Travels for the BMEEC 2009

Bilingual Multicultural Eduction/Equity Conference 2009

Old co-workers and friends performed southeast dances at the conference!

An absolutely beautiful view from the plane on the way back to Anchorage.

On our small plane from Chevak to Bethel.

Chevak "airport." (:

Good to be "home"

Well, I made it through the holidays in Anchorage. I would say the first four days I hit Target at least once, sometimes twice (it IS the newest hit since I left in August). (: The Christmas break was long enough to see nearly everyone and do nearly everything. The weather was actually colder there though than it was when I left Chevak so that was a rude awakening, especially since out here I am always geared up head-to-toe everywhere I go.
My flight home was nice, nothing special... until I got to Bethel. I made sure I checked in at the desk and verified my flight and made sure my "luggage" (the $300 hiking backpack I got for Christmas so that I can explore THAILAND this summer) was still following me. Things were looking good- no worries. But when it was time to get on the little plane to head to Chevak from Bethel, some other teacher friends (Ryan and Emily) weren't able to get on the flight because they hadn't "checked-in"... long story short, there tends to be confusion at this airport... which is the reason I double-checked all my stuff when I arrived in Bethel... anyway...

I got on the flight and met a really neat couple who teach in a neighboring village, Hooper Bay. They have been teaching there for 17 YEARS! This is so amazing to me. In fact, it kind of made me wonder how long I will stay... I have told people from the day I signed my contract that my personal goal was 2-5 years depending on life.... but, who knows... 10 years seems like nothing when I think about it... (:
Anyway, when you fly from Bethel to Chevak the plane goes in a circle... Scammon Bay, Hooper Bay, and Chevak. Well, when we landed in Hooper our pilot informed us that the front wheel had gone flat due to the extreme cold (it WAS cold). Hee hee hee. A Chevaker was on the flight with her 8 day old baby and at that point there was no set plan as to what our next step was to getting home. We were on the afternoon flight which meant there was only one more flight scheduled to go out- the evening flight (notice we don't have "times"). Lucky for us, the teacher couple that I had met took us to their house for the next few hours so that we would stay warm and have a place to spend the night if need be. They sure were wonderful. And you wouldn't believe their collection of Native art! Amazing!


After a few hours another plane was sent along with a mechanic to fix the first one. All went well. We got into Chevak around 630 or 7 that night... and it was cold. I couldn't recognize anyone at the "airport" because every inch of the body was covered... except for mine of course because I didn't bring all my "tougher in Alaska" gear with me to Anchorage. Also, the school truck had been put away for the winter so I was being picked up on a snowmachine (or "by snowgo" as we would say here). Did I mention it was very cold, windy, foggy, and snowy?
Leo, a man of many duties at our school, warned me to cover my face with the weather conditions as they were because it was dangerous; however, there was hardly enough time to cover seeing as it was just unbearable being out there (you have to remember that our "airport" is just a landing strip... no building). As we drove, I could feel the one spot on my face that didn't get covered freezing. I can't even really explain it.
I got to my house and checked the mirror and sure enough I had been bitten by the frost! This was my first time ever and it freaked me out for a minute. Less than five minutes outside and I was frostbitten!
Anyhow, my roomie had just arrived home a bit before my arrival so we hugged and shared stories and then headed up to the school to see everyone since there was a basketball tournament going on. I have to say, it was a GREAT feeling to see everyone and to be so welcomed back... I really love it here. It's good to be "home."
....below are some pics of the results of today's blizzard...

Christmas Program 08-09

Catching up on a few missed pics...

Our first snowman of the year... he was knocked over by morning ):

My students standing below the stockings my mom made for each of them!



My morning class.

All bundled up checking out one of the old sod houses that has caved in.

I must be a second grade teacher!

Imagine my surprise when I found this in my turkey soup...

