Merry Christmas!

I’ve been meaning to take a picture of this for a while - it’s a beluga whale vertebrae that sits in front of a villager’s house. Don’t ask what the bucket is in the background...you can probably figure it out if you think about it.

The teachers are trying to get everything taken care of before we fly out - grades, cleaning houses, doing laundry, packing water, etc. It’s easier to take care of it now than when we come back, because you never know if there will be enough water to pack or the pipes are frozen. We’ve all gone 3 weeks without being able to do laundry because of frozen water in the pipes. The machines are in a building behind the school and it’s a hassle to drag all your clothes up to school and open the padlock door just to find out you can’t do your laundry. Lots of times the lock is frozen too - there will be ice in the key hole, so you have to put some water in the microwave and sprint to the door to unfreeze it before the water gets cold. 

A few weeks ago, me and a few of my colleagues were having a game night at Paula’s house one night. We saw the neighbors drive up on their four wheeler dragging a sled with a huge moose in it, the biggest I’ve ever seen. Grant went to get the details – he is at least 5’10, and the moose’s leg was as tall as he was! That moose would easily feed everyone in the village for a great feast. 

I have a friend in the village who harpooned a huge spotted seal, too. Seal is a very common and popular meal among the Yupik Eskimos – and like always, they use all the seal, including the skin and oil. If you haven’t had seal, it is a dark meat and it kind of tastes like liver. I prefer moose.

I’m looking forward to a mental break with actual weekends! Saturday school is not completely dreadful, but knowing I have to get up and go to work on a Saturday can be dismal when you have a full plate anyway. The past few Saturdays I’ve gone early and Grant and I sit in the hall while he tells me string stories. String stories are passed down from generation to generation and usually have a moral message. They’re fun to watch and they like to pass down their stories. 

My roommate is a quilter so we decided to make mini decorative quilts for all the teachers. It’s kept us busy after school and they were fun to make. There are only 8 teachers, and 3’ x 3’ patterns, so it wasn’t a major ordeal, but I sure learned a lot! 

We had the school Christmas program yesterday. Each class contributes something - a song, skit,  or a reading... I brought my guitar and drum because they showed an interest in music, but really they just wanted to play the instruments. Well, they wanted to learn how to play. Maybe one day I can teach a music class. They had never seen a non-Yupik drum before! It’s always fun sharing a bit of the outside world with them and watching their amazement. Anyway...after they  spent some time making quite a bit of noise we decided to tell Christmas jokes for the program.

Tomorrow is the last day! Everyone has been so excited. Each day they say “only 5 more sleeps... only 4 more sleeps, only 1 more sleep!” I can’t wait to see everyone!

Chevak, another village, had a polar bear sighting! They sent the message to Newtok, saying it was headed our direction! In our Friday staff meeting last week they said just be careful when you go outside, and bring your bear spray if you stay out long. Justin, my oldest brother, sent me some bear spray so I’m covered. Anyway... the last update we had said the bear was at the Bering Sea, about 7 miles from here. I would have loved to see it...from a safe stance.

Grant was telling us about stink fish – a popular Eskimo food. Stink fish is a very appropriate name for it, too! The smell stays with you for a long time, and even though I didn’t try it, they say it’s almost impossible to get the taste out of your mouth, at least for a few days! Stink fish is floating fish heads in broth, then smothered in seal oil. They use it to eat during hunting trips because it keeps you full for a long time. I’ll try anything once but haven’t had a chance to try it. 

We had the first blizzard of the season on December 2, starting around 6:00 and lasting most of the night. In the early stages of the blizzard I had to walk home from school and I couldn’t look up because my eyes were unprotected and the snow and wind was too fierce. Later I went outside to see what it was like, so I held on to the handrail and didn’t let go. It was pretty extreme!

The days are getting colder and longer. It’s gotten down to negative 15 degrees already. The sun rises around 10:30 and sets about 5:45. Basketball practice ends at 6, so the entire time the sun is up, I’m indoors. It’s a bummer!

A family here in Newtok is building a mud house. It’s supposedly very warm! I hate that they're building it now, only a couple years before we all abandon the area and move. But that's what it looks like anyway.

