And the flood waters came

Well, the Nome radio station predicted the flood and it came. Although many said it was not as bad as last year, they told me to expect worse in the upcoming months.

On Thursday, some of the elders were evacuated to St. Michaels. On Thursday night, the wind came and the water rose and people slept in the school or went to St. Michaels, if they beat the road being washed out. School eventually did start but it wasn't until 10Am and even then we had about 50% attendance. The students that were in school had a lot of interesting things to say about the flood and what they had to do throughout the night to prepare.



The sun eventually did come out on Friday and the road was eventually fixed on Friday afternoon.

There was water everywhere. The airport strip was a peninsula, and we became an island. Check out the blog of Team Pader and Damon's Data for some excellent pictures.

Reindeer

I got to see my first herd of Reindeer today. Linda and I went to St. Michaels to get some groceries and we saw a huge herd of Reindeer. The coolest part about it was that there was an Albino Reindeer in the herd. Some of the Native people said there were 2 or 3 Albino Reindeer. I unfortunately didn't have my camera but I will start to bring it with me no matter where I go. Then, this evening we had a birthday party for one of the teachers and we ate Caribou burgers. They were very good!!!!!! It didn't taste wild, it actually was very close to the taste of beef.

4-Wheelin'

What a rush! We went 4-wheeling this weekend and I was so close to tippin the Honda it was awesome. First we went to the mud flats but we saw 2 airplanes come in so we went back to the village to see if it was our food....it wasn't so we went up to the bluff via a trail. We were almost to the top and my tire slipped off of the trail. One of the other teachers turned around and said the only thing he saw was my foot sticking straight up in the air. We finally got the Honda out of the rut I dug trying to get pack on the path and then the people behind me were super scared to go the rest of the way. Then we were going to ride to the top of the volcano. Damon and Heidi went first, I was second and Nick and Jana were behind me. Heidi got scared and wanted to get off so Damon stopped. Which means I stopped and so did Nick and Jana. Well, the volcano is pretty steep and I couldn't get enough momentum to get to the top so I had to turn around on the side of the volcano and then SLOWLY proceed back down the volcano followed by Nick and Jana. It was SUPER fun and it beats and 4-wheelin' I ever did in MN. (Pictures to come soon)

How do you know you are still young??

You play ball with the high school basketball team at open gym....You don't get hurt...And you teach them a thing or two...Ok so maybe just one thing!!!

Hey, it was fun, I actually worked up a sweat! And, the kids were talking about whose team I would be on next time :) AHHHH the high school memorise are coming back to real life. It is wonderful, I feel so young at heart.

Tomorrow's another day though.

Hello from Alaska!!!

025 / 861
Whew!!! I made it and have settled into my apartment quite well. School started on August 22 and I definitely wasn’t prepared for the first day of my teaching career. I do feel quite proud, as I have not cried because of my student’s actions!!! I teach reading to elementary students right away in the morning. I then have “The Class” for math and reading. I was hired on as a special educator; yet find myself teaching general education classes with a few special educ students sprinkled in them. This is frustrating for me, as I should be concentrating on those who are federally mandated to recieve extra services. However, I am loving teaching and I know I am exactly where I am suppose to be…..teaching. As far as if I am coming back next year….ask me at Christmas, if I make it home.
As far as Stebbins is concerned? Stebbins is beautiful. There are not mountains here, but there are some very nice bluffs on each side of the village. There are 2 distinct sides to the village. There is the old side and the new side. You can tell them apart because of how nice or not nice the houses are. Some of the houses, many of you would not even use for a shed. Unfortunately, the native people do live in them. The village is in the process of getting running water but the plans for that are still on the political realm of money issues. The berries are still blooming and are still being picked. Some of the male teachers went fishing one day from 2 PM – 6 PM and believe it or not caught about 65 fish!!! Yes, I meant to say 65 FISH!!!!! Forget fishing in MN. You may have caught 65 fish in you entire lifetime there. We get about 5 airplanes flying in each day except for the week before school started. There were forest fires in other villages and the smoke was so bad we did not get a plane in for 7 days. I never appreciated mail so much before in my life. I even enjoyed getting my bills….scary I know. I have found that I do not like online shopping even though it is the major way for me to get the things I need. However, I have found those websites that offer FREE shipping and use them frequently although it takes longer for the goods to get here. Shipping costs are quite high considering they fly on 3-4 planes just in AK not to mention how many planes are used to get the goods TO AK. I have found a church to attend and it is very interesting. The messages the minister preaches are related to the Eskimo culture so I am able to learn more about the culture. I have started a friendship with a young lady in the village who spent 7 years in Fairbanks until she had to come back. She takes me on “Honda” (4-wheeler) rides to get away from everyone.
Milk costs about $11/gallon. Fresh vegetables are really not FRESH and are not available very often in Stebbins. We are able to take a Honda to St. Michaels, 9 miles away, to get more selection in the AC store. Gas for the Hondas is around $3.95/gallon….good thing 4-wheelers don’t use that much gas!
Although I miss the luxuries of home, I am not too homesick anymore. It was hard to take my mom, ED and Tracy to the “airport” when they left. Luckily, some of the other teacher dragged me out of bed and made me do something to get my mind off of the fact that I was nearly 10 hours from home by plane and I knew no-one around here closer than Palmer, AK. SO, write me a letter or send me a package, either way keep in touch!! Snail mail is the best so I don't look pathetic when it comes to mail call and I get NOTHING!!!!

Life in the bush

Hello Everyone,
I decided that having a blog would be the best way to let everyone know what was going on in "bush" Alaska. I was finally convinced when I got 4 letters from home and everyone wanted to know the same thing so I wrote a long letter and then decided to blog it. I need to save money every way I can and postage is adding up with all of the letters I sent. So, let me know what you think, ask questions and post comments and I will try to reply to them weekly. Probably on Sunday afternoon. So check it as often as you wish hope it helps keep up the communication.
Happy Trails