The Eye (Brows) Have It!

I cannot believe I have not posted about this before! Knowing this fact is crucial to ANY communication with Yup'ik speakers. So, generally if you ask someone if they want to do something you will get a verbal "yes" or "no" or at least a nod or head shake. Not here-they only way to decipher your answer is to watch the eyebrows. If a Yup'ik person is answering "yes", they will raise their eyebrows. That is it! (oh, and by the way, EVERYONE, young and old alike do this!)Thank goodness my partner-in-crime clued me into this because there is seriously NO verbal response, and at times you think you are being ignored, until you remember to keep your eyes on their face at all times during conversation.
P.S. The answer "no" is just a blank stare!

For Dan

While walking home today, I noticed fish drying on someone's front porch- turns out the fish are Northern Pike from recent ice fishing in the Kuskokwim River. Dan loved catching Pike while living in North Dakota. I must really miss him- if I am posting pictures of dried fish!

Last Trip to Toksook

I started my job this year at the village of Toksook Bay, so it seemed fitting that I end this year there as well. What a difference from the fall to the spring! According to many of the residents, this has been a record year for snow accumulation.


This is the village on Nelson Island where a herd of musk ox live. (No, I didn't get to see them, this is a picture of a poster in the school!)

Check this out! This is a snowmobile buried in the snow- look close and you will see the handle bars!

When I reached the Head Start building, some of the kids were sitting on the roof because of the amount of snow, and when you look at the next picture, notice the "snow steps" down to the front door. (When I was here in the fall, the front door was level with the ground).

When I got to Head Start, I had the honor of listening to the teacher read a story in Yup'ik. It was great! Even though I could not understand a word, I could completely follow the story. (the name of the book was "On Mother's Lap"- about a little Yup'ik boy and his mother- and it can be found on Barnes and Noble -if should want a great little cultural story!)

Native Children's Art Show

This week at the District Office, there is a display of children's artwork from all the village schools. It was so much fun to look at, and really made me think of my "art docent" days at Cherry Valley School in Polson! Enjoy the photos!

Food for Thought

Anyone that knows me knows how much I like to cook and bake. And I still enjoy it while working in the frozen north! In fact, it is one thing that helped me to feel "normal" while I am here. Each time we travel here my PIC (partner in crime Kathy) and I make our meal plans. We have started bringing more and more in the way of groceries with us. Food is quite expensive here (Read: one gallon of milk and a box of cereal= $20). This time, we actually packed lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, apples and strawberries in our suitcases! It also helps the time to pass quickly when you can sit down to a nice home-cooked meal with someone else!

Our first night here, we had salad and pasties- Yum-Yum! Sure beats cans of soup and packages of oatmeal!

Moose Cheeseburgers

One of my third grade students was telling me about a recent trip to Puerto Rico that he and his family took. *
I was asking him about the things they did, what they saw, and what they ate. He told me that he had had cheeseburgers, but he did not like them. I asked his why and he asked my if I knew they made cheeseburgers out of cow? Yes, I did I said. I asked him what he thought cheeseburgers made of- he replied "Moose".

*(this year in Alaska it was a record year for PFD(Permanent Fund Dividends) payments, basically each member of a family gets money from the state of Alaska, so this year most people took vacations)

Towels + Earplugs = SLEEP!

I have discovered the magic combination for sleeping through: A: the never-ending Alaskan sunlight and B: noisy roommates who cook and watch TV at 3:00AM----

Towels (pinned over the windows)
Earplugs

What took me so long????

It's a small world

Many people have asked about the size of the airplanes that fly into Bethel- around here, it is called "the jet". Although the plane is large, the front half of the plane is filled with cargo, so the seating is reduced by half. Notice in the picture that they are unloading huge cargo boxes as we deplane.
On my flight from Anchorage to Bethel I met a local man who had gone to college at the University of Montana for a year. He also had worked in Montana as a smoke jumper. After arriving in Bethel, retrieving our luggage and hailing a cab- who should happen to be waiting in the cab? The same man! During our ride to our respective homes, we learned that our new friend Tony had not only attended U of M, but he played football for the 1970 National Champion Griz football team as the only Native American!

Happy Easter from Alaska!

My partner-in-crime and I have arrived back in Bethel! We were here just in time to celebrate the last few hours of Easter. This is our last trip for the year! Woo-Hoo! Needless to say, we are quite excited!
Even though the weather is still (SIGH) below zero, the sun is shining and shining and shining.....it didn't occur to me that the sun would still be shining brightly in the sky at 11:00 at night! I do remember from my previous trip to Alaska (summer 1995 for my honeymoon) that it stayed light so late, but I guess all the snow, wind and frigid temps were blocking my memory! Anywho- hopefully after a full tummy and a nice hot shower it won't matter how much light is leaking through the blinds- I need some serious shuteye!

