Almost Christmas!

Hello everyone,

   Well where to start. So much has been going on around here but never enough time to sit down and write. Unfortunately last week I dropped my laptop and broke it so I have been borrowing a school laptop to get me by until I get home for Christmas. Luckily I was planning on buying myself a new computer for Christmas but of course with my luck it couldn't of waited to break until after I got home.
   The mouse adventures continued as well. The little bugger came back and Danielle and I chased it around the school for a good half hour trying to capture it. Me, being the brave one that I am, took a tin can and tried to capture it. Unfortunately for our fury little friend I accidentally squashed it. He/she was very quick and I caught half of him under the can while the rest of him/she was hanging outside of it. Ooops! Anyway, after that we discovered it was a vole and I have seen quite a few outside since. There was one hanging out around my apartment and I am happy to report that it has not found a way inside or else I would not be happy.
   The students, as well as the teachers are getting a bit restless for the holidays to arrive. I am counting down the days till we leave the village. Tomorrow marks one week till we are to arrive in Anchorage. I am so excited. I miss civilization! We are planning on meeting up with other LPSD teachers for dinner on the 22nd. It will be nice to see everyone again and relax a bit before we have our very long flights home.
   I'm not sure if I will be able to jump on and make any more posts before I return home for the holidays but I just wanted everyone to know that everything is going well. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Years! May the coming year be full of blessings for you and your family/friends. I can't wait to see you all!!
  Thanks for keeping up with my Alaska Adventure!

Much love,
Kaitlin

Hello December!

So another week has come and gone. In the beginning of the week it seemed to go by super slow but now that the week is over it seems to have gone by pretty fast. It’s funny how that works out.

I saw my first bunny yesterday evening on our way home from school. It was so beautiful. Its fur turns white in the winter to help hide it from predators. I’ve never seen anything like it. I finally found out the names of the fish we have in our fresh water lake here. The few that I know of so far are: Rainbow Trout, Grayling, and Salmon. Grayling supposedly tastes horrible but they still catch them often. Go online sometime and see what they look like. They have a dorsal fin which makes them unique out here because they’re the only ones that have it. In Lake Iliamna which we feed off of, they have the only fresh water seals. I hope one day I can go there and see a few.

There have been a few wolves spotted in the village over the past few weeks. From what I have heard through the grapevine they have caught one or two already. Yesterday morning as I was leaving my apartment at 6:30am (keeping in mind its pitch black out) I see what appears to be a wolf about 30 feet away from me staring at me from the shadows. I slightly panic thinking Oh crap! It moves forward a bit and I see that it is only my neighbor’s dog Yukon. I was very happy to realize that it was Yukon and not a wolf. I have not seen any wolves in the village; they stay just outside the houses in the woods and at the airport.

One of our kindergarten students, Tava, came into the classroom yesterday morning and went into the classroom library to find a book to read and came out holding a tiny mouse in her hand. At first I thought it was one of the puppets that the kids play with all the time. Danielle goes “is that real?” and Tava goes “uh huh”. Danielle jumps back a few feet and I tell Tava to put the dead mouse in the trash and wash her hands. Danielle brings the trashcan up to Ron’s room and asks him if he would like to use if for a science experiment and he willingly accepts. Then today Danielle and I come into the classroom, get all set up on our computers and I look over to where she’s sitting at her desk and see another tiny mouse or a vole as they call it, running underneath her feet. I say “oh my gosh!” and Danielle sees where I am looking and without a hesitation starts screaming and running to jump on a table several feet away. All of Danielle’s screaming alerted Regina upstairs that something was wrong so she comes downstairs to find Danielle on a table and me trying to see where the little guy ran off too. Regina and I start moving things around to find our fury little friend trying to make a fast getaway out the classroom door. We corner it in a hallway and let it go free outside. After all was said and done I couldn’t help but laugh seeing Danielle’s face and hearing her screams. It was hilarious!

The boy I work with gave us quite a scare on Wednesday morning. He came in fine but within minutes took a turn for the worse. He did not look good at all. He was sweating and looked like he was going to pass out. I was very worried because his sugars were dropping (he has diabetes). I gave him a juice box hoping that would help bring his sugars up a bit. He seemed ok for a few minutes until he threw up all the juice all over the table. Danielle stops what she’s doing to come over and help me with him. I get Regina to help out as well. We try giving him some sugars but he’s not keeping anything down. We called his mom to come in to school and she took him to the village clinic and then to rest at home. He luckily only had a little bug and after taking 2 days off was back to school and looking great today. I was very thankful that it all turned out ok. It can be very scary for me sometimes to have this little boy’s life in my hands. I just want him to live a long life and be able to experience everything it has to offer. He has captured my heart and I would do almost anything for him. He’s such a sweetheart.

Next year I will be moving in with Danielle in her apartment starting shortly after getting back in January. We have a male tutor coming out here to work with the students and he needs a place to stay. So, I will be moving out and he will be moving in. It should all work out ok. I’m hoping to get a phone line while I’m staying with Danielle so that people can call me. Danielle has much better internet in her place so that’ll be a big plus. Also, it will be nice to have the company. She has her little dog Rorie too so that’ll be nice to have a dog around again. I’ll have to make sure I have all my allergy meds with me when I get back since I am allergic to the little bugger.

The weather lately has been warming up. It’s been in the 30’s-40’s range during the day. I walk outside and I’m like wow its warm outside. Ha-ha! Crazy I know but it’s so much warmer then when we were in the negative numbers. I’m curious what my reaction will be when I get home and the weather will be warmer. The staff members here joke and say that they all go home and are in t-shirts and shorts while everyone else is in sweats. I doubt I’ll be in shorts but I’m sure I’ll be warmer then others.

