On my way

These are traditional Eskimo moccasins that one of my students made for her nephew. They are made out of seal skin, caribou, muscox, and some other things that I can't remember!

 

Well, I made it through my first semester as a teacher. Through all the ups and downs, God walked with me all the way! I learned so much, and I’m hopeful that next semester will go smoother.
Today is the last day of class. We’re staying in our homerooms and having parties. Yesterday me and my roommate got a little too excited about Christmas vacation and decided to stay up all night celebrating. :-) We watched Christmas movies, turned up some loud tunes, and… well… did dishes. But it was fun. We also baked cookies, fudge, and brownies, and make suckers for our students. At three in the morning we decided to go to the school and start getting ready for the last day and brought some of our luggage. Most of the teachers are sharing a charter to Bethel after classes today. There’s no exact time when the plane will come – it’s the midday flight, so we just brought all our luggage to the school in case in comes early. That’s one thing that’s different in the Yupik culture. Time is not terribly important – people show up late, and no one thinks much about it. Our flight time depends on what stops the pilot makes in other villages. That’s where the VHF comes in handy – you’ll hear the pilot say “Newtok, Newtok, Hagland Air 8 minutes out.” Then you’ll know to start walking up to the airstrip. They may bring mail, in which case someone from the Tribal Council will ride up on a snow machine and bring all the mail to the school or post office.
So anyway, last night on our way to and from the school we walked on the frozen pond of sewage that seeped from the school. I won’t go into details about what it looks like, for your sake, but we came back home and the suckers we made (without food coloring) and they looked, no kidding, exactly like the frozen sewage. So we called them sewage suckers … of course we wouldn’t let the kids know that :-) …but it was too funny, especially when you stayed up all night. I guess you had to be there. Only in Newtok could you have sewage suckers!
When it was time to start getting ready for school we made espressos (my roommate has all kinds of cool cooking stuff), and because I wanted to see what it felt like, I downed the whole cup. Needless to say, I was jumping around all over the place and so caffeinated I was shaking for a couple of hours. Well, now I know that happens. :-) I thought I was immune to the effects of caffeine, but I obviously overdid it.
This morning a little boy from 2T (a grade between 2nd and 3rd that is a transitional class from Yupik to English) brought me a present. It was 5 white socks :-) So I need to find out who else has an odd number of socks. It was cute.
We had our Christmas program yesterday. My homeroom was singing Dashing through the snow… with all the verses, and I played the guitar. We had fun practicing but of course they had stage fright. Half the village showed up – 150 people. But it went well!
We had a crazy streak of weather a few weeks ago where the ice melted and there was a flood. They say that’s never happened before. But it’s back to being cold and snowy again. The temperatures are getting to -20s. I carried a big box home in this weather with no gloves on, and my fingers literally hurt for 10 minutes! But Grant, the principal, came into my reading class and announced “Who wants to go help the village men save boats?” The wind was so intense they were being blown away. They weren’t able to save most of them.
Tonight we’re going to stay at a friend’s house in Bethel. Rooms are crazy expensive, so she was nice enough to let us crash at her place. I’m sure we’ll sleep well!
Ok, I’ll let you go now :-) I’ll see yall soon enough, I can’t wait!

Almost There

“Jesus said ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

This is one of my favorite verses. It makes me think about school and sports in my past, and how I became a better person for pushing through, leaning on God, and getting stronger for it. I treasure those memories, and I get confidence from those experiences, knowing that God will again be glorified in work I do for Him, and even though it may be hard and the end result is unknown, I’ve learned how to persevere. And when it seems I can’t stand, but only kneel at Christ’s feet, that’s enough for me to be close to Him and know that He never leaves my side. (Analogy learned from Dr. Teel, thank you!)

We had a good Thanksgiving here. Even though my roommate went to Anchorage to visit family, a previous Newtok teacher came and stayed at the house for a couple of days. I was so glad she did, because we became good friends. We met at the inservice in August and talked a short while, but learned that we’re both believers. And the lack of Christian fellowship was getting to me, but God came through for both of us, and we had a good time talking and encouraging each other over Thanksgiving.

We went to another teacher’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. They have one channel on their TV and the Cowboys game was on, so I was pretty excited, but didn’t watch most of it because I went to another teacher’s house for desert. Thanksgiving night we went to an Eskimo Dance and that was lots of fun. I actually did a few dances, but it’s hard when you don’t speak Yupik! Their dances tell stories, and they act out the stories using hand gestures. The elders sing and drum, but it’s fun to follow along, and they appreciate the “gusuks” willingness to try.

The next day I was ready for Christmas! I don’t have many decorations… just a strand of lights and Nutty, but the Christmas movies began early that morning! :-) My roommate ordered a Christmas tree from Anchorage and it should be here any day.

We had our first blizzard a couple of days ago! It didn’t last but a couple of hours but it was intense! We had a community basketball tournament that the student council was working, so I was going back and forth from the gym to home, and it was so windy I could barely walk. I came in the house and the back door had been blown open, but get this: There is the back door, which is boarded up, that leads to the “inside” back door, which was open! I don’t doubt some of the smaller and less sturdy houses were damaged. It wasn’t a white-out blizzard but cold and intense nonetheless! My parka came in a couple days before so that came in handy, but I’m anxious to see some really crazy Alaska weather.

