FLYING WILD ALASKA

Time to get weighed in. We (Merril, my principal, Amy, Ben & myself) all set to go out on a charter to Nunap.)








































Ben & I headed out when we heard Merril & Amy's name being called out to leave.
We followed them out thinking that we were on the same flight.
As you can see from Ben's face, that was not the case:)

























So back inside only to see Matt, another new teacher at our site come in with one of my pieces. Since he has already been out to Nunap., he had very little luggage to begin with, he offered to take one of mine.






On the plane. Our pilot was pretty much putting out that, "Don't talk to me" vibe, so we just sat back and enjoyed the show- and a bumpy one it was. I think I felt like tossing my cookies about 10 minutes in.














































One of the villages that is located quite close to ours. I thought it was ours and was a little disappointed simply b/c it was not what I had pictured. Thankfully we kept flying on.






















































Amy with our dinner.


















Getting ready to cross the river with our stuff to get to the school.


























































My apartment on the right! Right on the water:)

I passed!!!

17/20 on my Driver's Test and they are going to let me drive on frozen rivers, through blizzards, whatever Alaska hands out.... I have the freedom to drive legally.

Right now we are all itching to get on the plane to our villages. It is 1:00 & in two hours we take off!

Day of firsts.

I have finally found the trick to falling asleep at a good hour and that is to use both earplugs and a very comfortable sleeping mask.

This is a good thing simply b/c today was another day of firsts. It was the first day that I tried seal oil & I think whale blubber.




It was the first day the I saw the insides of a large salmon fish, and then ate some great tasting fish parts.




















































































































It was the first day that I learned a little bit about the Yupik culture.





It was the first day that I met Merrill, my principal, and realized that he most certainly is the most relaxed out of our crew that is heading to Nunapitchuk. He introduced himself to the four of us ( tomorrow I will have a picture of the newbies) and invited us to have lunch with him. All I have to say is that I walked away a little more confused but....have no fear...still excited. This school district has done an amazing job of preparing us. They have given us a great place to stay with free wifi, amazing meals, great materials, coaches for each village site to come visit & talk us down from the ledge so to speak, cultural insights, and then rides into town to get things set up ( bank, phone, dmv). I really feel like they have gone above and beyond to make this incredibly life changing decision a little bit easier.


It was the first day that I took an state driver's test with 30 other teachers in a cafeteria that begins with: "I know that ya'll are teachers, but after what happened in Atlanta, Georgia, well, you know...we gave you all different tests." Who knows if I passed. Apparently all the first year teachers last year bombed it. No problem, if not today, then tomorrow we take it again.

It was my last day in Bethel before taking off for Nunap:) Looking forward to the next post!


Quotes of the day:

From one principal to one of his teachers who will be living in the school, "Don't worry! You can visit us. We are only a mile up the hill." That really isn't a problem until you see this hill.....in winter-lol.

Talking about the teacher housing."My apartment is the size of my thumb. The toilet is in the kitchen."

Looking outside at the rainstorm while eating at 6:30. "I think this is that darkest it has been at this hour all week."

I should be studying but...

how's about I post some pics from the local grocery store in Bethel?


So instead of studying for my Alaska Driver's Test, I headed out to get an idea as to what products were available at the grocery store and for how much.
Here's an idea:










Oh, and some interesting stories that I heard about during my breaks from inservice?

A gentleman fell sick last year but had strange symptoms and no one could figure out was wrong with him until his shower stopped working in the mornings. Why did it stop working you ask? Oh, simply b/c three dead birds were in the pipes and the water was no longer able to pass by them. Eeewww.

A new friend that taught in a coastal village for six years told me the importance of not giving up on school even if there are 90 mph winds outside. She actually was crawling on the ground to get to school (while her principal passed her by on a snow mobile waving hello) just so that she didn't have to have a snow day. Apparently a snow day is immediately made up on the next available Saturday. I made myself a metal note.

Two more days &

then I am in the bush.

I have almost arrived!

I wish I could take a picture of my face. It would really show how nervous I am. Even Nate, a guy who will be at the same site and is working at the airport this summer ( I think just to get his 15 minutes of fame on Flying Wild Alaska ) asked if I was nervous. All I remember thinking was, "Did you lose a piece of my luggage?" as he asked if my name was Jill. My response was, "Uhhh... did you lose it? I mean, my luggage, is it lost? Wait a minute, you look familiar! Are you Derek, Nate, Eric!!!??? Never mind, I see it!"

At that point I apologized, slowed down, shook his hand, and THEN ran after my luggage.

But to back it up a little. The flight to Bethel. It took one hour 6 minutes. I knew we had almost arrived when I heard the landing gear drop. Then I looked over and saw thick fog. Then I heard from the stewardess, "Is he really doing this?" and I looked over again and saw fog. Then I heard a child say, "I see it!" and another say, "I saw it!" and felt the plane drop fairly quickly only to pick up speed even more quickly and take off again. The pilot then announced, "Uhh.. folks, the advertised weather is way off, and we are going to try one more time and if it doesn't work, we are heading back to Anchorage."

My heart dropped. I wanted to be in Bethel so badly, even though Starbucks and nachos were in Anchorage. I wanted to meet the teachers, see the tundra that is my home and feel how cold it really is.

So we circled and finally landed. Now, b/c of the fog...no pics:( & it was raining, I am not going to chance it with this camera. After I walked off the plane, I headed into the airport to see a gentleman surrounded by new teachers holding a LKSD sign. The airport is indeed small, so we were all squished waiting for our luggage to come off. As the luggage came around on the belt, I was saying hello to other teachers, trying not to size people up, but you know, sizing people up. Everyone was either from Ohio, Oregon, or Ohio...many from Ohio. I chose to say Idaho for fear of being ridiculed if I said California- I wanted to sound like I knew what I was getting into.

As my luggage was coming off, we started heading outside. There were two suburbans waiting- def. not enough space for us all ( we all packed 3 bags) so I stayed back with a few other teachers and waited to get on the next ride out. It only took 30 minutes.

We arrived to a dorm like setup. We unloaded. We were picked up again. We were taken the LKSD's office. There I signed up with the union, got a cell phone, a new Mac, pizza, ice-cream, paperwork, (somewhere in b/t I chatted) and then back to the dorms where I chatted some more. There are MANY like-minded, very cool, down to earth individuals. I once again am blown away by God's goodness. I was ministered to like no other. I am still sad, scared, confused, and who knows what else...but so is everyone else.

Would you like to know the quote of the day?

A guy who looks like he is 30 steps into the office where there are a few of us talking to some teaching specialists. He stops, and a lady asks if he needs help. He responds with, "Ummm.. I need a contract. I never signed one. Do they know I am coming?"

I just bent over and laughed. Who in the world gets on a place for 13 hours without really knowing if he/she has a job in a very REMOTE area? Apparently this guy-lol.

So here are the pics:)

The gentleman that so kindly picked us all up.


















This is the mud that never ends.



































































































Very excited about this gal! She just signed on with Nunap. two weeks ago!

279,000. 6,000, 436.

Last night a friend that I have been skyping with flew into Anchorage and I was able to meet her face to face. She will be living in Eek- pretty far away, but still apart of LKSD. It was good to hear her personal take on what this next four months will look like and some tips for the next day's trip to Bethel.


Going down in population numbers is going to be interesting. I already feel the difference b/t Anchorage, and let's say...any other city simply b/c of it's location. 279,000 to 6,000 (Bethel)- all I can say is wow.