Well other then that I can’t really think of anything else to report. We will be leaving the village in 21 days! I am so excited to get a taste of civilization again.

xoxo

Thanksgiving

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a lovely day with your family and friends. I enjoyed my Thanksgiving with the staff. I started my morning with a workout over at Danielle’s place with Danielle and Nicole. We do a Jillian Michael’s workout dvd called Ripped in 30. It is an intense workout. The first week my body was so sore and everything hurt. Now going into the next week I am still a tad sore but not to the point where I can’t move. We get together almost everyday to workout now leaving a day off here or there when needed. Anyway, so we did our workout and then I went home to shower and start baking. I made sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies and Mississippi mud brownies (all from Betty Crocker). After all the baking was done I borrowed the truck and headed up to school for a few skype dates. First I called my Chicago family. They were all over at Aunt Dana and Uncle Kevin’s for dinner. It was great being able to see and talk to everyone. Then I was able to skype my Pittsburgh family. It was nice seeing everyone, made the holiday seem less lonely and far away from the family since I got to be apart of their day/evening. Dinner was schedule at Ed and Cal’s for 4pm. We had a wonderful meal with tons of food. Everyone brought something so that no one person was cooking all day. There was a nice big turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, creamed corn, rolls, baked ziti, green bean casserole, stuffing, a carrot salad, cranberries and I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. For dessert there were my cookies and brownies as well as pumpkin and apple pie. We were all stuffed and bloated. The meal was delicious though. We played Catch Phrase and Cranium. We shared a lot of laughs and some interesting stories about living in bush Alaska. It was nice and helped me not miss home too much. Around 10pm we all went home and I went straight to bed. I was exhausted.

Well if you can believe it we got the truck stuck again yesterday afternoon. We were getting ready to leave school for the day when Ron came in saying that the trucks front left tire was low and that we needed to take it around back to the shed where the air compressor was. Ron was looking at Danielle and me as if we knew what he was talking about but we had no idea. My excuse was that I’m still the newbie here and I have no idea where or how to do this. Ron looked like he really wanted to go home and that this was the last thing he wanted to do but he decided to show us how to do it so that next time we knew. Keep in mind that we have over 2 feet of snow on the ground right now and the road to the shed was not plowed. Danielle starts driving the truck around the school and towards the back where the shed was when the truck decides there is too much snow to continue. Ron had the look like “you have to be kidding me”, in a joking way of course. I was thinking “oh no, not again”. We all go into school looking for a shovel. Ron discovers one in the janitor closet and back outside we go. Ron’s shoveling and Danielle and I are pushing snow way with our hands and feet. Ron hops in the truck to try to get it out. He is able to get the truck out on the first try and then plows through the snow to the shed. Ron shows us how to fill up the tire with the air compressor and then we hop back in the truck to get out. Luckily we didn’t get stuck again. Poor Ron always has to help us poor females in distress.

I’ll be home in 26 days! I can’t wait. We only have 23 more days till school lets out. We are finished in the afternoon of the 22^nd. Our flights are scheduled to leave the village at 3pm with Iliamna Air. They will fly us into Anchorage where Danielle and I will stay until our flight on the 24^th. We are leaving the village early to get to Anchorage because if we get a storm, we could be trapped here and miss our flights home. So we leave the village as soon as possible and stay in Anchorage so that there is no way we can miss our flights back home. We are scheduled to leave around 2:30am from Anchorage, getting into Seattle around 6:30am. Then we board another plane around 9:30am and get into NJ around 5:15ish pm. 10 hours in a plane is going to be exhausting. I’m going to crash when I am home. I can’t wait though. I miss my family and friends!

We’re under a blizzard warning starting today. We are to expect high winds as much as 35mph with 1-3inches of snow causing visibility issues. I hope it’s not as bad as the weather people are calling for. I’ll keep you posted if any more interesting stories come about. 

Bonjour!

Hello from the North Pole,

            I woke up this morning to another 4-5 inches of snow on top of the already foot 1/2 of snow we’ve had from the past week. According to Danielle this is already more snow then they had last year. Joy! The snow is so fluffy. The only way I can really describe it is to say it’s like walking through Splenda sweetener.  I have more then enough of my fair share of snow and it’s only November.

            This past weekend, Danielle and I decided to go to school to watch our Friday shows. Every Friday, we go to school and watch Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. This particular Friday, we had a mini blizzard hit us (surprise surprise). We are driving to school and the wind is picking up, the snow is blowing everywhere, and it’s freezing outside. We arrive to school safely but Danielle is second guessing our decision since the storm was picking up and becoming a white out. We decide to try to get through Grey’s Anatomy before heading home. We were about 10 minutes into the show when we lost power. Danielle and use our computers as flashlights to pack up our stuff and head to the truck. Driving home was a bit scary since we couldn’t really see in front of the truck. Danielle had shared stories with me previously about people from the village who have died from being hit by atv’s and cars in the middle of white outs. Danielle was very worried because she did not want to hit anyone. I was doing my best to keep an eye out for any trouble ahead when I saw a small flashing light blinking at us about 20 feet ahead. I tell Danielle to be careful someone is up ahead. She slows down and sees that someone’s snow mobile had broken down. She gets out of the car to see if they need assistance. We find out that the person in trouble was Scott, one of the aides at our school. His fuel pump was flooded and he was trying to get off the road with his snow mobile. He said he was fine and not to worry. Luther, the town drunk, was also there making small talk with Danielle asking what her Christian name was. She had to explain to him that they had met several times and politely try to get out of conversation with him. Luther is a whole other story entirely. Anyway, Danielle and I get back on the road and get home safe. We decide to hang out at her place and watch one of her Netflix movies. We are very lucky because we are the only houses in the village to be hooked up to generators!! Yay!! Life is good.
            Now it’s Saturday. Danielle and I decide to try our shows again. We had a lot of snow come from the past few days and no one really plows up here because they all have snow mobiles except for Danielle and I. We’re driving to school and we’re going about 7mph in the snow and sliding a bit here and there. Danielle makes the big turn to head into the school and guess what?!?! She drives us right into a snow bank, in the bushes. Dun dun dun! She tries going forward and backward but there is no use… we’re stuck! Danielle and I laugh and exchange looks like “Ron” haha. She tries her computer to see if we are close enough to the school to get a signal but no. We get out of the truck and start walking to school in a foot of snow or more.  We get inside and call Ron on the school phone. Ron answers and Danielle says “Ronnn, I kinda got the truck stuck.” Ron’s response “how stuck?” Danielle “pretty stuck, I opened the car down and the snow is coming in the truck. Ron “I’ll come down with a shovel.” Danielle “Thanks Ron!!!” Danielle and I walk back to the truck and try pushing the snow away from the truck. Danielle gets on her knees and tries to pull the snow away with her hands as I try kicking it away with my boots. Ron shows up with a shovel and we start at it. After a couple minutes we get the snow enough away to try to get the truck to go. Ron gets in and gives it a try. However, the truck gets more stuck and the back right tire is now somewhat in the air. We get back under the truck pulling more snow away and then Ron tells Danielle and I to get in the back of the truck and put our weight on the back tire to get it to touch the ground. We do as he says and he tries again. No use. We pull more snow away, get back in the truck and try one more time. Danielle and I are holding onto the side of the truck, sitting in cold, wet snow. Danielle makes a comment which she may not appreciate me saying but I have to say it because it was so funny that when I laughed it hurt. Danielle giggles and says “I sure did pick a bad night not to wear underwear, I’m getting such a draft!” We laugh so hard because this night turned into quite an adventure. Ron finally gets the truck out of the snow drift. We cheer and hop in the truck as Ron hops back on his snow mobile. Ron is about to pull away when Danielle puts the truck in gear and guess what people? We go no where! We are stuck again! Danielle yells “Ron!!!” We start laughing so hard because we are in disbelief that we are stuck again. Ron comes back over and tries to tell Danielle to switch gears. She tries switching gears and nothing happens. Ron starts pushing the truck on the side of the car saying if you get it to go.. Just go! Nothing is happening, Danielle and I are still laughing and Ron is outside the truck in the cold pushing the truck. Finally, Ron’s in the back of the truck pushing saying “Goooo, gooo!!” The truck starts going and we can hear Ron as if he were a whisper saying “Just keep going”. We are driving home in first gear, 7 mph, swerving. The road we drive home has a somewhat steep slope on the one side. Driving home the slope was on my side and as Danielle was swerving, I told her to swerve towards the other side just incase. Finally, after what should have been a 5 minute drive or less, turned out to be 10-15 minutes, we are finally home. Danielle and I go inside to her apartment and relax for the night, trying to get warm and dry off. She makes us some hot cocoa and we settle in for the night. I could not believe what an adventure that turned out to be but I know that this adventure would only happen to me or Danielle. We are not too lucky when it comes to these sorts of things.