Basketball has started up and I’m coaching the high school girls team. With so much going on after school we only get an hour of practice, but it’s working out pretty good right now. We just have to get in shape before games start up! Our first game is towards the end of January, but it’s never too soon to begin training.

There are 2 more weeks of school before the break. I am oh-so-ready ( :-) ) for a vacation, and I can hardly wait to see yall! Our last day is Dec. 18th and I’ll fly to Bethel after ;-school that day. The next day I’ll start flying to Texas, and will arrive in Dallas the 20th. I simply can’t wait!

So with that exciting news I’ll sign off, and I hope yall have a great week ahead!
Lots of love,
Kim

Hello down there!

I hope everyone reading this is doing great! My world in Alaska has been crazy busy, way fun, extremely cold, completely draining at times, and amazingly blessed.
Every weekend (and sometimes weekdays) for the past month I’ve traveled either for NYO or speech, and these long days are getting to me. The trips are fun, just lots of makeup work to do. I’ve learned to keep my backpack packed and the sleeping bag ready because sometimes I don’t know I’m leaving until the day before. When we go to another village it’s not so bad because even though we sleep on the floor in a classroom we can keep our stuff there. When we’re in Bethel we get up early in the morning, pack and walk with all our stuff to the district office in freezing weather (this morning it was -10 ! ), to a place where there is barely enough room to sit on the floor, and wait for speeches to be given. It may sound rough but I really do enjoy the trips. It’s really nice being able to bond more with the students.
On a more exciting note, I’ve unleashed the kid within me and have had some serious fun outside in the snow. (pictures on facebook!) The kids took me up to the airport and we went sledding, SO much fun! There are some pretty steep slopes that are fun to ride down, but of course I had to go too fast, fall out of the sled, and flip down the rest of the slope. It was fun, I just won’t recommend that piece of land to younger ones in the future. :-)
Me and my roommate like to go out and take pictures… well, she likes to take pictures and I like to play. She’s lived up here for 10 years and is use to the snow, so she takes pictures of me messing around. I think I told yall about the VHF, which is like a CB radio in the house. All the houses have one, so people are always saying something on it, most of the time in Yupik. They tell their kids to come home, pilots announcing their arrival, wish someone a happy birthday, give weather updates, announcing open gym times, make “scary” noises on Halloween, etc. It took some getting use to but they are pretty cool to have. But the point I was going to make was that one morning a special weather update announced the bad weather we would have. It was nearly a blizzard! The wind was so strong I couldn’t even walk in a straight line. It was snowing and you couldn’t look up because the strength with which it hit you in the face. So it wasn’t quite a blizzard, but definitely the closest thing I’ve ever seen to one.
I’m the student council sponsor and we made a haunted house for Halloween in the elementary wing. It was lots of fun but tons of work, and then we had a dance afterwards. That seems like ages ago… sorry I haven’t posted something sooner!
We had a special treat at the last NYO meet… some of the village Eskimos made Yupik food for us… Eskimo ice cream, goose stew, salmon jerky, salmon fillets, moose casserole…. It was quite a treat! All tasty.
You know, God is always here for us. I mean, no matter what happens, good or bad, whatever we do, no matter what obstacles are in the way, He NEVER leaves. And not only that, He raises me up, makes anything possible, proves the doubting wrong. He opens doors, pushes me, guides me, and walks beside me. What I’ve seen, what I’ve experienced, what I’ve witnessed here, I know my calling is confirmed. And I am awed, simply awed by God’s plan and what He has used me for. I keep thinking, who the heck am I that I would be able to do this? To say that? To be that kind of person? And God says, “you will do it, because MY hand is on you, and I can do anything!” So I won’t go into details here, but will one day. Thanks again for your prayers. I love yall and hope your Thanksgiving is blessed!

:-)

Good news! We now have a washing machine. We've been without for about a month because it was broken, so I can do some laundry when my time slot rolls around. We did get our well fixed, so we're not on water watch anymore. Not any more than usual, anyway... showers are always limited to 2 a week. But it was quite an experience, fun at times! Instead of hauling our water from the school like normal, we actully did our dishes in the rain once! It was pretty funny.
Seal hunting is taking off! Boats come back with 7 or 8 seals, throw them on their 4 wheelers, and dump them in their front yards where they slice them up... or whatever it is they do to them. :-) Our neighbor, who is the principal, and his 11 year old daughter were outside cutting up their seals today. I had seal oil when I first came but haven't had the meat.

It's so nice to be able to step off the boardwalks now and not have to wear rubber boots. The tundra is frozen so you can walk on it. I've really enjoyed my evening walks out by the coast, watching sunsets. I never want to turn my back on them and go home!

My days are so packed it's hard to believe I'm able eat and sleep. Which makes me think... what am doing here writing this blog!?!? :-) No, I enjoy keeping yall updated.

I've been working with student council kids, trying to get ready for Halloween. We're doing a haunted house in the hallway in school and a dance later on. I'll be glad when I don't have to worry about this anymore. All this behind the scenes business is crazier than I thought! But it's gonna be fun tomorrow. We built a maze where you have to crawl through parts of it with semi-scarry stuff. That part I'm not too creative on, but there are little kids who come, so I guess it'll be fine!

