A Visit From my Parents!

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of having my parents come all the way to an isolated village, hardly known for being a tourist attraction! After a few flights, they landed on our gravel airstrip in Alakanuk safe and sound. My mom commented how it felt like North Dakota-- blue skies, sunny, snowy white, low trees, and flat.
My parents and I walked to the Yukon Cafe to enjoy some burgers and onion rings. I used to never crave fried food, but those onion rings I crave!
Dad and I walked next door to Dave's store. The store and restaurant are owned by the same owner. (And his name isn't Dave.)
These are all over the slough and river for fishing. They keep sticks in them to keep a hole there and to help break up the ice when they want to puncture it again.
Plunking at the piano (a very rare commodity to have), which I am privileged to have in my classroom. I wish it was tuned and fixed so I could play it more often without having to grimace or pull keys back up as I play. My dad and I had fun trying to figure out what needed to be fixed.
After we toured my classroom, we went to the community city league games going on in the high school gym. It was only a men's tournament, but usually I like to join.

Since we came in the back door, mom was surprised to see the Alakanuk-style parking lot in front of the school. Snowmachines are the main mode of transportation here. There are also four-wheelers and a few vehicles.

Mom may have been impressed at the number of snowmachines, but I was more amazed at the State Trooper's SUV from Emmonak. It was apparently strong enough on the river and the sloughs to drive 10 miles to Alakanuk.

The kids loved having my mom and dad in the classroom. Endearingly they called my parents Grandma and Grandpa. I was a little shocked to look at about five of the students with their little fingers in my dad's beard claiming, "It feels like tundra!" Luckily my parents enjoyed the attention and my students would ask every morning when they were coming in.
Each student had the choice of a hat made by my mother. They each got to choose two little accessories that my mom sewed or glued to their hat to customize it. Some of them wear their hats diligently everyday. I've also seen their hats being worn by their parents or siblings out in the community, which makes me smile knowing my mom's handywork has made it to Alakanuk.
I may be speaking too soon, but my class has had amazing attendance all year. Although we have had illnesses, our numbers have been great. Even throughout four days of the SBA, no students needed to make-up the test. Some classes' numbers have dwindled down to 5 or 8, but mine usually stays a consistent 14. The lunch ladies always seem a little impressed when I tell them the number. I can't credit myself, but I do appreciate the students and parents trying to get their kids to school. Some teachers complain of having students miss school for hunting, fishing, doctor's visits, oversleeping, and other reasons.

My goal is to have school be a little more fun, creative, and outdoorsy for the last 4 weeks. Let's hope my students find it important to make it to school every day still!
Clem, the Yu'pik instructor, and I. He named me Itegmaralria after his late mother. In the Yupik culture, that is a huge honor to carry the name of an elder. Also, since I have her name, he becomes my son. I realized how big of an honor this is to have his mother's name when he told the kids they must respect me as if I was not only an elder, but an elder's elder. This also means that students in my class will refer to me as their Great-Aunt or Great- Grandma and I feel a part of the community with so many new nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, etc.

I have been trying to learn more Yupik and it is difficult with so many guttural sounds and odd spellings since it was originally an oral language. Hopefully my "tongue will soften" (as the other Yupik Instructor has said) and pronunciation will become easier with practice. I am able to understand more than I can respond to. My students often say, "Itegmaralria, daika" for me to come to them. My parents picked up some common phrases such as hello- waqaa, thank you- quyana, and you're welcome- ii.

Mom and dad noticed that village English sounds a lot like a Finnish accent. It really does have that slow Finnish intonation. I wonder about the similarities between Scandinavian people and the Yupik people-- an eskimo tradition called Lapp game, reindeer herders, and similar climates. That is something I'll need to research more.
I brought out the Yu'pik abacus to show my parents the base 20 system for counting. My students were saying the numbers for me as we used the hands and feet to represent up to 20. Then you slide a whole "body" over to the other side each time to reach 20.

1 – atauciq 2 – malruk 3 – pingayun 4 – cetaman 5 – talliman 6 – arvinglegen 7 – malrunglegen 8 – pingayunlegen 9 – qulngunritaraan

10 – qula 11 – qula atauciq 12 – qula malruk 13 – qula pingayun 14 – akimiarunrita’ar 15 – akimiaq 16 – akimiaq atauciq 17 – akimiaq malruk 18 – akimiaq pingayun

19 – yuinaunrita’ar 20 – yuinaq

The parking lot on the side of the school where parents often pick up their kids after school.
Mom wanted to capture me crossing over the above-ground sewer pipes on these wooden steps. I cross these steps at least four times a day and exposed sewer pipes, large fuel tanks, and sagging powerlines are among my daily sights.
One of my favorite places, the dock. With the sun setting and the Yukon stretching across the horizon, I love to spend time meditating. On this evening I got to take my mom.
Here's the sun, myself, my snowmachine, and the Yukon reflecting in my mom's goggles. I loved having my mom there and she loved going for rides!
Emmanual, at the Alakanuk Catholic Church.
My parents and I checked out the Alakanuk Catholic Church that Sunday. We were sitting towards the back. The service was in English and some text and songs were in Yu'pik. I enjoyed being with others who wanted to be closer to God-- it made me nostalgic for fellowship with people from the church I grew up in back home. Although my favorite times of worship in my new home have consisted of my solitude of being in the intricately complex outdoors, reading in my old Navy leather-bound bible, or singing unabashed to the chords of my guitar, I liked being in a strange, yet comforting Yu'pik church.