            Anyway, I slept on my arm wrong on Wednesday of last week and was in excruciating pain until Saturday. I stayed home from school on Thursday to try to rest my arm and get it better. I went to the clinic here in the village and they gave me a cheap sling to help keep my arm from further injuring myself. Come Friday I find myself in tears in front of my co-workers because the pain is more then I can handle. I was taking a ton of ibuprofen to help keep the pain down. By Friday night I sent my mom an email asking her to call a doctor and ask them what I should do. I was terrified I really hurt myself and would have to pay over $300 to get a flight into Anchorage to get checked out. I had barely gotten any sleep since Wednesday because the pain was too much to bear. I wake up Saturday morning to an email back from my mom saying to call my aunt Dana who is a massage therapist. I get on Skype and I am able to hold a signal long enough for her to tell me that my muscles had contracted and was up against my nerve causing me the pain. She walked me through how to do trigger point therapy on myself. After hanging up with her I spent the day working on my arm, massaging it and doing trigger point therapy. By the end of the night, I was feeling a lot better. Sunday comes around and I continue doing the therapy but this time I am stretching out the muscles giving myself 90 seconds for the brain to send the signals down my arm and into my muscles. Apparently it takes that long for the brain and the muscles to talk to one another. Now it’s Monday and I can move my arm again, there is no pain. The only pain I feel now is weakness pain as if I worked out too much. I am so thankful to have my arm back to almost normal and to have the pain gone. So thank you Aunt Dana!! You’re the best!!

            Other then that, I will be back home in Pennsylvania in 40 days! I can not wait to be back home with my friends and family. I miss you all so much that sometimes the days are long and lonely. I hope you are all well! I’ll see you in almost a month!

Xoxo

King Salmon

On Tuesday October 18^th at 2:30pm we boarded an Iliamna Air plane called a Pilatus and headed to King Salmon, AK. I was so excited that I could barely contain my anticipation. I was a little nervous about flying on the small Pilatus because in Alaska plane crashes are very common. Our pilot was a sweetheart and everyone on staff knew him which made me feel safer. Also, Ron sat in the co-pilot spot and he use to be a pilot so that made me feel better that if anything should happen Ron was there. When we boarded the plane, Richard, another teacher from the district was already on the plane. I had met Richard weeks back at the district cross country event. He is from Pittsburgh so we have a lot in common. We had one more stop to make before heading for King Salmon. We flew across the lake and over to Newhalen to pick up Derek. Derek is also from Pennsylvania. Side note: A lot of people from our District are either from Pennsylvania or Montana. Anyway, we picked up Derek and we were off to King Salmon. The ride was not too bad, a bit bumpy with turbulence but overall it was quick.

            We landed in King Salmon and a bus was there to pick us up and take us to our sleeping destinations. Originally we thought we would all be sleeping at the school but they put us up in a lodge and an old military dorm. We stopped at one of the stores on our way to pick up some things. I was looking around at the prices and was surprised but not shocked. A bag of Lays potato chips were over $8. I decided I did not need anything at that point in time and saved some money.

            We dropped off Derek and Richard at Savaoc (old military dorm) and then the rest of the Nondalton staff continued onto Bear Trail Lodge. This is one of the top Lodges in Alaska for fishing. Danielle and I stayed in one of the cabins with two other personnel from the district. We unpacked a bit and then headed over to the main building to mingle with the other staff members that were there. I got to meet tons of people from all over our district. They are an amazing group of people and they are all a close knit family. I am so lucky to be apart of this. As we mingled the Bear Trail Lodge staff let us have free reign over the bar since it was the end of the season and they were trying to get rid of everything. Needless to say, the alcohol didn’t last very long because there was not much left, which only meant the staff members were running out to the store picking up more alcohol. Now I know what you must be thinking. This is a professional development with the people you’re working with and you’re all drinking and having fun. Well the only thing I can say is that it is a different way of life up here. And we are all adults and the district respects us for what we do and understand that we are isolated out in our villages and need time to just have fun.

