Gutting a walrus and a bearded seal...

More Pics... and a video!

Early Dismissal for "Cultural Day" .. Old Chevak and Seal Hunting

This is "Boyfriend".. he is just the cutest lil guy and it is going to be so neat to watch him grow up while I am here... I told his parents that he is my lil buddy while I am missing my nephew (Henry)... Kendall aka "Boyfriend" just turned one on my mom's bday (aug 7).

On Friday we had early dismissal so that the entire staff could go to Old Chevak and to seal hunt for a Cultural Day!

Emily and I in the old church in Old Chevak. It is amazing to me how well preserved this lil building is considering it's age, use, and the fact that no one stays there to monitor it! Many travelers pull-over here to spend the night if there is bad weather on the river.

John Pingayak's boat caught this seal which all 6-8 of the boats were shooting at all at once!

Chris, my roomie, shooting at the seal (or something lol) with a handgun! I moved to the back of the boat... (:

Manaqing (fishing) and Tundra field trip

Yesterday after school some kiddos asked me to go fishing with them...

... within minutes I caught my first fish! It was an ugly devil fish... for the most part they don't eat them very often here so we threw it back and tried for tomcods and smelts...

... me again with my devil fish!! Yes!! I AM touching it!! (: ...

... both my morning and afternoon class out on the tundra...

... some of the kiddos posing with their plants and berries!

More Pics...

This is a picture of the dump... where we make our weekly trash runs... sometimes you have to step over dog carcasses to dump your garbage....

... some high schoolers jumping off a mini cliff into the river...

...my roomie, a HS math teacher, and first grade teacher at the dump burning our trash away...

... my roomie skipping rocks with the little ones...

... my classroom reading area (thanks Mom for the awesome pillows!)...

Let me know if there are certain pictures you would like to see! Don't forget to leave me some comments! (:

PS Sorry these are uploading in random order!

Misty Dawn

First Boat Ride to Hooper Bay!

...What a nice way to spend the afternoon after teaching all day...

Captain Ulric (also the Mayor of Chevak)

Self-shot on the boat ride to Hooper Bay (:

Ryan carrying Emily off the boat to the island (they've been married for "21 months") ... (:

The handmade boat we rode in... students from the welding class made this beauty!

Ryan (Emily's hubby... sub at the moment!), Jeff (middle school math teacher), and Matt (high school science teacher)

My lovely roommate, Chris, Emily, and part of Ryan

One of the many jellyfish on the island in Hooper Bay... what an amazing sight and feeling out in the Bering Sea!

Here is the crew walking through the jellyfish so we could go shoot a few targets.

.... Last night as soon as work let out, Ulric took a few of us out on his boat to Hooper Bay. It was an amazing little trip. It took us about an hour or so to get there and as we hit the waves I felt every piece of fat on my body jiggle and jump! lol... I was asked if I needed bungee cords to assist me... (: The Hooper Bay store was well-stocked and the people we ran into were friendly. On the way back we stopped at an island where I collected many different seashells for my classroom and also shot a gun.... we also nearly ran out of gas on our way home! We did just barely make it back... I can't wait to go again!!!

Catching Up on Some Pics...

This is the gorgeous sunset we had for a few days in a row!

This is a shot of Bethel from the little bush plane.

These are the pilots and two other passengers (they were being dropped off at Hooper Bay).

A rad aerial shot.

Moose hunting season opened on August 10th. The mayor and his uncle brought two bull moose home last night (the 13th).

Here is the mayor and his younger brother with one of the racks... it is a sweet rack. (:

Salmon berries I collected... we were out on the tundra for hours!

This is Mary (the mayor's wife), her family, and myself taking a snack break on the tundra. I tried dry fish for my first time. Once I got past the smell it was pretty good.

This was my classroom when I first got here (only it was crazier).

Thanks Rick for sending me the card reader so I could upload my pics!

First Weekend in Chevak This Time Around

Last night was our first Friday here this fall. We weren't sure what to do, but we wanted to come up with a special Friday fun thing. After we left the school around 11p we thought up a yummy dinner to make- noodles with butter and parmesan cheese! Mmmmmm! This may not sound so great to you, but we were so excited and scarfed that meal down like no other. Afterwards we made some tea and popped some popcorn preparing for a movie when we thought to invite the new couple over for company. As it turns out they were in bed, but on the way back I ran into the kiddos a few houses down and they said they were on there way to the junk food store which was open 'til midnight every night. We told them we'd join but we had to hurry out the door in order to make it on time. The junk food store was like a little shack, literally. I didn't take any pics but I will definitely here sometime soon for you to view. It was old, run-down and had a line out the door of children ready for the junk food at midnight. While in line a teenager told us we should go to the dance.I remember hearing something about it when I was last here, but we didn't go. Chris and I agreed that it would be a fun thing to check out and we wouldn't be dancing. As it turns out, we get there and there are no adults, the lights are COMPLETELY out, and no teachers EVER go to these dances. We were quite the novelty! Since the lights were out and we didn't have to worry about being uncool Chris and I danced for a few songs with the girls and then decided it was fun, but weird and we were outta there (: On the way home we could see the beautiful sun still setting so Chris and I stopped at the school playground and swung for a few minutes. It was actually quite surreal; I felt like I was on vacation. And then a flashlight shone on us and the school security guard introduced himself and said he was just making sure there weren't any kids on the playground... after all, it was nearly 2a. Yes, we are the teachers that don't always fit the mold... and we have a lot of fun! This morning another teacher came over with her yoga video and we did that for an hour as the sun was rising over the lake and soon I am off to the tundra for berry picking. Life isn't too bad. (;

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!