Back in Chevak!

Hello, hello! So... I arrived in Bethel from Anchorage on August 5th at 4:25p and my left from Bethel to Chevak was scheduled for 4:15p. Needless to say, I had missed my second flight due to an airline reservation error. This wouldn't be a huge deal except there are only so many flights that go into Chevak daily and I was told that I would have to wait until 8a the following morning ): All I wanted was to arrive in Chevak and set up my classroom: I was about to cry. Also, it is over $100 to stay at a hotel or bed and breakfast in Bethel which I was not prepared for. About five minutes later one of the employees came to the counter and asked who was trying to get to Chevak and told me that he could get me there if I could wait about twenty minutes... wahoo!!! We flew on a very small plane (which was AWESOME!) and landed in Chevak about an hour later. Just seeing the village as we began our descent brought back such positive feelings and memories from my September visit. The sun was shining down and the wind was very light; it was beautiful as you can see in the photos above! After gathering some boxes of mine from the gym I arrived at my new home to find my roommate was not in, but all of my boxes of food were (: I searched around but my bedding and clothing were not there yet. I freaked out a little wondering what I would do without at least my clothing and after searching the school again I did find my clothes (BIG WAHOO!!). For that first night my roommate and I took a walk around the village admiring the gorgeous sunset. On the way back a couple of middle school girls attached themselves to us and we invited them in for hot cocoa and popcorn (this is a common, yet not expected, ritual in Chevak). They stayed til almost 1a while Chris, my roomie, and I unpacked and chatted with them. Day 2: We slept in and pretty much just gathered more of our boxes and began to clean and get acquainted with our classrooms. I have to tell you mine looked really clean compared to others, but then I opened the cabinets and Oh My Gosh. It was all so overwhelming; papers and posters, construction paper, supplies, border... you name it... and there was absolutely no organization to it. I really didn't know where to start. I did talk to my mom and Matt the next night and I was reminded that I needed to take it all one step at a time... ahh, the things we know, yet need to be reminded of. *smiles* Anyhow, I stayed in my classroom 'til about 1a just sorting and unpacking. I was a bit disappointed that I brought so many of my own things for my classroom because this school is very, very fortunate when it comes to funding and there really isn't much that isn't already here (to think I bought, shipped and paid for all of that stuff!). I do know that I will need the items I have when I do eventually return to Anchorage so I have to remind myself that all is not wasted. Day 3: After my morning shower Chris asked if I wanted to take a walk out on the tundra since it was such a nice day. We packed a few snacks and our journals and headed out, both equipped with our Extra Tuffs ($90 insulated rainboots). It was an awesome and tough walk through the grass and over the knolls. I headed back to the house before Chris and attended the Mayor's son's first birthday party. It was kind of neat to talk politics with someone from a village; they are still impacted heavily though I think easily forgotten by 'city folk'. Day 4: Today was our first working day. We were expected at the school by 9a and met for about an hour before being released to work on our rooms some more. Today I got A LOT accomplished and cannot wait to show before and after pics. I got to know many more of the other new teachers and the old teachers whom I had already met in September welcomed me back very warmly. After our work day Chris and I went to the post office and got our PO boxes and then played HORSE outside (it's a basketball game). Pretty soon some of the high school students came over and after a bit asked us to play a game of ball with them. If you don't know, basketball and XC Running are THE sports in Chevak and they place very high in the state. We had a lot of fun with them and btw my team won (: I ran back to the house after the game and gave each of the players an otter pop. Chris and are now at the lab uploading photos and blogging. We have decided we need to come up with something special to do on our Friday evenings, though we are not quite sure as to what (any ideas?!). Tonight we will go home and watch South Park DVDs and eat popcorn! I know this is a lot and there is more I want to write with my voice and thoughts, but our time is limited seeing as we have in the in school nearly ALL day long... we wanna go relax! *smiles* PS. I need to get a USB cord for my camera so the photos above are those that Chris has taken. As soon as I get a cord I hope to upload some of mine (plane ride, mayor, aerial view, etc.). Ignore any typos and leave comments! Love you guys and thanks for thinking of me and keeping in touch!