            Everyone from Savaoc got picked up on the bus and was brought over to Bear Trail for some dinner. We had some awesome Mexican food. The cook there made tacos, enchiladas, burritos, etc. It was delicious!  We all hung out for a bit before Savaoc people had to go home early because of the bus. The rest of us at Bear Trail stayed up till about 11pm talking, drinking and getting to know one another.

            The next morning came too soon, 6am my alarm went off so that I could jump in the shower and get my day started. The bus was there to pick us all up at 7am and took us over to the Bristol Bay School. It was about a 20 minute drive and we were all so tired. When we arrived at the school they had breakfast waiting for us. Nothing fancy, just yogurt, fruit, muffins, etc. Around 8:30am we all headed to the classrooms were we would have an hour and half sessions. The sessions were a variety of topics from learning about technology, to literacy in the classroom, science, social studies, you name it. We had two sessions in the morning then recreational time. During this time, you could do yoga, swimming, basketball, volleyball, etc. You could also use this time to walk down the road to the visit the store. At 12:15-1:15 the school supplied us with lunch. Day 1 we had some wonderful sandwiches with pasta salad and veggies. We all raided the veggies because it’s so hard to come by fresh veggies and fruit out in the villages because it doesn’t last long and it’s so expensive to fly it out. So overall, lunch was good. Then in the afternoon we attended two more sessions before calling it a day. By 5:15 the day was over and we were getting back on the buses to head to Bear Trail for dinner.

            Bear Trail that night was pretty much the same as the night before. This time we were served BBQ Chicken and ribs. It was very tasty. Once again we didn’t get to spend too much time with our Savaoc people because the bus came to pick them up shortly after dinner. Bear Trail people stayed up too late that night having beers and playing card games. It was a blast but getting into bed at 1am and getting up at 6am was not a good combination. The next day we were moving like glaciers but made it to the school and did the same routine as the day before.

            Thursday night instead of going back to Bear Trail for dinner we did a Memorial Fun Walk/Run on Naknek beach. This is the second or third Memorial run for someone that died in our district a few years back. She was young like me, practicing for a run she was going to be participating in during winter. She was running in the woods with her headphones in and didn’t notice a pack of wolves following her. Unfortunately she did not survive the attack so the district puts on this Memorial for her every year. Most of the people who were there were from our district, others were townspeople who came out to support and remember her. A bunch of us walked but a good amount ran too and competed for metals. It was so nice just walking along the beach. It’s so peaceful and calm. There were tons of jelly fish washed up on the shore but that’s normal to any beach. The thing that is different here is that beached walrus’ and whales are common to see. Bristol Bay runs right into the ocean. For those of you who watch Deadliest Catch, this is one of the places they are in and out of.

            After the walk/run we went over for a BBQ in one of the airplane hangers. This is where I got to try Moose and Salmon. The moose ribs were actually really tasty. It was chewy like jerky but very good. As most of you know, I am not a fish person. However, I am in Alaska and I have to try new things. I tried the Alaskan Salmon, while it was tasty and good, I still did not enjoy it. Sorry! You should be proud of me though for trying. After we were done eating we began planning how we were all going to get to go out for the evening to a local bar. It was difficult to plan because there are so many of us and only a few transportations available. Then there’s the issue that not all of us are staying at the same place. It was very complicated. However we were able to figure a plan out. We headed back to King Salmon and went to a bar called Eddies. It was small, dark, smokey, and everything you would think an old bar would look like. We had a few drinks there and then walked across the street to a bar called Kin Ko’s. Kin Ko’s was a newer bar, still smokey, but brighter and just looked like a new bar. The only difference here was they have what you call a crab pot. To me, they were cages. It was a small stage with poles that were covered in fish netting. Now, I walk in looking at these things and you can image what I’m thinking. The staff giggle and said “yepp, welcome to Alaska, how many more do you need before you jump in there?” I laugh and say absolutely not, no way. We all laugh it off and sit down with another drink. The bar started playing a trivia game asking a variety of questions so we got into teams and played. It was a lot of fun and since we were all teachers we knew almost every answer. It got to be midnight and so we called it a night and decided to go home because we still had one more day of sessions.

            Friday came and we were looking like zombies but we still pushed through the day with flying colors. When the sessions were over we were able to go shopping before heading back to Bear Trail for dinner. I picked up a few things at the grocery store but didn’t want to go overboard since it all needed to fit into my suitcase which space was limited. We got back to Bear Trail and had the best dinner I’ve had in awhile. They served us prime rib, potatoes, steamed broccoli, caesar salad, and rolls. To top it all off, for dessert we had chocolate brownie sundaes. It was heavenly. Just about everyone on staff decided that because it was our last night we were going to hit the bar one more time. Plus Kin Ko’s was having an end of the world party that night because it was there last night being open for the season. We loaded onto the buses and went into town. The bar had a few locals and then all us teachers. We danced and had a great time. Before we knew it there was a dance competition. The bar was going to give money away to the person who won the competition. Before I knew it a bunch of teachers were signed up to dance and even a few locals. Let me just say it was one of the funniest and shocking experiences in my life. Let’s just say the dancing happened in the crab pots and on the bar. There were pitchers of water being dumped on people. It was crazy!! Not at all what I was expected but we had a lot of fun. The older teachers went home around midnight while the rest of us young people stayed out till 2am. It was a blast. However, waking up the next morning was not fun. We were all not feeling well and had to pack and jump on our planes to head home. We had a quick breakfast with everyone then it was departure time.

            We got on the plane sometime after 10am and were home in a half hour. We had the same pilot that we had coming out. The flight was so smooth and peaceful. The views are amazing. I wish I had taken pictures but there just wasn’t enough time to do everything.

            Overall, it was an amazing week with lots going on. We barely had time to just relax. We were constantly moving but it was so nice. It feels weird to be home now, alone with nothing to do. For days we were constantly surrounded by people and now it just feels weird not having them around. They really are like my second family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Everyone is just amazing and so sweet.

            Ps- It’s looking more and more like I am going to be staying next year too. I talked with the head of human resources while I was there and he said he would try to get me a job next year if there was an opening and if there wasn’t one in the district he has tons of connections elsewhere. So fingers crossed that I can stay! I love it here!!!

