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!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
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
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
Monday, August 22, 2011
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!
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!
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