Parent teacher conferences were yesterday and I was a bit rattled by the conversations I imagined would take place. Many Eskimos are still very guarded and resentful of white people, since it is now a requirement that kids go to school.
We have open gym once a week for the women in the village, and I go about every other week. When I first started going I could feel the tension with many of the ladies, and the looks they would give along with Yupik conversation directed at me wasn't really welcoming. But I knew I was there to be kind no matter what, to show the love of Christ, and I just smiled and shot around. When the game started I was taking the tip off, and one particular lady that seemed be resentful was opposite me taking the tip-off. I felt the Spirit moving me, and I looked in her eyes and offered a friendly handshake to show my respects, and you could honestly see her wall come down. Right then she was rid of her bitterness and smiled at me and shook my hand. It was a brief, seemingly unsignificant event, but I knew the Holy Spirit was doing its work, and I was so blessed to witness that result of Jesus' love!!! It was very exciting!

So the conferences when pretty good. A few students had low citizenship grades and most students are not studying and doing their work, which is pretty normal here! So of course I have to doubt my effectivness and wonder what the heck am I doing standing in the front of the classroom!? It'll get better. I want to be more creative and resourceful - it's better than it was in the beginning, but I have ideas of what great lessons look like, there are just not enough hours in the day to be completely thourough like I would like. The principal, who is a native, told us that parents are not really concerned about their kids' grades, they are mainly concerned about how they are behaving.

Thanks again for yalls prayers, and I do have a request this time, that you'll pray for the people here. Even a small village of 300 people has its conflicts. There is a gang that is causing problems, many students are persecutors, many are victims... one student wrote a suicide letter this week.

So we are all informed, we all need to pray. Seriously! We cannot underestimate the power of prayer, and the Holy Spirit is aching to act on the people of Newtok.

NYO Meet

Hey yall!

I traveled to Tununak Friday, a village over on Nelson Island, as a chaperone for Newtok’s NYO team. NYO (Native Youth Olympics) has different events - it’s really quite extraordinary how some of those students can stretch and contort their bodies! A few events include the seal hop, kneel jump, Alaskan, Eskimo Stick Pull, Indian Stick Pull, one arm reach (they balance their bodies on one hand, and reach up to touch a ball)... I took some pictures and videos that I’ll post on facebook, but I couldn’t get one of every event since my batteries died (arg!)
We left Friday afternoon - we rode up to the airport on a 4 wheeler and waited around for about 30 minutes in 20 degrees weather, and finally came back to the school where I  decided I should get a heavier coat! We finally heard our plane flying in so we all hopped back on the 4 wheelers and started back, but ran out of gas. So we grabbed all our bags and started sprinting across the village up to the airport. It only takes about 15 minutes by plane to get to Tununak. The pilot did some fun swoops and turns for us, and I have a video of that too! (check facebook, it will be posted soon!)
They had the 4 wheeler and trailer waiting on us... just throw in your bags and hop in the back... it was funny when I first got up here but I’m use to it now! We didn’t ride on the boardwalks so it was really muddy... we and our bags were splashed pretty good. Anyway... they began the events pretty soon. At the beginning of the year I met some of the other teachers at Tununak, Heidi and Monica. Monica is the NYO coach who was running the tournament. She didn’t have enough help, so I wound up helping with judging, scoring, awards, and serving meals.
We stopped for supper then kept going until about 10:00. Then we (Newtok) went over to Heidi’s apartment (she used to teach in Newtok)... which was great fun. The kids played guitar hero and I was able to get a shower, FINALLY! It was a hot shower, too, not luke warm or cold! (Newtok was still on water watch when we left so I hadn’t had a shower in a while, but the water is back on now). She baked cookies for us and had koolaid... what a treat! (Sarilyn, I thought of you! :-) )
It was nearly midnight when we went back up to the school. The wind was so fierce and cold I couldn’t even walk in a straight line! The teacher housing in Tununak is down a steep hill to the school. There are new steps now, but during winter the steps are completely burried, so they just have to trudge up the hill... and I guess slide down it to get home! Pretty sweet!
So we got back to the school, in a classroom with our sleeping bags, but it was so dang cold I could barely get any sleep. Next time I travel I will bring blankets, and it’s time to get the wool socks out!
In the morning they had pancakes and orange juice! I miss orange juice! Then we swept and mopped the gym floor and began the last couple of events ... the seal hop: the kids  lay of the ground and move like a seal. Then the Indian Stick pull - they grease a stick and try to pull it away from each other. Alot of these events are things the natives’ elders use to do to get ready for leaving on a hunting trip. I don’t know about the stick pull or seal hop... but some of the events helped them prepare for the physical challenges.
After the award ceremony we hung out in the gym and library waiting for the planes. They had an old guitar and piano so we had a good time jamming. :-)
Tununak is a village down in a valley, with beautiful mountains (or at least really big hills...) around it. They live RIGHT on the coast of the Bering Sea, and we rode on the beach to and from the school. It is beautiful! I can’t tell you how much I wanted to go hiking and fishing!
I’m coaching speech and the jr. high team is competing this week. So Tuesday we’re flying to Bethel and won’t be back till Thursday. We’ve been having lots of practice, and I they are excited!
Monday we’re having a ceremony for them to practice saying their speeches in front of the school. My high school reading class is also going to perform an Eskimo dance and song to a poem we are working on - they translated it into Yupik and have been practicing with the traditional Eskimo drums, so I’ll make sure to get a video of that!
I miss going to church and having fellowship with other believers, but I must say, where God guides, God provides, and I have been SO blessed that He allows me to continue to praise Him and learn more about Him, to be able to dig into His Word and lean completely on Him through good times and bad. On Sundays I have my own little church service ( :-) ) ... playing praise songs on my guitar. Today I actually had some kiddos over, and we even had a little lesson! (One of the kids tried to steal some of Naomi’s money on a shelf). But God is good, and I’m just awed daily by His incredible love and grace.
So on that note, I’ll sign off. I miss yall, but am having too much fun to come home now! :-)
Love yall!
Kim