Anyway, I know this was a ton to read and obviously I left things out but you got the jist. xoxoxo

Hello October

Hello October!

            Hard to believe that October is here already. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. I found out this past week that I will be staying till the end of the school year. I am so excited that I get to stay and continue working here in Alaska. It is so amazing I would not mind working here again next year.

            In 18 days I will be getting out of the village for the first time since arriving here. The entire staff is going down to King Salmon for an in-service. We will be gone from the 18^th till the 22^nd. We will be meeting up with all the other staff and personnel from the district so I will get to see some of my new friends again and meet more new awesome people. We will be staying at the Bristol Bay school sleeping on air mattresses throughout the school. It’ll be just like camping lol. During the day we will be attending different sessions to help us in the classroom and then in the evenings we’ll be free to hang out with everyone. From what I understand this town has a general store so I am very excited to be able to go shopping! Also, they have a bar! So it’ll be nice to have a little taste of civilization again. I am very excited!

            The weather here has now officially changed to cold. In the mornings we have to defrost the cars because they are covered in icy frost. The sun is going down now around 8:30 and comes up around 7:30-8. It makes me sad that we are losing so much sunlight. When I first got here the sun did not go down until 11pm, quite the change from then.

            As far as I know the village has not seen any more bears but now we need to be on the look out for wolves as it is turning colder. Joy! The rabbits here are usually a beautiful brown color but with the weather turning, their coats are becoming a beautiful shade of white. It’s amazing! I absolutely love being surrounded by nature everyday. I would just rather not have to worry about animals attacking me.

            With my abc shows starting back up this month, Danielle and I have been going in on Friday nights and watching Greys Anatomy and Private Practice on the Smart Board. It is a lot of fun and we look forward to it every week. We go into Cam’s room because he has a couch and chair that we can cozy up in to relax and enjoy our shows. The school has better internet then we have at home so the shows download very quickly. It’s perfect.

            Yesterday, we had a school fundraiser where we made Indian tacos. It was quite the turn out; we had more people then we had food. We probably gave away about 85 tacos but for next time we’ll have to do 100. An Indian taco is like a regular taco but on a big piece of fry bread. There is taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream, cheese, and olives. They were delicious but extremely filling. It was nice though to do something for the community and work with some of the other students in the school.

            The northern lights can be seen over different parts of Alaska right now. It is a bit harder for us to see them from where we are but it is still possible to see them occasionally so I will be keeping my eyes open.

            Other then that everything is going well. I am looking forward to coming home for Christmas. I’ll need to start looking for plane tickets here pretty soon.

xoxo

It's been awhile

Hello Everyone,

            It has been quite awhile since I have posted anything new on my blog. I apologize for that but life is getting busy quickly.

Anyway, I have been fighting this cold for a week now. I did not have any cold medicine so I had to place an order with Lake Clark Air so that they could fly me in some medicine. I’ve been taking the meds for a day or two now and it is finally starting to help but I still feel crappy. In the evenings I’ve been breaking out in night sweats and I have to prop myself up so high that I can hardly sleep. I can’t wait till my congestion is gone and my throat is back to normal. It’s hard to stay healthy as a teacher though. All the kids carry tons of germs and half of them don’t wash their hands properly. On the bright side I am building up my immunity.

The boy I have been working with is such a sweetheart. He definitely has his days where he tries to push me and see how far he can get away with things but overall he is a sweet kid. I am becoming attached to him and I believe him to me as well. He comes into school in the mornings and says “Miss Kaitlin” and runs over to give me a big hug. Most days he just wants to give hugs and put his head on my shoulder. He doesn’t have the best home life and I truly feel for him. I just want to love him up but I have to provide him with structure so that he can learn what he has to in school. I am very glad that I am here so that I can be there to help him and support him. He is also helping me by teaching me a lot during this whole process.

I am enjoying the students in the whole class as well. There are a couple girls who can be very clingy to me on a regular basis. During recess and gym they are always hanging on me saying “Miss Kaitlin play with us”. One of their favorite games is monkey in the middle lol. They all like to try to tickle me too. I call them nicknames like “you goofball” or “sweetie” and at first they were like “why do you call us sweetie?” I would always reply with it’s just something I like to call you because you are so sweet. They seem to like that. They all try to sit on my lap from time to time and love giving hugs. These kids are stealing away pieces of my heart. It’ll be hard to leave them when this is all over.

There was a bear sighting in the village earlier this week. Everyone got on their radios telling people not let the kids out to play, don’t go out walking by yourself, etc. The kids came into school saying “there’s a bear, there’s a bear”. At the time Danielle and I did not know about it because we don’t have the radios that everyone else has in the village. I usually walk home after school but this week I waited with the other teachers so I could get a ride. I don’t want anyone to worry about me. No one has seen the bear in days so we should be ok but it is always good to be vigilant. When I was moving up here, Danielle had told me that I should buy some bear spray. My reaction was “is there such a thing?” And to my surprise there is. I have a nice big can of bear spray in my apartment just in case. Let me tell you though it reminds me of fire extinguisher. It’s pretty big and not easily stored in any bags lol. At least I have it though incase I ever need it.

Two weeks ago now we had the district cross country meet here. All the other schools from our district came up with their coaches for a few days and camped out in the school. The students came in on Wednesday and left Friday afternoon. The big race was on Thursday and all the kids did really well. One of our Nondalton students made regional’s and is currently at the regional race today. I hope he does well!  

After the race on Thursday was a big dance for the older students. I got to be a chaperone. How crazy that was for me to go from being a student one minute to now being a teacher chaperoning the students. It was really funny to watch because the students were so shy and didn’t want to dance. There were a few students who would get up to dance but they mostly sat down. A few of the teachers and me put in requests from songs like the Macarena, the electric slide, and cotton-eyed Joe. This worked because the songs tell you what to do. I was surprised though by how many slow songs the students requested. They were not afraid to dance slowly with one another. It made me giggle because it was so cute watching the boys get all shy and nervous asking other girls to dance with them. One of our students really wanted to ask this girl to dance, it took him all night but he finally got the courage to ask her and I must say it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Some of the boys were good slow dancers, where others were so nervous you could see them mentally counting the foot-steps in their heads. It was quite the sight to see. I had a lot of fun that night because I got to meet a lot of other teachers from our district. One of the teachers I met was from my home-town in Chicago and another from Pittsburgh. So I got a chance to talk about some of my favorite sports teams. Everyone that I met was so nice and welcoming, I just love this district. The people from our district are from all over the country. We have people from Pennsylvania, Montana, Illinois, Oregon, etc. Its great meeting new people and making new friendships.

