating.

School is wonderful, perfect, fabulous and always a blessing! I cannot say it enough - I love my job, my students and my school! When the weather is rainy (which happens often), I give the kids the choice to go out to the playground or go to the gym for their recess. Sometimes they all want to go out in the rain (it's okay, they have the proper gear!). But this day, everyone wanted to go to the gym. I enjoyed sitting back being a spectator of their play... Watching my students enjoy being in school warms my heart!

Thanks for stopping by... See you next week :) 

It's been a week of new foods...

This week my principal gave me a piece of seal jerky; it had a strong fish odor, but the taste was not strong! He gave me a large piece, so I shared with my students when they arrived in the morning - needless to say, it didn't last long!

I had reindeer stew...

I was sitting at my desk the other afternoon and Lenny, one of our custodians, came into my room with a smile and bag - he said, "For you.." and handed me a bag of moose meat! I almost cried because when a local native displays such kindness, you know you're doing something right in their home! I cut up the meat this morning and it is in the crock pot as I type this - it will be shared with fellow teachers and I will take Lenny a bowl of moose stew for his lunch tomorrow.

I also was given a very full bag of cranberries by another local teacher! It was my week for blessings and kindness! Thank you to Fanny for this wonderful gift - these will be put into muffins one weekend coming soon and I hope Fanny enjoys the gifting back of a muffin!

I went berry picking for a few hours yesterday afternoon (hopefully I will be going again today!) - there are still a lot of blueberries and black berries (aka crow berries as they are called here). My main mission was to pick cranberries! I have about 3/4 of a gallon Ziplock baggie from yesterday's pickings.. it was a beautiful day yesterday!

Some of us teachers got together last night for a game of Mexican Train Dominoes. I had never played before, but now it is one of my favorite Domino games! I totally lost with the highest score (the goal is to have the lowest,)

Have a great week everyone - I love you mom!

The air has a chill...

My 7:45am morning walk to school is now dark; I was told by another teacher that around Jan/Feb the sun won't rise until about 10:45am. When I first arrived, the sun was up till 1am and even then it never really got dark through the night. I hope I can handle the darkness.... I might end up buying one of the lamps that are sold for Seasonal Depression due to lack of sunlight.

School is going very well! My little 1st graders are just so sweet and they really do work hard and want to learn. We are learning one-digit addition and while it is a difficult concept for them, they are not giving up and at the end of each day, everyone is successful - what more could a teacher ask for :)

EXCITING news around Togiak last week... a moose! There was a moose on the tundra right outside my window. Remember, this is a subsistence village - which means the village is mostly hunters and gatherers, therefore, the moose was quickly taken down and will provide amazing food for some families. He was 700 lbs. Here are a few photos - sorry for them being blurry. (I"m getting a new camera in a few weeks and hope to have some really GOOD photos to share!)

My students enjoyed an afternoon of art last week. They had never used chalk or heard of leaf rubbings, so that is what we did. The tundra does not have trees - none - zero - nowhere! But, we do have some bushes near the school and those are the leaves we used. I took the kids out to gather some leaves and then came back inside to show them how to hold the chalk flat over the paper with the leaf upside down on their desk and to rub rub rub! Here is the one I created for the teacher demonstration.

This week has been full of rainbows! Here is a photo of one of the approximately 11 we saw. I love how bright the colors are and this one looks like it is right on top of a house!

I guess this is the time I fess up - it gets pretty lonely here... sometimes, mostly on the weekends, I really miss the people I know and love back home. I had mentioned this to another teacher a few weeks ago and she made me a leather duck to keep me company on the weekends :) It meant so much to me - the kindness helped a lot! Thank you Shuk!

Enjoy some random photos - see you next week!

The world changed 15 years ago today...

I heard somewhere that high school students today are learning about 9/11 in the history books - what also dawned on me is they probably do not understand how shocking it was for this to happen since they are faced daily with shootings, terror attacks, police hate, etc. 9/11 is their norm - sad.

But - onward and forward to my classroom and life in Togiak.

This past week has been quiet - the kids had Monday (Labor Day) off and then they had Friday off because we had an in-service day. I kept the classroom environment light and fun as much as possible. I invited the 5th grade class to come and do an art project with us! The 5th graders helped my little 1st graders make sun catchers. When I showed the principal, he said he had never seen or heard of sun catchers - and neither had any of the students. It was a fun afternoon for all.

Some teachers got together Thursday night and went to First Creek for a little cook out and some R&R. The weather was a little chilly and I felt my first chill that evening. I brought a turkey burger and chopped up zucchini foil wrap for my dinner - I forgot to bring silverware, but a seashell worked just fine!

Today is rainy, foggy and hazy - a perfect day for another cup of coffee, some reading for homework (I am taking a class Teaching in Rural Alaska), and I might even get out of my pajamas - who knows! Here are a few pictures taken throughout the week..

A special shout-out to Patti for sending me this awesome care package! Chips and peanuts for dinner was the perfect meal last night :)

Happy Labor Day..

It's Monday and I am home drinking coffee and still in my pajamas this morning; I love 3-day weekends!

This last week was beautiful! Just about every day was 69-72 degrees; I'm told this is record breaking temperatures. With the weather being so warm out, I decided to take my class berry picking; it took the kids almost no time to fill up their cups and get full on berries!

The kiddos are also picking a lot of flowers during recess and the girls love to decorate the teacher's hair.

MAJOR HAPPINESS when a bush plane arrived in the village full of fresh picked vegetables to sale - I spent $44.50 and couldn't be happier with my goodies!

School is going great and my kids are a joy. I think we are all falling into the normal routine of classroom schedules, rules and procedures, expectations in other parts of the building, and just the usual parts of a school day. I don't have much exciting events to write about - other than last night a few teachers got together for a game of Cribbage and snacks; it is always nice to get together with wholesome and awesome folks. Enjoy a few more random photos from my week.

Oh - and before you go - THIS little guy is just as precious and handsome as can be - my grandbaby :)

See you all next weekend!