Since I last blogged, my class has had its ups and its downs, I got sick for about a week and a half and spent 2 days trying to get into the clinic (I never got in), I got re-offered my contract for next school year, and I survived a Valentine's Day class party and my first Potlatch.
We'll start from the top:
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| Max and I went down to the river at sunset one night while the fog was lying on the river, which apparently means it's going to get cold. |
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| Those branches out on the river are from when the Russian Orthodox Father and some elders from the village blessed the river. |
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| The village, from the river. |
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| The Russian Orthodox Church and their cemetery. |
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| We wore our camping gear in the house, and I ate breakfast in the morning in my snow bibs. It got fixed by around noon the next day. |
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| The next day we did art in class, the students made each other Valentines with water colors, and then after school I made each of them a Valentine also! I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to do some painting! |
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| On Valentine's Day we spent all day talking about the party that was going to happen. They were so excited they couldn't contain it, but they did hold off long enough to learn a bit about global warming from our HS science teacher, and one of them will present this lab at the regional science fair in a nearby village, and the winner there will go to Anchorage! |
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| One of my students was showing off her awesome rabbit fur hat, and on the back it had a tail! |
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| Our days have been much longer recently, and on top of that, we've got a full moon that has been so gorgeous. Of course, a picture does it no justice. |
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| Last night we went to our first potlatch. This potlatch is in memory of someone in the community's "One Year" which is one year after the person has passed. There were about 5 family names that put on the potlatch, and they all presented gifts to people in the family of the man who had passed, and they also give gifts to other people in the community. After they've done that, they celebrate by doing Eskimo Dancing. |
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| This is one family presenting their dance. |
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| And another family |
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| Here we are watching! |
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| And here are other people watching. The people in the front row are mostly elders and people who came from other communities. |
More information about a Potlatch can be found HERE if you're interested. I read most of it, and it seems to be quite accurate as far as I know...
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| Today we went out on the tundra, despite it being around -10. It was windy and beautiful, but very cold. |
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| A 207 landing. |
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| VERY COLD |