Other then that, it’s the same old, same old. Nothing new and exciting going on right now. I am getting homesick though and I miss all my friends and family back home. I’m hoping December comes quickly!

Xoxo

Cool

     Ron is amazing. He came over yesterday evening and helped to temporarily fix my heat! It is now down to 72 degrees which is perfect for me. He helped cut up some wood so that I have wood boards to keep my windows secure. He also looked at my washer and found what was wrong with it. He even called one of the maintenance guys to tell them what they needed so hopefully that will be fixed very soon. I am so very thankful to him and all the other amazing people who have helped me while I have been here. They were right when they said "We take care of each other and become a family." They certainly are becoming a part of my family.
     Danielle and I had another movie night last night where we watched "The Tourist". I must say it was a very good movie and recommend others watch it as well!
     I hope all is well with all of you! Miss you!
     And I also want to send a Happy Birthday out to Donna!! I hope you have a wonderful day with the family!

Hot Hot Heat

I have had problems with the heat in my apartment since the day I arrived. Even though it is not cold enough to need heat right now they have the system on and ready for when the cold weather hits.  You would think it shouldn’t be a problem, but the system has a small flaw right now in that it is always on.  My thermostat is not allowing me to control the temperature so it is always a blazing 80 degrees in here. It makes it very difficult to spend my mornings and evenings in the apartment when it is this hot – makes me drowsy. However, last night was the first night it reached more than 80 degrees, climbing up to 90. I found myself running around the apartment opening all the windows as high as they can go in order to get some fresh cool air in. However, it was 10 o’clock at night and time to go to bed. I had a slight dilemma since I do not like to leave my windows open during the day or evening since there is nothing to keep intruders out. Last night it was just way too hot in here to not leave the windows open all night. I said my prayers, put the pepper spray by the bed and hoped that God would protect me. Around 3am we were having quite the storm outside and a huge gush of wind came in through my window and SLAMMED my bedroom door shut. Me, being barely able to sleep, one because of the heat and two because of the possibility of someone coming in (trying to be aware of noises) JUMPED up so fast in my bed with a slight scream. I got out of bed and checked the apartment making sure it was secure then shut the windows realizing that I needed sleep and could not get it if I was worrying all night. Luckily, Ron gave me a nice fan from his house to use to help keep the rooms cooler. I have been moving the fan from room to room as I need it. In the mornings I have it set up in my bathroom directed on me as I blow dry my hair. It’s so hot in the apartment then add a very hot hair dryer; I just defeat the purpose of drying my hair as I am sweating. So luckily with the fan, I can blow dry my hair now in the mornings with more ease and less frustration.  It’s amazing that the nights are so cool and feel so good yet my apartment feels like I am sleeping under the sun. I really would like to have someone come fix it but they claim that they can not turn the heat down or off because they fear the pipes will freeze and I will not have heat in the really cold months. They say “hot is better”. I say I can put more layers on but I can’t take off all my layers. Danielle stopped by my window tonight to see if I wanted to go for a walk with her and her dog Rorie. She was amazed at how much heat she could feel just standing at the window. It’s incredible!! I need someone to help fix this. I mentioned it again to Ron that the heat was now up to 90 degrees in the apartment and he said he would stop by on Saturday to help measure the windows so that we can put security boards on them so I can leave them open during the day and evenings to help control the heat. So as of right now that is my main concern and first priority!
            By the way, I have the most amazing mom ever! She sent me two boxes of goodies that arrived on Friday and I couldn’t be happier with what I found inside. For my enjoyment as well as the kids when they stop by to visit, I now have: playing cards, play dough, puzzles, coloring books, word searches, etc. She packed some goodies for me of course. One being some peanut butter and chocolate! Yum. She also sent me mixing bowls and measuring cups. Trying to cook without things like this has been a challenge and luckily now I will not have to improvise everything lol. She also sent me several more of my dvds, since there is no cable here and internet is extremely slow. And how could I forget, some family pictures to put around my room to have my family and friends surround me always. Thank you mom for being so amazing and helping your daughter feel more at home. You’re the best! I love you!

My adventureous weekend!