Howdy Folks

Moose hunting season ended a couple of weeks ago. When they go to hunt they take a boat to the island, about 7 miles away. My house is right on the edge of the village, where people park their boats, so we see the people walking by with their guns and carrying hunks of moose meat. One of my students walked by with a huge hunk of meat. I asked him whose moose it was, and he didn’t know. The Eskimos share their first hunted animal of the season so they will have more luck in the future.

We’ve been having a water problem. Something about the well is messed up, and they are in the process of fixing it. So we are trying to conserve water as much as possible to keep school open. Toilets aren’t to be flushed unless absolutely necessary and drinking water is scarce in the filters. Some of the students think it’s funny to vandalize the restrooms by messing with the toilets, and we keep having to let school out early due to flooding problems. I really hope they stop, because they are the only flushing toilets in the village and if we keep having problems we will change to honey buckets. Not good!

I had great plans before I got up here, thinking I would have lots time to workout and have plenty of down time. Boy, was I mistaken! Speech is taking off, student council is planning for a Halloween carnival, and open gym, computer lab, and study hall are consuming my afternoons, not to mention planning for classes! But I’m having a good time, and I feel much better about teaching and feel a bit more organized, which always helps.

The showers are nothing great – there are 2 that the certified and classified female teachers share (there are about 10 of us). For some reason the water is salty. Not as bad as ocean water but still salty! It takes a while to get hot, and sometimes you just have to take a cold shower. Eesh… but a shower is a shower. We can only take 2 showers a week in order to have enough through the winter and year, so I’m thankful for those 2 showers.

It’s getting COLD! To me, anyway – every time I say it’s cold the Natives just laugh. It’s in the 20s and frost covers everything in the mornings. They love this weather, but assure me this is nowhere near cold. They tell me stories of the snow getting up to the roofs, of how the wind chill will make it -90 degrees, how sometimes it’s so windy you have to crawl home from school (good thing it’s only a 3 minute walk). Last year a guy got snowed out of his house and had to crawl through his window. I’m really excited – I love physical challenges – we’ll see about having to crawl through a blizzard though!

Kids are getting better and the ones that were in the hospital with swine flu are making their way back to Newtok. Our neighbor had the swine flu and everyone at school has had colds. I’m finally getting over mine, I’m just thankful I didn’t get the flu.
That’s about it for now. Hope everyone reading this is having a great day! Happy fall :-)

Love from Alaska,
Kim

Pictures

I put some new pictures on my facebook page if you feel like looking! They are pics of some kids here and a few other things, like purple carrots! :-)

Have a terrific day, take time to serve someone.

Kim

Over the Weekend

Howdy!

Hmm, where did I leave off… right. This past weekend the new teachers in the district went to an in-service in Bethel. We arrived there Friday afternoon and it was so nice to do whatever you wanted and not rush. This was the first time in Bethel where we had extra time to shop and not worry about time. I got together with some friends I made at the last in-service and we hung out at one of the teachers’ apartment, then walked around Bethel enjoying the “city” scenes.
I also met a second year teacher, Mike, who teaches in a village (sorry, can’t pronounce or spell it..) He is a new Christian and we had some good discussions about faith and how it plays out in living. It was encouraging to meet another believer! Interesting story about Mike – last year he went out on a snow machine, got lost in the blizzard, and a search team had to go out to find him. It took a full day, but they found him – how he managed not to freeze to death, I don’t know!

When you get to go to Bethel it’s best to take an empty bag to load up on groceries while you’re there. So when we arrived at the District Office they gave us an air mattress and were told to find a place in the end lounge rooms or hallway. We set up camp and headed off with our empty bags to the store, about a miles walk. Saturday after the in service we went out to a restaurant (first time in over 2 months!) and splurged on a $12 burger with fries. We’re going to try and get together over Thanksgiving, either at someone’s village house or in Bethel. Hopefully that will fall in to place. My roommate is going to Anchorage so it’ll be just me. But I would find some Newtokers or something!

On the plane ride back the pilot took us on a detour to Nelson Island, the place Newtok will be moving to in a few years, and we saw lots of muscox and beautiful mountains, springs of water and tundra without puddles of water everywhere. It will probably change years from now, as the permafrost will melt, but it is a beautiful land!

