Christmas!

I love Christmas and I am so happy I was able to fly home to see my family!  
We had a fantastic time, although the break was too short. 

Before the deluge of people....Santa has come

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My Grandson, Christian, unwrapping his gift.
It is a Chutes and Ladders game, but a Spiderman version!

 

Love this picture.
It was given to us by my
 daughter and
son in law!  Beautiful!

My daughter in law, Jayme, rocking her son's new hat!

 

 

 The guys: my Son, Son-in law, and Dad, looking REALLY interested...lol

My sister and I doing a "selfie"

Here is my Grand Daughter, Karmen...she is getting so grown up!

Kim and Jayme opening up their large popcorn machine!
I thought it would remind them of the days I ran the theaters! 

Merry Christmas, 2014!!

Karate time!

Thanks to Yuka our fabulous Karate instructor, Catherine and I have earned our yellow belt!  

I must tell you I was VERY nervous during our testing, and I did not think I was going to pass, but I did!

My certificate!

From left to right:  Yuka, Me, Catherine, and Rob!
The 4 ninjas...lol 

Watch out, these hands are lethal weapons! 

This is the 4th grade team!!  

Our principal, Mr. Cooper, came and watched us test...
boy was that nerve wracking!

What, you forgot your homework, again???  lol

Gambell Dancers!

I love being in the Alaskan Bush!  I love learning about new cultures and broadening my world view!  Every Friday afternoon the entire school goes into the gym for Yupik Dance. Many of the Children, adults, elders, and even some teachers, dance to the traditional music. 

Each movement tells a story!

My class during Yupik dance Class. 

They are practicing for Friday's dance!

These are my fourth graders with their Yupik Dance teacher....           They did great!

Gambell, Alaska--gravel

Hello Everyone, I am back. I've had a lot of people ask me what is the environment like in Gambell Alaska. Well, the village of Gambell was placed on a very rocky/pebbly site. I originally thought the gravel had been brought in by truck load, but I was informed that this is the natural environment. The rocks, or gravel, is very deep and it does make it difficult to walk. In fact, one night my room mate actually twisted her ankle after she tripped on a high spot in the rocks. She has been on crutches for two weeks. Just walking in the gravel is tough enough, but trying to use crutches was impossible. So, my room mate gets picked up every morning by a Honda four-wheeler and she rides to school.

The main road. The building being built will be a new church.

 This a picture of the main "road". It goes from the front door of the school, down to the other end of the village. The road is easier to walk on since many 4 wheelers have pounded the gravel down. Still, it is about a half a mile (or longer) to the other end of the road.

This is the front of the school

I know just talking about the gravel really doesn't do it justice, so I took a video to give you a better look.

Reading buddies!

My fourth graders have become reading buddies with the Kindergarten and first grade students. It is amazing that some of my lower students are enjoying reading to the younger students. It shows them some success, and they revel in it!

Happy Birthday to me!

Look at my beautiful cake!!

Well, I can honestly tell you that I was feeling pretty low that i was going to spend my birthday alone. I felt that it was just another day. Well, my room mate found out when it was my birthday, and between her and our neighboring teacher, Lani, they were not going to let it pass without a party. Invitations were sent out by email inviting the entire staff for a chili dinner, cake, and games time. Most everyone came and it really was very nice!  The girls made two huge pots of chili, a pan of yummy corn bread, and baked a 4 layer cake. Well, this wasn't just some ordinary cake, they wanted to make it special. To amp it up, they added food coloring to each layer and it became a technicolor masterpiece!

We even had ice cream! 

There was even ice cream!  You wouldn't think that would be a big deal, but getting ice cream shipped her without melting is quite a feat in any season besides winter!  Be warned, however, that a gallon bucket of ice cream will run you $20!!

The Chili was delicious!

In addition to chili and cornbread, guests brought other nom noms. There were salmon potstickers, feta dip, home made crackers, chips, pretzels, and other yummy treats!

 I even was given an Eskimo Yo-yo!  It is pretty neat!  It is made from seal fur, fabric, beading, cords, and a small piece of Ivory. The trick is to hold the piece of ivory and spin one of the balls in one direction. Then, you toss the other ball in the other direction and they spin. It kind of reminds me of the old plastic clackers we had growing up!

All in all, it was very sweet that everyone came to spend the evening!  After the food, a large group of us played a card game entitled, cards against humanity. Interesting game...


More later!

My school is very nice!  Everyone here is fantastic and the rooms are more than adequate. My classroom is pretty big. I even have my own sink and plenty of storage!

View of door way

desks in a row

View of front of room

view from door

Brand new box of crayons!  woo hoo!

Beginning of Word wall. I know it is crooked, but it still works. :-)

Many villagers are well known ivory carvers. Some of things I have seen here are really nice!  The school has a glass case in the front area of the school that show cases some donated pieces. Here are a few pics. :-)

carved Walrus tusks

Ivory carved owls. A sweet elder makes these.

Dolls. The one on the left is made from Seal fur, ivory, baleen, and other things. Great detail!

More carved ivory

Gambell can be right beautiful at times. This was a sunset the other morning. :-)

Ok, anyone for reindeer meat? I found this in the store. 

It turned out pretty yummy!

Well, I will post more later. I just thought you would like to have a glimpse of my life in Gambell. 

If you want to send any care packages, hint hint, I can get mail at P.O. Box 38, Gambell, AK 99742. Love you all, I will post again soon. On Friday afternoon, the school has Native Alaskan Dancing and Drumming. I will try to get some video. :-)