     Saturday afternoon, Ron, Danielle and I all went fireweed picking to make some delicious fireweed jam. Fireweed is a type of flower. They are found all over out here. They have very bright pink/purple buds, which is what you pick to get the jam. We walked around Nondalton looking for the the darkest fireweed we could find as they have the most flavor. Once we had about 5 cups worth of buds we went back to Ron's house where we sorted through our collection of flowers sorting out the good from the bad. The worst part about it was all the bugs climbing out of the flowers. I'm talking spiders, ants, and many other insects I do not know. Ron laughed and said more protein! I just tried to push that thought out of my mind since I am not a big bug fan. We then took the flowers we collected and boiled them in hot water. Then just add the Certo, sugar, etc and get the jars ready in a pot of boiling water to help seal them. It was so delicious. Ron made his homemade wheat bread (which is amazing) so we had some awesome homemade toast with homemade fireweed jam. It was great.
        When we were done eating some toast we started watching Pride and Prejudice, the Colin Firth version. Linda, Danielle and I love Pride and Prejudice so we watched the first 2 hours together before calling it quits to get some work done.
        I went home to work on laundry, clean and cook. I did a couple loads of laundry but had to mop up water every time because my washer is leaking. However, I made it work. I got my laundry finished and just about got the house in order when I started talking to Danielle on skype about my washer. She told me that we have a repair guy in town and to tell Ed asap because he will be leaving the following day. So I stopped everything I was doing, including cooking, to run over to Ed and Cals place which is right across the street. What was supposed to be a quick trip/visit ended up being around two and half hours lol. Keep in mind I had dinner that was waiting for me. LOL. Oops. Nothing burnt because I took it off the burner. Once I got home it was after 9 so a huge meal was not going to happen. I had some cereal and parked myself in front the computer. Danielle then messaged me saying if I was free, I was welcome to come to her place for a movie night. So my busy day continued into the late evening as Danielle and I watched the Social Network. Very interesting movie by the way.
       Sunday morning came, I wake up early for Roy to come fix my washer. He gets there and takes the thing apart to find that the water is spraying the motor of the washer which is dangerous with electrical issues so I currently have no washer. But all the teachers have washers and there is even a washer at the school so I am not worried. They will be back to fix it another time.
      Shortly after Roy was there, Danielle comes to my window asking to go on an adventure on the boat. And let me tell you what an adventure that turned out to be. We got into Ron's boat and we went about 3ish miles down the lake looking for a creek. We thought we found the creek we were looking for so we turned off the engine and rowed into the shallow water to see if this was the creek Ron was searching for. To our discovery, it was not. We rowed back out into deeper water (keep in mind it was like 5 feet deep lol not very deep water where we were) and tried to turn on the engine to get going again. Well, guess what happened? It wouldn't start. Ron kept pulling at it but no start. So while he started to take it apart to find the problem Danielle and I talked and took some pictures of the amazing scenery. The water is so clear and clean that you can see right to the bottom. It's one of the freshest lakes straight from the glaciers. I put my hand in the water to feel how cool it was and to my surprise it was not as cold as I would have expected. It was nice. A little too chilly for me to go swimming but the villagers here were swimming in it all weekend. Anyway, still on the boat, Ron's working away trying to find our problem. As he's working the boat keeps getting pulled into shallower waters. We had to continuously row back out. Finally, we realized to just drop the anchor. Danielle picks it up and its so heavy she just drops it into the water and it goes BLOP! The anchor goes down and Danielle gets a nice little bath of water haha. Ron then realized that the anchor was not attached to the boat but luckily it was only like 5 feet deep so the rope didn't go all the way out of the boat. We had a good laugh or two before getting back to work. Ron discovers that the engine is not getting enough fuel. Ron starts to row the boat for a while. Danielle and I told him that if he gets tired to let us know so we can take over. Ron rows up to the shore, attaches a rope to the side of the boat and begins to pull the boat while walking along the bank. To my surprise, we are actually moving faster this way. Danielle takes one oar and sets it up in the back of the boat to help us steer. Meanwhile, I'm at the front of the boat with the other oar keeping us from hitting big rocks or shrubberies in the water. We do this for about an hour before we stop to take a break. We are still a good mile or two from home. We stop at the old Nondalton Village, where the villagers use to live before moving to our current location. Danielle and I hike up the hill to get some pictures, keeping our eyes and ears open for bears. Luckily, we were ok, no bears! We looked around for a few minutes, caught our breath and began our descent down the hill. We were about half way down the hill when we heard the engine running. We cheered and were eager to get home. We see Ron a ways out keeping the engine running so Danielle and I yell out to him telling him to not turn off the engine, we'll swim out to him. He does not listen to us and turns off the engine and comes in to get us. Danielle and I exchange looks like, "Please work". Ron pulled at the engine and it roared to life. We cheered again and began our quick journey home. It was such a beautiful day that none of us minded our adventure. We were lucky enough to see some baby eagles and get some amazing pictures. We laughed and just had a really nice time.
      Later that evening, we had a staff dinner at Danielle's place. Her and Regina made dinner for the male staff as a thank you for all the work they did to get the school up and running. We had mac and cheese, and steaks. The steaks were small filets wrapped with bacon. Let me tell you, after having it with bacon, there is no going back. It was amazing! They sure do know how to cook out here.
      Dinner started at 6 and everyone was on their way home by 9. I stayed behind to have some girl time with Danielle. She is becoming a good friend. I enjoy her company. She has an adorable dog named Rorie. She is about 6 months old and is just the cutest little energizer bunny. She just keeps going and going. She makes me laugh. The night I stayed over for a movie Rorie ended up sleeping in my arms on the couch. I loved having her curled up with me as I miss my boys back home.
       So to conclude, that was my crazy, busy and eventful weekend. I love it here!

      I was sitting in my apartment thinking about what my next blog could be about so I decided to just make a few notes of interest.
      Ok first thing: Mail comes in Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the Post office is open from 8am-2pm. If you want your mail you have to go to pick it up. Our school janitor picks our mail up for us and drops off our mail since the post office is open while we are in school. That is a huge help!
Something I learned from being here: it costs a lot more to ship. So not only does it cost more to ship, it also takes forever for us to get it.
     A not so happy note: They are talking about shutting our post office down because of budgets. I don't know how they could do that since that is our only connection with the outside world. We get a lot of our belongings, such as food, drinks, etc through mail. I am worried that this may happen, but pray that it does not.
      Another note: My first night here, Nondalton had a water problem. The radio announcements said that we were running out of water! My reaction: Are you serious?? or is this a joke on the newbie? The other teachers were filling up their buckets so they had water for the next few days. One of the teachers dropped off a 5 gallon water jug for me and said "Sorry this had to happen your first day here." I was in a slight panic thinking.. we're out in the middle of no where and we're running out of water. I had no idea what to think. Obviously, I was wondering, what did I get myself into lol but luckily it turned out that it was not a joke but rather just an alarm. We never had problems with our water so I guess it was a precaution. What a welcoming present that was!
       I went for another walk with Danielle last night and got a chance to see the cemetery. Let me start out by saying it not like anything I have ever seen before. The bodies are buried above ground. Danielle told me how when someone dies they lay the body out in the house for people to come and mourn for 3 days and then all the males in the village help dig the grave and the people come and have a celebration of their spirit leaving the body... and then some many days after that they have a potluck for people to celebrate the life of the person and their spirit moving onto a better place. The graves have these huge crosses that are colored in these bright colors. It reminds me of Easter egg colors. The graves are decorated with fake flowers that they must replace pretty often since they did not look dirty. The cemetery had a very homey feel to it, not scary at all.
     Most of the people who live here in Nondalton have ATV's for their main transportation. They however call them Honda's here. They are constantly driving around at all hours of the day and night. It can get quite noisy.
    This is a drinking village and a couple nights I have been woken up by drunk people in the village making a lot of racket. Not to alarm anyone. I do not feel scared. They pretty much keep to themselves and don't bother others. It's just interesting to get woken up in the middle of the night to fireworks/firecrackers and screaming.
    I am 4 hours behind Eastern Time which seems to be throwing people off. The sun here does not set until around 11pm. And does not rise until around 6:30ish. We lose about 8 minutes of daylight a day. So in a matter of months it will be dark more then it is light. That will be an adjustment for me. Especially now that I am use to see the sun almost all day and night.
      The weather here is funny. It changes from warm and sunny to cold and windy in a matter of minutes. We live right off a 6 mile lake and you can always tell which way the wind is coming in based on the ripples in the water. Planes sometimes have difficulty landing/taking off with the crazy wind patterns we have here. However the pilots are very used to these conditions so they don't have any surprises.