So I got back to Newtok Sunday afternoon and learned the swine flu made it’s way to the village. It’s been bouncing around village to village as people are traveling. So hopefully it won’t spread too far and people will get better soon. There are some kids in the hospital and attendance is low. If we have the attendance numbers we had today we’re gonna close the school for the rest of the week and make it up Saturdays.

Guess that’s it for now. Have a great week! :-)

Kim

Cross Country Team

Our cross country team traveled to Bethel Friday to compete in a district-wide meet. Of course, the only way we could get there was to fly, so the 7 students, the other chaperone and I waited around the school until we hear to pilot on the VHF tell us he was 5 minutes from Newtok. The electricity was out at the school again, so there was not much we could do indoors. They shut the generator down every few days of so for an hour or 2, and all the village is without electricity.

So anyway, we walked up to the airport with our backpacks and sleeping bags. The kids were so excited – on average, they go to Bethel a couple times a year. Some have only ever been a couple times in their lives. They visit other villages every so often on snow machines during winter, but they are all similar. Bethel has roads and cars, stores and restaurants! The population is around 5,000. We loaded our luggage underneath the 10 seater bush plane and took off. It takes around 40 minutes to fly from Newtok to Bethel. It felt good to walk on solid ground – actual dirt instead of mud, and pavement instead of boardwalks.

We arrived in Bethel around 5:00 and someone from the district office drove us to the high school, where all the village teams would stay the night. We got our room assignments (a health classroom) and laid our sleeping bags around the desks. There is only one girl on the Newtok team so it was her and I rooming with the team from Tunuk, the village on a nearby island where Newtok will actually be moving to in a few years.  

After we got settled in we walked to the store before supper. It was a mile’s walk and a beautiful day! 
I saw some friends I made at the new teacher inservice and it was great to get to hear all about their own adventures. The next morning we had to put all our luggage in trashbags because they expected rain. There were no shelters at the course. But it never did rain, thankfully.

It was a beautiful place, foggy when we arrived but it cleared up by the time the races began. It was a weaving course, all in sand, up and down hills. We walked it together when we first got there so students would know exactly where to run. There were flags, but still, it helped to know beforehand. The sunrise was breathtaking! My batteries didn't last very long, but I did get some good shots of cool stuff - we saw bear tracks in the path! But our team did pretty good, we're not sure if anyone is going to the next level or not. I posted some great pictures on facebook... you should check them out.

If you go to www.adn.com our team made the front page a few weeks ago - they have pictures of our kids training on the boardwalks.

(((((You)))))

Nutty in Newtok

For those of yall who have missed him, I posted some pictures on facebook of my good friend and travel companion.


http://www.facebook.com/kimcary?ref=nf#/album.php?aid=2017937&id=159100597

P.S. Thank yall SO much for the comments. I love hearing from everyone :-) and I appreciate the advice and prayers. They have both helped... I love you all!

Kim Possible (my new nickname :-) )

Hmm

Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it will all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

In case you didn’t know this about me, I tend to be a perfectionist. When something I’ve completed is not done to the best of my ability it really bothers me. My work is organized and thorough. In college I learned a Greek word from my soccer coach: Kopian. It means “Labor for the Lord until utter exhaustion.” I have this posted on my notebook that I use every day, and it reminds me to give everything I’ve got to everything I do.

Ever since I became a teacher 5 weeks ago I’ve felt anything but organized. I keep feeling like I don’t deserve to be here because everything seems like it’s up in the air, things thrown together and not making complete sense. I never have enough time to be fully prepared, and as a result I feel like I’m letting the kids down and God down. I continually second guess myself, and I over analyze even the smallest things.

I know, I know… everyone keeps telling me this is normal your first year of teaching. And I think about that every day, and it does give me at least some mental relief. But I worry constantly. I stress over being the best teacher I can possibly be and at the same time being the godliest role model and person I can be. And I know that as long as I’m putting in that effort, giving God and everyone else my very best, that’s all I can do – but I still feel… stuck, I guess is the word. I’m having trouble visualizing the big picture. I’m just trying to be the best I can be right now, and I know that’s all I can do, but I’m always trying to better myself and I can never settle for where I am now.

Is it wrong to strive for perfection? Because in a sense, striving for perfection is not accepting you’re human, and humans can never be perfect. But at the same time, we can’t be content with where we are because we always have sometime to work on!

So I guess this post doesn’t really have a purpose, I just wanted to get some thoughts out of my overloaded mind. Take what you want from it, and give me some advice if you have any!

Utterly exhausted,
Kim

Pushing On

Hey Guys!

I hope yall are doing good! I've been very very busy up here, and even though I feel like I'm just getting by in the classroom, time has flown by already, and I can't believe we're already 3 weeks into the school year.

