Jana's Journey to Alakanuk: Christmas time in the village

After a day of laying in the chair, gargling salt water, and taking my antibiotics to try cure my tonsillitis, I decided to get up and utilize the branches my mom had brought me in Anchorage. The smell of fir and cedar brought me warm memories of my parents' property.

I've since changed the swag and wreath to have Christmas decorations.

Christmas Time in the Village:

When my key to PO Box 236 turns, it is common to find an empty cold metal compartment. But, nothing can warm it up faster than cheery loving Christmas cards! I am so blessed to have people who have wished me a wonderful season of love. Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of me while I am in this new place.

One of my favorite things about this season in Alakanuk is that the fine crystals of snow twirl to the ground while the warm pink glow from the sunrise and sunset filters through the low trees. The cold air pushes a gradient of pink, purple, blue, gray, and white along the horizon.

Our Thanksgiving was held in the gym with some of the other kassaq teachers (us white-folk, non-natives, and a non-offensive term). We had some good food, but I'll be honest and say it was hard to Skype (free online video conferencing) my family and see them with Pumpkin-Spiced coffee and mom's homemade rolls. I still appreciated a White Thanksgiving. (I was saying that I love White Christmases, so a White Thanksgiving is a huge treat in my book. I wasn't referring to the fact it was "White" Thanksgiving. I realized that could be perceived as a tactless statement.)

My personal favorite thanksgiving food is my mother's stuffing. I love turkey dipped in mashed potatoes as glue to stick to corn and stuffing. When I asked the kids in my class what they liked to eat for their Thanksgiving meals, they said turkey, swan, goose, aqutaq (eskimo ice cream), fried bread (I've tried that... it's amazing!), jello, and many more. Sounds like they have their family favorites and specialties just we do in our family.

Speaking of getting the kids' input, yesterday we were preparing a skit for the Christmas Program with Theresa's class. I was retyping some lyrics to make it more relevant to them. We wanted to switch a different historical figure other than Columbus. So while the kids were working on their costumes and props, Theresa asked them who was really important in history. Their only responses and in this order were "Santa, Abraham Lincoln, God, and Michael Jordan."

The Christmas program is tonight. With our class combined, we have 26 kids on stage at the same time. Theresa and I wrote the play specially for our students. Although the kids may struggle with saying their lines into the microphone, I hope the parents/audience will enjoy the humor and hard work. However, I hope my students show up. Some are bummed that their parents aren't attending for various reasons (some parents just don't feel it is important enough to be around for it and I feel for the several kids who are dealing with that upset).

I'm surprised how fast time has flown by. After Christmas Break, we'll have two weeks left of the second quarter. Collectively, the students have excelled in overcoming obstacles, becoming more independent, and increasing respect for themselves and others. However, most of those aren't standards I can check off and aren't quantifiable on a report card. Next quarter I've got plenty to focus on and I hope that I can get lots of work done tomorrow before that plane comes to pick us up on Saturday!

Thanksgiving in the gym with friends-- Theresa, Me, Becca, and Amy

Look what we found behind the Native Store? A Kia!

We loved the Target Lady commercials-- she pumped us up for Black Friday sales at... Native Store! (Disclaimer: There are really no such sales in Alakanuk, AK)

Some of my favorite smiley boys on a small 270 snowmachine and a sled. They were following us. We were in a sled, also! This is how you get bulk groceries from where they're dropped off to our house.