Nelson Island School (Toksook Bay)

My final village visit this trip was to Toksook Bay. I have to admit, this is my favorite village. It is the largest village I visit, and in the most beautiful spot right on the shores of the arctic ocean. There is a herd of Musk Ox nearby (although I have not seen them yet!) This was the village I visited first back in October. The people are great and very welcoming.
The school here actually owns a truck and I always look forward to landing here as I know a warm vehicle will be waiting. This time, as we flew in I could not see the truck waiting. Another teacher on the plane informed me that because of the weather the truck was not currently being used. I was quite disappointed because Toksook's airstrip is the farthest distance from the school of any of the villages. (Keep in mind the temperature was 50 below on this particular day!) I eventually made it to the school and that evening when I left, I was fortunate enough to receive a ride from some construction workers.

New Best Friend

This is the only way you will know if a plane is coming! I usually park myself by the radio and wait for the call to come across from the pilot that he is headed my way!

Return to Kwig

I made a return visit to the village of Kwig this trip. Kwig sits on the coast of the bay leading out to the Arctic Ocean. The weather is often an issue, so getting in and out can be a bit tricky. I had been weathered out the entire first week, but when a break in the wind and storm came, I decided to give it a try.
During my flight out I met a young Yup'ik man who was returning home for a visit. He had just gotten a new cell phone (yes, cell service has now reached the villages and young and old alike can be seen using the latest technology). I made a comment about hoping someone would be at the airstrip to pick me up (even though there was a break in the weather, the wind chill was still 20 below). He took out his cell phone and called ahead to the school's principal to let him know I was on the plane! The wonders of modern technology!

Basketball

This is a photo for my brother the basketball coach- check out the gym floor in Toksook Bay!

Yup'ik Cutie

This is by far my all time favorite photo from a earlier trip. I met this sweet thing while waiting in the airport......

A Day at the Office

After attending the church service, we grabbed a quick bite at Subway (yippee!)and headed on over to the DO (school district office)- or in cabbie speak "the loading dock". (Still not sure why they call it this). Kathy and I decided to get as much paperwork done as we could so we wouldn't have to take it home to Montana with us. Here we are hard at work in our office (which we rarely use!).

Russian Orthodox Service

This morning we awoke to lots of snow! We decided to give the Russian Orthodox Church a try this time. We arrived to a very tiny church-St. Sophia's. It was quite an interesting experience. The service was very similar to a Catholic mass- but much more formal. The entire mass was "chanted" and included lots of ritual. Despite the formality and tradition (all the women in attendance wore dresses and scarves over their hair and the priest was very formally dressed in blue, white, and silver robes), people came and went and most sat on the floor. The children were very quiet and well-behaved. After 2 hours, Kathy and I decided to quietly sneak out. We would have loved to take some photos indoors, but decided out of respect to keep our cameras in our pockets. Notice the number of bars on the Russian Orthodox cross.

Happy Heart Day!

If I couldn't spend this special day with my family, there is no other person I would rather be with than my friend and PIC (partner in crime)- Kathy. We celebrated a day early with a dinner out. While I ate the ever popular BLT (hold the mayo please!), french fries, and root beer, Kathy opted for the much healthier choice of stir-fried veggies and rice. We then splurged and shared a deep-fried brownie sundae! Yum-o! (What has my life been reduced too when I write an entire blog about a meal in Bethel, Alaska??) Sorry no photos- we ate it all!
This morning after a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausage, and oj (here I go again with the food), we took a cab to the local cultural center for Saturday market. Basically, an arts and crafts sale. We found many more items we could not live without- such as sealskin thimbles (no, I am not kidding).
Then we toured a museum full of native crafts. We especially enjoyed the ivory carvings and rye grass baskets. There were boots made of fish skin, jackets made of seal guts (much like a present day raincoat), fish basket traps, qaspeqs (native women's coat/dress, and lots of jewelry and photographs.
Finally it was home for tacos and a movie!
Hope you all had a great valentine's Day!

Quiet Week

Sorry blog followers- this has been a pretty quiet week, but then I really needed it! I made a quick trip to the village of Kongiginak. My favorite 2 things about the village of Kong: 1- the runway is right next to the school (thus I never have to worry about getting left on the airstrip or missing a plane!) and 2- the Russian Orthodox Church. This is one of the two main religions you will see represented in the tundra villages (the other is Catholic).I have not been able to see inside the church, but I am quite intrigued with the "onion domes". Keep posted, Kathy and I may try to attend a Russian Orthodox during this trip.

New Digs

Welcome to Ptarmigan Lane! We are staying at a new place this trip. It seems to be fairly common for people who work/commute to Bethel to move around frequently. It also seems to be big business around here- prices are high, and good rooms are hard to find. Our previous hostess decided she had had enough of the isolation and decided to return to Anchorage, thus selling her b and b. I am having a hard time adjusting to having stayed in the best of the best and now settling for average. We are staying in a rather large boarding house- this time Kathy and I are sharing a room. Good thing we like each other!

Tough Trip

This has been by far my toughest trip to Alaska. I am physically and emotionally drained. My grandmother passed away a little over a week ago. She was just coming to live in Montana (after having spent the first 82 years of her life in California). We were all so excited to be able to spend lots of time with her-especially Lauren and Cole. I miss her soo much! I am really feeling a pull to be with my family more than ever. If you do anything tonight, tell your loved ones how much they mean to you!