Even though Newtok is isolated, we have visitors every week or so who stay for a few days. Mostly they are reporters who are covering the erosion story. They interview elders and take lots of pictures. The other day a couple just left who actually live in Switzerland and are doing a project - they travel the world in a year to places that are being affected by global warming. They stayed 4 days and it was nice to see new "guspuk" faces (The natives call white people guspuks). They showed us some pretty amazing pictures they took in Africa, China, and other places. Actually they are talking at the moment with Time Magazine and Newtok may appear in the November publication. We should find out pretty soon.
Another visitor we had was U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. She came and discussed with the elders the plan for moving the village and the students also. Many of the elders don't speak English, so we had Grant (the principal) translating. It's really interesting how the elders are so respected. When an elder speaks the students stop what they're doing and actually listen Why won't they listen in class?!?

The view from out house is really beautiful. We can see the river and across to the island. In the mornings we see some of our students doing their chores, which include taking the family's honeybucket to the dump. I feel sorry for them, especially since we've had problems with our burner in the incinolet!

The weather is getting colder and I'm anxious for the snow to fall! My snowboots came in the mail about a week ago and I can't wait to try them out. :-) Everyone else can't wait for winter to come either, because they say it's much easier to get around the village. Now we have to walk on boardwalks, but when the snow comes they can go anywhere on snowmachines. But they also say until the snow on the ground becomes packed you have to memorize where the boardwalks are so you don't sink. I don't know how long it'll take for that to happen but I'm stoked about all the stuff I've only see in movies! ...snowball fights, skiing, sledding... !

About the bible study I mentioned, that's not going to work out like I hoped, at least not at the house. I typically don't leave the school until around 8:00 at night, so weekends will work out best. I've casually talked with some of the students about God and they asked questions about Christianity. From what I gather they aren't too familiar with the basics of Christian apologetics. I have a couple of Bibles I leave in my classroom, and during reading time they seem to enjoy flipping through them and reading them. Some kids are obviously set in their secular ways, but I know God is at work here and He has some amazing plans ahead, I'm certain!

I guess that's it for now, I hope everyone is doing great and thanks again for your prayers.

In His Grip,
Kim

Fun video

Howdy folks!

I just posted a video on facebook that has some cool clips of Newtok, so check it out!

(the link is in the post below)

-Kim

Pictures!

Since I can only post 5 pics at a time on this blog, I thought it would be more convenient to post an album on facebook. My link is http://www.facebook.com/kimcary .... so check it out ..

.. and go serve someone today!

Kim

What's happening in Newtok...

Hey yall!

I finally found a free moment to sit down and update my blog. Where to start!
At the district inservice in Bethel I finally got to meet all the teachers here at Newtok. There are 4 teachers who teach 6-12 graders and 4 for the grades below 6.
At the inservice we had a surprise guest speaker – the new Governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell! It was pretty exciting.

Since we got back to Newtok it’s been a nonstop sprint to an out of sight finish line. I had 3 days to figure out what phase my students are in and do lesson plans for the first week (phases take the place of grade levels, and each phase has different parts in itself, so every student is on a different level.) I’m teaching 6-12th grade, and in every class I have to teach several lessons for the different curriculum demands. One class may have a 2 6th graders, 4 7th graders, 5 8th graders, 3 9th graders 2 10th graders, etc. They group the students by age, but as you can tell, students don’t put much effort in their work. So the preps I have has been outrageously time consuming. This is what I’m doing:

• Teaching reading to grades 6-12
• Teaching health to 9-12
• P.E.. to 6-8
• Coaching varsity girls basketball
• Sponsoring student council
• Coaching the speech group
• Teaching Saturday school every Saturday
• Running A.R. program 2 days a week after school
• Hosting study hall Monday-Thursday after school
• Leading community reading night once a month
• Chaperoning open gym night 3 nights a week

So I sincerely mean it when I thank you for your prayers! :-)

I’m the only one here in Newtok new to the profession so I am thankful that I have a mentor teacher that Alaska gives me – she comes once a month and I met her yesterday. Guess what she brought – salad!! I never thought I would be so excited about salad. Fresh food is not seen here often, so I was happy to see it!

There was a funeral in the village yesterday, and they had it in the school gym. It’s the biggest place in the village to host gatherings. The man passed away Saturday. Monday and Tuesday for p.e. the kids couldn’t bounce any balls because the natives say it disturbs the soul of the deceased, since we were to have the funeral in the gym. School was let out at lunch yesterday for the funeral, and it lasted from 1:00 to midnight. They had the viewing, a service, a huge feast, an Eskimo dance (very interesting – I’ll post pictures later), and a fiddle band dance.

I have lots more to tell but it’ll have to wait till later. Thanks for reading!

In Him,
Kim

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent' He will lift me high upon a rock.

These are excerpts from Psalm 27. These past few weeks I've read this psalm and others like it, clinging onto God, because He is truly my stronghold. Before this trip I would read the psalms and understand them, but now I can say I can relate to them. I wanted to share this because I've felt hopeless and scared, worried about what's to come and how on earth I am suppose to move forward when it seems thousands of obstacles are in the way.

I can say with complete honesty that God is my one true comfort. I was thinking the other day, when I was getting homesick and freaking out quite a bit about how to tackle this job, that I can't rely on my strengths. When I was considering coming up to the bush I was excited and confident, ready to jump at the opportunity and show the world that I am capable of surviving the harsh conditions and circumstances with the community and the people. But I know now that every thread of confidence I possess comes from God. He really is holding me together, holding my hand and allowing me to carry on humbly, continuing to shine for Christ - He has rid me of myself and I stand in awe of His power. Who am I, really, that He would allow me to take on this "adventure?" I have nothing good apart from Him, and all I am, all I have, my complete purpose I place in His hands.