An Alaskan Adventure

So on Monday night I went to the praise and worship night at the school and there were just a handful of us there, but Ryan asked if Alfred and I wanted to take a ride over to Hooper Bay sometime over the weekend with him and Emily. Awesome enough, Alfred sounded enthusiastic about it. I should pause and mention who these people are... Emily is one of my closer friends out here and she teaches middle school science... Ryan is a certified pilot, Emily's husband and also our long-term math sub at the moment... and Alfred is a local, the community counselor, and the brother of my classroom aide, Priscilla. Okay... so, fast forward to Friday and as it turns the weather is decent enough and I am more than ready enough to head to Hooper Bay which is an 18 mile snowmachine ride from Chevak. A few of us went there briefly by boat in the fall but this was my first long trip by "snow-go". Ryan and Emily are with a missionary program called SEND and they have some contacts in Hooper that started a church and a little "restaurant" run by volunteers so we thought to make a dinner date out of this. Alfred came to pick me up on his snowmachine around 5:45p. I wore my long underwear, regular outfit, carhart bibs, a parka, a face mask, my goggles, a hoodie, gloves, extra socks, and boots. And I threw in some extra winter gear in a backpack just in case (great advice from the Walker's)!

We arrived in Hooper about 45 minutes later without losing anybody and the ride was actually quite warm (woohoo face mask!). The restaurant was pretty crowded, but after peeling off all of our layers we soon found ourselves a table. Just as soon as we sat the gal with the animal hat and the gentleman next to her (in the pic above) asked if they could join our table. Turns out they are teachers in Hooper so it was nice to exchange information on the schools and stats. As I stated earlier, the restaurant staff is made up of all volunteers... so that made for an interesting ordering experience, but nonetheless we had a fabulous meal of chicken quesadillas, spanish rice, beans, and guacamole! Yummy! What a treat to be "eating out!" Now is where it gets interesting. We got all bundled up for our ride home (where we will be driving against the wind) and a few locals kind of chuckle at our layers...

Okay, I wish that I could have recorded all of my thoughts as we we headed home. But, it was too cold and we were driving too fast to possibly write anything down so I am going to try to recapture my thoughts here: do you know that absolutely awful brainfreeze you get when you quickly suck down a slurpy? It is just so intense and your brain seems to be zapped with ice? Well, that is how I felt. Do you know the feeling of trying to stay attached to a mechanical bull at the fair? Where you dig your heels into the sides of the bull and hang on to the harness with your hands as tightly as possible? This is also how I felt. What about the feeling you have when you are on Space Mountain in Disneyland and you close your eyes at some point (don't lie, you know you do!) and you fear that you are going to crash into one of the other rollercoasters?... Are you getting a visual? Okay, well what about the sound of an automatic machine gun going off non-stop? Can you hear it? All of these thoughts were going through my head as I had a HUGE smile on my face, hidden under my mask. What a ride!

Unfortunately, just a few miles out of Hooper we came across one of the men from our village on his snowmachine. He stopped us and asked if we'd seen one of his family members who was inebriated and had started the 18 mile walk back to Chevak. We hadn't seen him so we all turned and began the search. Ryan and Emily zig-zagged on one side of the trail, Alfred and I zig-zagged on the other side, and the man headed straight towards Hooper. I have to pause for a moment and share with you that I saw my first wild white fox on this search! It was beautiful and exceptional. We were on a mission and it was much too cold to stop for a picture. This was one of life's moments that you truly could only capture in your memory. Anyhoo, after quite awhile we still saw no signs of the missing guy and we were all starting to get pretty cold despite the many layers of winter gear. The wind was picking up and it was only getting darker. We decided that we would head back to Hooper since we were now just a couple of miles away and go warm up at the Public Safety Office and try to find out more information before heading back out again. Thankfully, the young man was found and had been brought to the Hooper clinic and all ended well. We ended up back in Chevak around 10:30 that evening. I have to tell you, tonight, I felt "Tougher in Alaska." Happy trails!
Misty

