The camera will light thy path.

Both my roommate and myself headed out at 8:00 when the power went out. Not wanting to dig for our headlamps or look for our phones to become a source of light, I decided to pick up my camera and start shooting away. Man that flash works well!

Problem solved. The camera became my flashlight, but unfortunately my fingers became frozen, so there is a limit to the number of pics that I took.

It was good to see that the power was on at the school, as I needed a few moments to defrost. But it was quite the sight this morning to see half the village without light and therefore the night sky seemed that much more brilliant.

Things not to do during a lockdown.

I had my first lockdown here at the school today, and it was so low key that I still have no idea as to what really happened.

I was pulled out of my class into the hallway, told to go into lockdown mode, and that it was not a drill- seeing that there was a VPO involved should've been my first clue.

After the first five minutes of hearing absolutely nothing...my kids started to get antsy. Thankfully, one of the students started playing thumb wars with another student, which then progressed into arm wrestling.

Me, wanting to get in on the action, challenged the girls to play.

All was good and dandy until one of my boys got in line to arm wrestle with me, followed by two more. Thinking this was a good to keep them occupied without making too much noise, I was fine with arm wrestling any one of my students.

Stupid me should've stayed out of it, as I felt on the third round my back go into shock, followed by one of those headaches that follow a bad decision to act younger than I really am.

I still don't know why we had a lockdown and it only lasted about 30 minutes, but what I do know is leave anything that requires supernatural strength to the kids.

These are a few of my...

favorite phrases.

I asked one of my sixth graders to share with me some words that I can practice in Yupik and I can then catch up to Amy... Amy: 3 Me: 2.

But, Anna banana wanted in on the action. Unfortunately, she is so quiet in speaking that I can barely hear what she is saying. But if you want to listen, be my guest:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-1ErwsdP5c

The breath of the Devil

My roommate just finished a book this weekend where the author actually stayed up in this area to do some research before writing her book. Some of the pages talked about the weather. She found it funny and read this part aloud to me:

Standing on the frozen river, you might see smoke rising in the distance. A Yup'ik Eskimo would know it was open water, steaming where it hit the frigid air, but a trick of the light could make you believe otherwise. You might think you see the breath of the devil.

Now, we had a good laugh over this, but we know that there are many others that may not.

I find that the biggest thing I have to worry about right now is eating and drinking well enough to keep my body hydrated. The winds are a little more constant at this rate and it makes dressing for a walk to the school that much more fun:)

This morning I struggled with walking over to my classroom. I know that I can turn the heat on once I get inside, but man alive... -13 outside is quite cold.


( The numbers are reversed. )

And I noticed that my body needs a little more attention now as I find that the cold weather seems to really dry my skin out!

I have now put a lot of effort into using home remedies in hopes that they will protect my skin, but if you have any more ideas out there besides cuticle oils for my fingers, honey on the lips b/c they are cracking, and castor oil on my face, let me know- I'd greatly appreciate it!

Now something that I hope the "breath of the Devil" will not make more challenging:

March: Anchorage/ Running of the Reindeer
Juneau for my birthday!

Always good to have trips to look forward to!

Not much to report on...

except that there are 84 teaching days left I think!

I don't think that it's the end of the year that I am counting down to ( b/c I am so looking forward to my summer travels), but instead the warmth that will hopefully come with longer days.

I am still trying to adjust to the cold weather, but it's just something that hits me like a ton of bricks whenever I step outside.

These two kids were kind enough to carry some of our boxes back to the house b/c there were more than we could carry:) In exchange, a bag of cookies- they never leave empty handed..nor do I thankfully when I leave the post office!

Classroom firsts for the first school day of 2012.

Some of these firsts are hard to write down and others are just what made my day go a little easier.

This was the first time, coming back to work after Winter Break, that I felt uncomfortable in my classroom. There were a lot of "what ifs" w/ a particular student that may it hard for me to get excited about being in the same room with him. However, I knew that if I just lifted my fear of the unknown up, it would be handled, and it was. Strangely enough;), there was no student, but a note instead from said student.

It was a good thing.

This was the first time that I took my kiddos out during the day for a walk down to the school dock w/ freezing temps (5 degrees), and I was left alone...

to enjoy watching them play tag, roll around in the snow, and talk to one another. I was neither hit with a snowball from behind, nor ignored when I called them in to line up.

It was a good thing.

This was the first time I assigned homework in about five months. Rarely is homework assigned out here b/c it doesn't come back, ever. But I assigned it anyways, and once again, I was surprised to see most of my students stay after school to complete it. This is probably going to be a rare thing to witness, BUT it was nice for my first day back.

It was a good thing.

This is the first time I was asked about next year by another colleague. I still have some serious thinking to do about this, so I just shrugged my shoulders.

And it was the first time I released myself from all of the pressure & knowledge that I have come into contact within the last 72 hours. There is a lot that has come down through the pipes, so to speak, that makes me question whether or not I can function as a teacher in this setting w/out freaking out if I pay too much attention to it all. So I won't- simple as that.

So that is my Tuesday! Perhaps I will take you along on my walk tomorrow, and hope to heaven that my camera is not hit with a snowball:)

Getting into Nunap always seems easier than...

leaving Nunap.

I arrived into Bethel around 11:30 a.m. and was able to quickly make my way to the grocery store and grab about 100.00 worth of meat from Swanson's. I got on the plane to Nunap with Amy at 1:30 and 10 minutes later we arrived in our village seeing more snow on the ground and feeling a little bit more of a nip in the air.

I was told before inservice began this morning that the last two weeks have been cold ( obviously, as we are in the midst of an Alaskan winter) but to the tune of -30 degrees. Our home is warm, and there is still water flowing from the pipes:) I can't same the same, however for some of the other teachers who stayed her over the break and experienced some rather sad times with no water and all.

Let's just say that I am glad that I was in Boise where I experienced pleasant sunny days and then in Hawaii for it's summer weather.

We are back in the game folks, the game of teaching, and it started off today with inservice, a work day tomorrow, and another inservice day on Tuesday. It has been another hard adjustment for me, leaving the comforts of home and all, but I find that that which does not kill me makes me just a little more stronger. Well, that and the fact that we got paid today!

And since I am all about pictures- here's my 10

a.m. pic for the day:)