I've felt lonely, lost, confused and completely clueless as to how I'm going to make it through this year. I'm here, first and foremost, to be a light for Christ. So everything I do, every thought I have, every step I take MUST glorify God. This teaching business is more complicated than I thought, and right now, after a week of school, I'm still trying to get my head above the water. But everyday God allows me to wake up, go to school, and be His servant. Not just me, but all Christians - no matter where we're at, what we do, no matter what you think, you're a witness for Christ. It's up to us to decide what kind of witness we'll be. So it is a struggle, I know.
I feel overwhelmed and wonder what I've gotten myself into, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to carry my cross, to follow in Christ's path, and to bring a light to a dark place.

Sometimes we have to be completely broken to be built up in Christ, and I'm thankful God has allowed me to experience His amazing grace.

A video of boardwalk, on the way to school!

In and around my house... more to come!

Fun in the sun (ha!)

Hey yall!

First off I just have to apologize for the lack of pictures. I will get them up ASAP! I've been back in forth from Newtok to Bethel for the new teacher inservice and the entire district inservice, and my head has been spinning from all the new information and the thought of all the work ahead of me. School starts MONDAY! Can you believe that? Less than a week and I'll be on the other side - the one standing in front of the class instead of sitting in a desk. Pretty crazy!
Today me and another teacher were walking to our hotel, and we saw a man on a big scooter, with 2 husky dogs pulling him. They were training for a dog sled! I wish I had a camera on me. I just got back from an Eskimo fiddle band concert - that was lots of fun! This little old eskimo man asked me to dance so we had fun doing a 2 step. I danced with some of the other new teachers...there's a group of us that have had tons of fun together! It's great to know there are other people out in the bush, completely isolated and have no idea what they are doing either. There are lots of people out here who are right out of college, like me, so it's been fun and eye opening, trying to keep our heads above water while figuring out how to adjust to the different cultures. This is an AMAZING school district, and they've been nothing but supportive. For instance, we have a person designated just to assist teachers, to fly out to our site anytime someone needs her for anything at all. It's just been extremely encouraging to know help isn't far.
SO! So far in my Alaskan Adventure I've been part of an eskimo dance, eaten eskimo ice cream (not sure I want to try it again: the main ingredients are berries and criso), I've had 5 different kinds of salmon cooked tons of different ways: smoked, baked, grilled, salmon jerkey, I've eaten salmon skin/scales, salmon with seal oil (great stuff)... I've eaten moose stew, salmon berries, salmon tacos, halibut...
People don't realize how much these natives live off the food in their backyards. Kids miss school weeks at a time to go hunt with their families. They don't each spaghetti, hamburgers, or pizza. They still lead subsistence lifestyles, and it's just amazing to me! Lots of people have fish camps, which is a place off a river with a small shack and drying rack. They spend weeks at a time at these camps, catching fish and drying them so they can store it for winter. The little girls and grandmas are out picking berries on the tundra to have, also, and in September they hunt for moose, caribou, and muskox. (I saw 2 herds of muscox a few days ago!)
I took a boat ride on the Kuskokwim River with a few other teachers, and it was absolutely beautiful! I'm just awed at God's creation! We made several stops on the river - we saw a fish camp, fish traps, and a dog yard, which was interesting. There were probably 50 dogs, each chained to a house. They were dogs that are going to race in the K300, a popular dog sled race. These races, I gather, are to them like baseball is in East Texas, or football is in the South. It's a major thing!
In the village someone offered me a steam bath. It's basically like a sona, then you wash. I really want to try it, but didn't at the time...there are lots of people who get boils because they are not well kept and clean. Maybe when it gets -50 outside I'll rethink it.
The natives have some great talent in making jewlry, decorations, and clothing. Walrus ivory is a popular (and expensive) item to use, and it's actually illegal for anyone other than a native to sale walrus ivory. I met an elder in the village who makes parkas, and one man has a seal parka he made. Honestly, it's like Dancing with Wolves!
So about the water situation...I've never been so happy to see clear, tasteless, odorless water before. The school is open, and that's where we can get it and take it back to our houses. To do dishes you have to heat the water on the gas stove to fill the sink. I fill both sides of the sink to wash then rinse. You don't realize how much you use the faucet until you can't. There is an incinolet for the toilet. How it works: each time you use it you have to put a liner in the bowl. After each use, you step on a pedal to manually "flush," and it goes in a bucket. You then press a button to begin the burning process. It takes it about 45 minutes to heat up and burn, and it makes a really loud noise. You can imagine what it smells like...so that's why I have a candle in the bathroom! It's really hot for quite some time after that, so it's best to try and find a routine. :-) If you step on the pedal during the burning process, huge flames come up. It was probably to my waist. That was some kind of experience - It could really be dangerous if you don't get out of the way!
There's so much more to tell, but I'll wait till next time. I have to get an early start tomorrow and it's almost midnight (even though it's still bright outside!) I will post pictures soon!

Love from Alaska,
Kim

a whole new world

Hey yall!

