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