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was my first Thanksgiving away from home EVER! And yes, I survived. (: The day began with what seemed like several phone calls while I was trying to sleep half the day away (I was a little homesick and figured this would help pass the time). *smiles* A few days ago I introduced myself and our buddy Jaden to baking. We had a great time- in fact, I think I have a passion somewhere deep (deep) down inside for baking. So, he called this morning to see if he could come over and bake. I told him I was sleeping and we could bake later. He called back a second later to make sure I would call him when I got up. *more smiles* Then I received a phone call requesting my presence to help make stuff for the dinner. There was no more putting it off- it was time to wake up. I should stop and add that I was in a MARVELOUS dream prior to these interruptions. I was on vacation in Mexico by myself in a chic evening outfit, roaming the streets nearby and running into buddies. The weather was perfect, the mood was right... it was almost heaven. And then, I woke up. To the phone ringing. In Chevak, Alaska. Without my family or closest friends. Despite the rude awakening, I actually had a great Thanksgiving. Jaden did come over and we made kiss cookies to bring to the dinner and I also make an apple raspberry pie. Now, I say I made the pie but I actually only "made" the crumbly crust on top. I bought the premade crust for the bottom and the premade filling. Nonetheless, I took great pride in putting it altogether and learning yet another recipe! (; **NOTE: For those of you unaware, I am pretty much domestically disabled so this whole baking thing is a BIG deal! *laugh*

After baking, I headed to Lena & Harry's house (Ulric's mom and dad), but on the way I stopped at Priscilla's to meet the newest addition to her family and say hello to the clan. There were at least ten adults and just as many kiddos there, but it was surprisingly quiet and calm. And, oh that little baby was adorable! It was very nice to visit with Priscilla (she is my classroom aide and friend); she took some time off to care for the baby. I said my goodbyes and headed to the Ferguson's for my turkey dinner. I arrived just in time to grab a spot in the winding line. Again, there were at least ten adults and as many children here. We ate turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet yams, and apple pie.


After eating and more eating I came home and took a short snooze. Around 7p I wandered over to the school to catch Priscilla's basketball game. It was great to visit with more people from the community as basketball is a big deal here. Chris and I ended our evening with crashing the community dance (run by teens) and then went back to the Ulroan's to play a round of Pictionary with Priscilla, Harriet, and Mary. When we got home we made some apple cider and sat on our porch, identifying the constellations. What made my day was seeing the three or four shooting stars while we were out there! Life is beautiful.

It's getting colder...

So, the shirt was a present from my roomie and it says, "Sometimes I pee when I laugh." LOL

A cold, cold day.

Chris and Amanda... they have the fancy espresso machine in their house... they are our Kaladi's.

Me and Amanda

Halloween Photos

Kendall and his daddy wearing Chevak Comets gear... too cute!

Me & Kendall at the Halloween Carnival

Me, Emily, and Chris

Miss Nelson as a tacky tourist with some of her kiddos!

Snow...

A neighbor and a couple of students joined me for a snowball fight after our first snowfall.

My roomie and some of the teachers' kids heading down the hill!

Our group photo... we hear that Anchorage has more snow than us at this point!

A sad day in Chevak

Yesterday morning I decided to attend service at the local non-denominational church. At the end of a great sermon and a time of worship the pastor returned to inform us that there had been an accident. One of the fifth grade girls had been accidentally shot by her father. This has been particularly hard on me because I met this young lady a year ago, the first time I visited Chevak. For some reason her and I hit it off right away even though she didn't exactly get along with her peers. She held a special place in my heart and we exchanged addresses before I headed back to Anchorage. When I returned to teach out here I kept looking for her and after about a week we finally saw each other again! Also, it took me about a month to realize that her younger brother was in my class. Well, their dad accidentally shot his gun in their house on his way out the door to go hunting and the bullet hit the young girl in her head. She was taken to Bethel or Anchorage where she was pronounced dead late in the evening last night. My heart is sad. Living in such a small community, death really affects everyone. Today my students are writing letters to her brother, their classmate, telling him that they miss his sister and I hope is okay. It makes me sad that this is our writing assignment today. That is where I am at right now. Keep us in your thoughts...