Mom and I going for another ride along the icy tundra. I never knew I'd have so much fun showing off Alakanuk to my mom while we zipped around on my Ski-doo!

Dad brought up all sorts of "doo-dads" (I believe there is a reason behind that slang!) to do. He installed new rearview mirrors, two cigarette lighter adapters (for GPS and cell phone if I need), and a plug-in for my helmet warmer. Thank you, my multi-skilled loving father of mine!

I am incredibly blessed to have such caring parents. They are supportive, loving, and amazing.

Thank you for being so much more than just parents and also being my friends, Mom and Dad. You go out of your way to help me so unselfishly. Even if I get busy, grumpy, or inconsiderate, you love me so patiently. I love you! I can't wait to see you in approximately a month and give you huge hugs.

Akres Camp

While I wait to go "manaq"ing (ice-fishing), I'll upload pictures from yesterday of a trip to Akres Camp. Josh and I rode on our snowmachines ten miles to Emmonak and then about another 20 towards Kotlik. We arrived to a place, abandoned, with some houses, a school, an old fishing cannery, and some other buildings. Stepping into an old weathered window frame, we inspected what used to be. New and old evidence of people living and camping reminded me of exploring old houses in North Dakota on Grandma's farm. Only this time, I was walking amidst suitcases, books, and clothing of people I've never known, but they most likely have close connections with who I know now from Alakanuk.

I'm not sure the reasons why people left this specific camp, but it sounds like the main reason for all the abandoned little camps had less to do with political, economic, or social devastation. Most smaller camps have been abandoned due to sandbars shifting and eliminating fishing fortunes. However, with a fishing cannery, solid buildings, and a school, Akres Camp seems like within its brightly colored walls it holds a greater story. I'll ask an elder soon and update this later.


These pictures were all taken from my helmet camera, giving it a fish eye's view of the world. So, no, you don't have to run to the Ophthalmologist and reevaluate your current prescription. :)

A Look From my Desk

A student leads the class in the Reading SBA (statewide assessment) Practice Test. Testing begins next month, so the students have been getting used to the format through open discussion and practice in a usually humorous and productive atmosphere. The students in Alakanuk enter Kindergarten at a very low level and struggle to catch up to the rest of the state expectations for years to come. I'm hoping that practicing some testing skills and working on difficult vocabulary will boost their confidence and their ability to do their best on the test.
We can see a crane in the distance working on installing the first power lines out of the village-- from Alakanuk to a nearby village, Emmonak.
Usually the students choose their group names to be an animal, such as The Moose, The Panthers, The Mukluks, The Shark, etc. This group chose to be The Wild Pampers.
Students love the elementary laptop cart that our school got in January. Here a student is looking up a map of Alaska on Google Maps.
Here is a picture of a little girl I met one day out on the porch of the school. I'm still not sure exactly who she was but I loved her eyes that told a story before she could talk.

The conversations of the bush

At times, it's hard to work in an environment where students lack certain background knowledge needed to learn new concepts. However, it makes life much more enjoyable and humorous when I am able to appreciate their unique viewpoints! I'm so blessed to have these students in my life.

Mailboxes

Student in my class: Do people have P.O. Boxes where you're from?
Me: Yes, some people have them and some people have mailboxes. At my parent's house they have a mailbox.
Student: So HOW do you get your mail?!
Me: I walk out the front door, down the driveway, cross the street, and open up the mailbox. It has a red flag that you put up when you have mail that needs to be sent and the mailman puts the flag down when he's been there to drop off your mail.
Student: Is that a thing like a box on a stick?
Another Student: But, what if it RAINS?

This conversation went on for a few minutes while I smiled and enjoyed the foreignness they felt at the concept of a mailbox. This shock, from the students that get frostbite on a regular basis while driving snowmachines to the P.O.

Riding in a Car

Many of us have memories of being shoved in the crampy middle seat as the baby of the family, or being the victim of the brother who tries to trap your hand in the window, or hearing the parent who scolds us for leaving our crayons on the seat after the summer sun morphs the upholstery into a colorful waxy canvas. Riding in a car is a normalcy many of us have taken it for what it is: an extremely common mode of transportation.

However, hearing about my students' trips in a car with their uncle in Anchorage is an intriguing flip of perception. So after hearing a few things, I asked one girl, "So does it feel funny to ride in a car?"
Her face looked like someone who would describe skydiving for the first time. I watched her eyes dance as she relived the moment of their family packed into a sedan. "We had to put our seatbelts on. And I even got to make the radio something different! There was a heater and a button for the window, but mom made us stop because it was cold outside, and we were going fast on the road, and the road had lots of turns!" Other kids that had had a similar experience started adding details about their few car experiences.

Working on our Christmas Skit

I was rewriting a portion of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and I asked Theresa who she thinks would be a more relevant and accurate person from history rather than Christopher Columbus. She turned and asked the busy elves, who were making props for the play. "Hey guys? Who’s the most important person in history?"

The kids' answers came in this order. "Santa, Abraham Lincoln, God, Michael Jordan."

A Spoonful of Snowmachining makes anything better!

We came upon a moose that had been shot, but not discovered,
so it lay dead and covered with a light blanket of snow.

Checking out a lynx trap on the side of the trail.

Mountain Village, AK

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Mountain Village, AK