Ok I think that is it for now. When I think of more to post I will! :)
xoxo

Incredible

Hello!!
     I can hardly believe that I have been living in Alaska for a week already. I love it here. The views are breathtaking. 
    My flight from Philly to Chicago was extremely short compared to my flight from Chicago to Anchorage. The flight seemed to go on for hours. I spent most of the flight sleeping since there was not much else to do and I was stuck in the middle seat. Once arriving in Anchorage I was met by Cal who is the school counselor here in Nondalton. She is such a sweetheart, she has been like my mom since arriving here. She and I later met up with Ed (school principal and her husband) and started our shopping spree for the next couple days. I bought a ton of food and even then when I got home it didn't look like I had enough for four months. Any who, the district paid for my hotel which was lovely. I had my own room which had a king size bed. Talk about nice! I really enjoyed my time in Anchorage but was really eager to get to Nondalton and see what my new life would be like.
   On the day we were leaving for Anchorage, which was Monday August 15th, Cal was telling me how I might be lucky enough to ride in the co-pilot spot if it was her friend. When we arrived at Iliamna Air Taxi, our pilot was Jeff and he was kind enough to allow me to sit up front in the co-pilot spot with him since it was my first time in Alaska and on a bush plane. Throughout the ride he and I talked about how the plane worked and his adventures flying. He was a very sweet man. The views from the air were incredible. We were 20,000 feet up and I was able to get some amazing photos of volcanoes and snow covered mountains. I could barely believe how lucky I was that I was getting the opportunity to experience all this. Jeff landed us safely in Nondalton where I was taken straight to the school to meet the staff. The school has 1 principal (Ed),5 teachers (Danielle, Ronne, Nicole, Cam and Regina), 1 Special Ed teacher (Regina) and 2 counselors (Linda and Cal) Then we have several aides. Most of the aides are from the village however I am the only highly qualified aide they have at the moment. Ronne and Linda are married and recently celebrated their 34 year anniversary. Cal and Ed are also married. And Cam and Nicole are married with a one-year old baby named Hazel. She is so adorable, my heart just melts when I get to play with her. Anyway, after meeting the staff Ed and Cal brought me to my apartment so I could get unpacked and settle in. I had a lot of groceries to put away and all so I was busy getting things safely packed away in the fridge so that my food would last longer. For dinner, Ed and Cal had me over so that I would not spend my first night alone. They are such nice people. Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming.
    My first official day at school was just working around the school making sure everything was set and ready for the kids to arrive on the 17th. The school is a really nice size for 30 students. We have a nice gym that is used for both recreational purposes and lunch. I worked mostly with Danielle helping her put the final touches on her room. Her theme this year is jungle theme. The kids seem to really like it.
   The first day came and I was eager to meet the boy I will be working with. He is very small but such a lover. He has a big heart and loves giving hugs. He is very bright but has difficulty sitting still and not touching things. He also has a hard time sharing. The first week with him was very busy. There is so much to do with him I barely have time to catch my breath. I get a 30 minute lunch break around 12:15 my time which is right after his lunch. I have to be there to watch him while he eats to make sure that he is eating the right foods and not taking in too many carbs. I really enjoy working with him and hope that I can have a positive influence on him.
    On Saturday, Danielle and I went for a walk around the village, chatting and getting to know each other better. She is my boy's teacher and has been teaching at this school for a year. She loves it so much here that she has signed on for another year. They do yearly contracts out here since living in the bush isn't for everyone. Which is easy to understand because really there is nothing to do out here. The only connection I have with the outside world is my internet. Which speaking of internet, does not always work. I have to fight to get a signal and then do my best to hold the signal for as long as I can. When the winter comes my signal is going to be very difficult to get since the snow will be on the roofs keeping me from getting the neighbors signal which is already difficult for me to get. I am not looking forward to that but luckily I will have my books to keep me company.
    Currently the weather has been in the 60's-50's and getting as low as the 40's in the evenings. However, the heat I have in the apartment is fantastic, I just wish there was a way to turn it down since it gets to be too hot in here.
    So altogether, I love it here. Besides my internet working and not working that is really the only problem I am having here. I also am missing everyone back home but am so happy to be getting this experience. It is really nice to be able to just worry about myself and be able to take of myself. I feel Gods presence with me everyday. I have no fear because I feel this incredible peace everyday as if it is Gods way of letting me know that I am meant to be here and He is watching over me keeping me safe. In fact, my first night here I had a Bald Eagle sitting on the post right outside my window. Apparently that is a sign of good luck. He is my new buddy as he has paid me a few visits since then. I have been looking for him but with all the rain we have been having he has not made an appearance.
    I am very happy here in Nondalton and am looking forward to having many more adventures. I hope this letter finds all my friends and family in good health! I miss you all!

Hello Followers!

Ok, so as all of you should know since you have my link, I am moving to Alaska!! It is a very remote village called Nondalton. I will be working one-on-one with a young boy who is in Pre-K. He is a very bright young boy from what I understand. I am so very excited to start this next chapter in my life. I can't believe that I graduated from college and a week later I had my first teaching job. It has been an amazing experience so far and I can't wait to see what this adventure has in store for me next. I have a lot to do in preparation for my departure but as things progress I will keep you posted! Thanks for following.

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