Thanks so much for the kind words! It's extremely comforting to know I do have a support system, and I appreciate all the prayers. Okay, so lots has happened already since I moved to Newtok, and the best way I can put it is it's like another country! It reminds me of Mexico in lots of ways. When I flew into Bethel from Anchorage it was COLD and WINDY. It was in the high 40s, but this is warm weather to Alaskans...crazy! So the next day I took a bush plane to Newtok. On the flight over, there were a few mountains (either that or very large hills...) and there was still lots of snow. There were also tons of puddles/rivers everywhere you looked.
When I got to Newtok the school maintenance man was there with his family to welcome me and take me to my house. Since there are no cars in the village people have 4 wheelers and snow machines, and boardwalks are the only way around town. Honestly, you can't even walk in the grass, because e.coli is EVERYWHERE and mud is everywhere you look. When I rode down from the airport my first thought was "Oh my GOSH this stinks!" The reason why there is e. coli everywhere, I'm sure you know, is that the people have become lazy and don't take their honey buckets to the designated spot, so they just dump them anywhere. But the smell was horrible. The first day was the worst. Either I've gotten use to it already or I'm in a slightly cleaner part of the village, but it was pretty intense. Lots of people have warned me to not get in the mud because of the e.coli, but I already knew that!
I met a man while going to get water my second day, and he said "welcome to isolation!" It was funny at the time, but it really hit me when I was there alone in my house, with no connections to the outside world.
The boardwalk keeps you from walking in deathly puddles, it's true, but it's still risky because there are loose boards, broken boards, missing boards, and huge gaps in bewteen boards... there are places you have to jump over, and places you have to walk on the very edge with a 4 foot drop off because of holes. I guess because the village is planning on moving in a few years to Nelson Island they don't bother fixing the boardwalk.
There were some water jugs in the house that you take about a 5 minute walk to the water tank and fill up there. That water is the only safe drinking water, even though it stinks and is still a little brown! When the school opens I can bring water from there which will be more convienient. It's about a 3 minute walk from my house. I do have running water in the house but it's not safe to drink or even to shower in, so I'm learning new ways to wash dishes and such. Tonight I'm in Bethel for the new teacher inservice and had my first shower in 2 weeks, so I'm feeling good! (I haven't had internet so this is my first chance to update).
The kids in the village have been extremely friendly and intrigued by the new teachers. There are 120 students in Newtok, and I'd say almost all of them have been in my house. The first day I got there the kids visited and asked a million questions, asked about my family, where I'm from, how long I'm staying, what I'm teaching, and wanted to go through all my stuff. I'll post pictures when I can - at one time there were 18 little Eskimos all piled up in the living room. It was really funny. One thing I'm sure I'll get use to but am having trouble with right now is understanding the kids. They speak Yupik, and they don't even start learning English until second grade. They also have 2 names: one in English and one in Yupik. They gave me a yupik name, too: Ayaprun. I asked them what it means, and all they said was "ayaprun!"
I've played hackysack with some of the kids and they really enjoy that. We have to play in front of the school because it's the biggest playing area where the ball won't fall in the mud. The kids also like to ride bikes, but obviously it's really hard with the crooked and dangerous boardwalk.
There are 8 or 9 teachers in Newtok, I can't remember, but only 4 are in the village now. My roommate has not made it yet, but I'm anxious to meet her. I know she has taught in the district (just not in Newtok) 10 years, so that will be helpful to me. :-)
I've talked to some of the kids and lots of people are catholic. I'm planning on starting a Bible study once a week when everything settles down, and I know, from the kids being so anxious to learn more about me, many will want to come. The only drawback would be if my roommate does not want the kids there - we would have to find some other place. So please pray with me that she is understanding and willing to join in with this idea! Also, if you have any ideas on how to make it fun and effective, please let me know! I'm trying to work out, too, if I should have 1 for the younger kids and 1 for the older, or just combine them. On top of this I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to teach. :-)
I guess that's about it for now. Thanks for the prayers and comments! I look forward to hearing from yall. (they think my Texas accent is funny!)
I love and miss yall already, but am learning to lean on God more everyday, so even though I may be isolated, I'm surrounded by His amazing love and warmth!

((((((hugs))))))
~Kim

Alaskan Adventure

Hi all!
I started this blog to keep everyone who is interested informed with what's going on in Alaska, and as a way to keep in contact with everyone else who doesn't have myspace or facebook! So feel free to write me, comment, and especially pray for this Alaskan adventure. In a week and a half I'll be moving to the bush village of Newtok, Alaska and will teach and minister as best I can to the community. There are still lots of things I don't know, but I do know there is a great need for Christ's love to be shown. So please keep this mission in your prayers - I know I will need them!
So here are some facts I do know about Newtok:
Population is 321.
Hunting and gathering are still active lifestyles.
Erosion of the tundra by the Ninglick River has destroyed much of the village.
Housing has no running water or plumbing.
E. Coli is a big problem.

If you want to read more about the village, there is a New York Times article on it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/us/27newtok.html

That's about it for now, everything is set and it's just a matter of getting over that 15 hour plane trip!
Thanks for caring, and I'll keep you updated!

In His Grip,
Kim