My roommate went to Anchorage  for Thanksgiving and her flight was canceled due to bad weather in Bethel. When she finally got to Bethel she couldn't fly out for an entire week because of the weather in Newtok. Craziness... I'm glad I decided to stay here!

Basketball is up and running. We only have 8 girls eligible to play at the high school level, but at least they all want to play. I wish there were 10, as it makes running plays much easier, but oh well, just gotta work with what you have. We don't travel until January - right now I'm mainly trying to get the girls in shape. They are fighting that - there isn't the competition and motivation here that I grew up with.

Almost time to fly back to Texas for Christmas! I'll fly out Friday the 17th and arrive at DFW on Sunday. I can't wait. :)

Close Call...Again

Sunday was our last day of holiday, and I wanted to get in one more hike before classes began and basketball started, because the sun would set before I have a chance to hike on weekdays. I talked to a Native about knowing when it’s safe to walk on ice, and he said all you need is a pole. If you bang on the ice, and it doesn’t fall through, it’s safe to walk on. I thought it would be more complicated than this but I didn’t question him! So I went out to the Ninglick River, carefully hopped down on the ice, and watched the ice hunks float down the river. The river had three layers of ice, like giant steps, the lower one more fragile than the next one up. About 30 yards of the river was frozen, and I was walking carefully on the ice, testing it like the Native had told me. 

Let me reiterate my stupid naivety and risky adventurism. I wanted to get a better view and see how close I could get to the unfrozen part of the river. I wasn’t intentionally looking to do something stupid, that’s just how it ended up. 

So what happened was, the second layer of ice seemed pretty sturdy. Towards the end of this layer I got down on my stomach, inching forward ever so slightly, until I was finally at the edge, and could look down at the first layer. At this point I was only about 5 feet away from the running water, which I was pleased about. I could hear the slushy ice moving along. After a while my stomach got cold, so I carefully sat up, hanging my feet over the edge. It was about a 4 foot drop down to the first, unsafe level of ice. 

I was fighting the urge to reach down and see if the lower level was safe. I knew if I was down there, and the ice broke, there was no way I could climb back up; it was too far up and the ice too fragile. So I knew I wouldn’t actually be that stupid and test it out, but before I could give it any more thought, the ice I was sitting on broke off! I consequently fell to the lower level, and like I had thought, it was not at all safe. My foot broke through the ice and I felt the freezing cold water. I was seriously scared at this point. It was four whole feet down from the second level, but thank the Lord it was only 4 feet! When the ice broke off my reaction was to start grabbing anything I could get my hands on. With all the grabbing and loose ice, my glove came off my hand.

I was starting to panic, and I was actually thinking “it’s about time you paid the ultimate price for your crazy adventures... this is it now.” My heart was going wild - I thought I was a goner. It all happened in slow motion, I was frantically trying to grab hold of something but everything was too slippery, and I was almost out of reach of the second level. Just reliving it is heart rushing! Both of my feet were through the bottom layer of ice now, in the water, and I forced my body to turn around on the slippery slope where I could see what I was grabbing. Before my shoulders sunk down off the second level I grabbed a hunk of ice and thank the Lord it didn’t give way. If it had, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be writing this now! I held on with every ounce of desperation in me, fearing at any second it would break. Knowing I had to make something happen, I kicked my right leg up and was able to hoist myself up back to the second level. I can’t tell you how fast I crawled back to the third level and ran to solid ground! I jumped up on the tundra and just laid there in the snow, panting, and thankful beyond belief to be alive. 

After my racing heart calmed down, I made the hike back home. I stripped off my gear and noticed my hand was bloody. It had gotten cut in the process of trying to grab the ice, but I didn’t care at all. I was so happy to be alive.

Let me just thank everyone who has ever said a prayer for me, because you’re probably part of the reason why I’m still alive! My mind gets focused on the adventure, the rush, and the thrill of the risk, and I lose sight of sound judgement sometimes. So thank you, thank you, thank you, and a million thank you’s to God! 

I wanted so bad to talk to my brother, Alex, and I don’t exactly know why. But I can’t wait till I see him and get to hug him, surrounded by his safe arms. 

Sending lots of love to everyone reading this.

About 3 miles from the village.