Newtok Nonsense

There’s a legend among the Eskimos that I find funny. Actually, to them it isn’t a legend, it’s for real! There are these “little people” (otherwise known as leprechauns) that live out in the tundra who are very sneaky, and if something goes missing, it is common knowledge that one of the little people took it. If you want it back, cut a lock of hair off and leave it on your doorstep and they may (or may not…) exchange it for your lock of hair. At one of our staff meetings our site administrator (a native) was telling us about these tundra people and the several occasions where the missing objects were found after they left their hair for the little people. I didn’t know whether to laugh or not. They were so serious about it. Apparently, years ago a man kept hearing things in the school kitchen and actually slept in the gym, next to the kitchen, to catch them and he woke up and saw 2 little people rummaging around. I’ve heard several kids tell me stories about these characters and they were dead serious, saying “They’re REAL!” I didn’t know Yupiks of all ages believed it, though.

There are lots of absences from school during this time of year since students’ need to help hunt for their families to have food for the winter. They’re gone several days, or longer if they haven’t had any luck. One of our Yupik teachers, too, took a sick to go berry picking. Yum!

I always enjoy walking through the village and seeing cool Yupik things. One cabin has a whale vertebrae in front of it. I’ve yet to remember my camera to snap a shot of this. Living here definitely has its cool qualities. :) …and not so cool qualities. But you get use to it and it becomes a way of life. For instance, most of the $8 bags of chips in our little store have been pressure popped on the flight over and taped shut for selling. So on the one hand, you don’t have to pay the full $11, but on the other hand, the chips are stale. So all in all it works out! I’ve learned to like stale chips.

It’s customary to give your first portions of hunted food away, so that later you will have more luck hunting. I was honored when a friend gave me 5 pounds of fresh moose meat. I mean, it hadn’t even been frozen – it actually still had grass and hair stuck to it! I can’t tell you how good it is.

There have been polar bear sightings on Nelson Island, only 17 miles from Newtok! I don’t know what’s causing them to come south but it’s pretty exciting. Nelson Island is where we’re relocating in 3 or 4 years. And for those who were wondering, we won’t be called Newtok anymore – it will be known as Mertarvik. Here’s a link to a site if you want to know more about the move: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2009/08/mil-090828-nns04.htm

I hope yall have a nice, relaxing weekend! Let's remember all those who serve our country and allow us to live in the land of the free! woohoo!

Within the last 3 weeks our small village has had 3 suicide attempts. Students have been taken out of school and put in a room, watched around the clock. They send the students to Bethel for more treatment if necessary. How do you convince young people that everything is going to be okay when their friends and relatives are giving up on life? How can you encourage them to persevere when they have little to no chance of building a life outside this dark and gloomy village? What do you say to a 14 year old when her older brother tries to kill her? What do you say when a student confides in you and tells you her parents are alcoholics, they’ve been gone for 2 weeks and she doesn’t know when they’re coming back? CPS isn’t exactly an option here. By the way… these are not rhetorical questions. If you have suggestions, I’d love to hear some.

Prayer is powerful and I do talk to God daily. I’m asking you to PLEASE pray with me. The natives are angry, hurt, many are lonely and scared… it’s times like these when I feel inept. I know this is where God wants me and I trust Him. But I’m only human and I don’t want to let these people down. I am definitely not a talker and therefore feel even more negligent. But I know too that it’s not always good to talk. :) What God has already demonstrated to me in His ability to equip the called proves I’m not going to freak out and fall apart, but that doesn’t mean at the moment I have no idea what I’m doing. Just typing through my thoughts here…

The truth is, I’m useless on my own. When I feel like breaking, it’s GOD’s strength that allows me to keep going. The truth is I don’t know how to do what I’m meant to do. I don’t know what to say to these broken people. I don’t know how to comfort them or ease their pain, or heal their broken hearts. I don’t know. I just know God wants me here and I know he equips the called whenever HE is ready. Trust and patience. I can’t make it without Him so my only option is to trust and be patient. 

The new teacher and I have a mentor that the state of Alaska assigns us. She visited Newtok but has never been to the bush. It was funny watching her stepping into our world. She spent 3 days camping on the school floor, hiking on the tundra with us, searching for internet connection, and in wonder at the lack of plumbing. “Welcome to Newtok!” is all I could say.

I’ve only been here 2 weeks, and so far we’ve been with no restroom for a week and no water for 3 days, and a stove that still doesn’t work. It was funny watching our mentor run around trying to find a honey bucket. She ran over to our house and I gave a crash course on using the incinolet: “after you’re done you have to step on that pedal, push that button, kick the side of it, then put more paper in.” Our incinolet had been broken for a week but thankfully it’s working again.

We walked to the store to show my mentor where it is and what they have. When we have visitors, they bring their food and cook it in the school’s kitchen. But she is thinking she can do without hauling around all her food and just grab something at the store. It was a nice walk and she was impressed with the business of the village. Here’s a picture of what you might see when walking the boardwalks of Newtok: kids riding bikes, people hanging fish, chopping wood, pulling a 4 wheeler with a skinned moose in the back, doors open while ladies gut seal, fish, or cut up moose, muskoxen, or caribou on their floor… for such a small, isolated place there is lots to do.

I’ve been on hikes and it’s really muddy out there! You will be walking along and all of a sudden sink in this tricky green grass and it’s like quick sand! Then there is the muddy clay that I got stuck in, sunk down to my knees, and had to take my feet out of the boots and crawl out, then dig the boots out. Then, of course, I wasn’t able to shower or do laundry. But I actually find those setbacks a joy simply because I’ve learned to adapt and overcome them, which gives me confidence and strength. You might find that crazy but I’m okay with being different. :)

Little things we take for granted are intensified when you have no choice but to do without. For some unknown reason, all the staplers the school has that worked in May are now broken. We only have one stapler between 5 teachers that only works when you open it, arrange the staplers a certain way, then close it. You have to repeat that every time you want to staple something. We just have to be patient while our new ones are flown here.

Today we had an assembly for grades 6-12 to talk about the suicide we had in the summer. Peter, the boys’ father, came in and spoke to the students, along with a district councilor, and the principal. It was a solemn event. Peter had 2 brothers and a sister, all in high school grades. They had all the students put their heads down and close their eyes, asking who is hurting, then who thought it was their fault. It was pretty intense. The dad kept saying that Peter will be punished in hell forever, which is part of their Catholic teaching when one commits suicide. My heart ached for their aching hearts.

When we left for our classes I didn’t have the courage to follow through with my lesson plans that said we were to read “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” I mean, what are the odds that I would teach a story this day about a guy selling his soul to the devil, and people coming up from hell? So instead we just read silently, which went over well. They needed quiet time to think things over, and so did I.

Please pray that I will have wisdom in knowing what to say.

drying fish

Senator Mark Begich, representative Bob Herron, and another Senator from Michigan and their entourage came to Newtok yesterday in a black helicopter. They came to get an onsite update on the erosion of the banks of the the Ninglick River and the status of the impending move of our community to Mertarvik, the new site. They all came into the school and were very polite, shaking hands with everyone they saw, and we all went to the gym for the “ceremony.” The middle-aged generation translated for the elders who didn’t speak English. Villagers brought food for a potluck, and the visitors brought bananas, which went fast! It was funny seeing the photographers snapping shots with their fancy cameras and journalists scribbling notes on their notepads. The villagers were taking pictures of the “gusuks” (white people) and the gusuks were taking pictures of the Natives. The natives talked about their concerns and hopes for the move, and the Senators were genuinely concerned and supportive. I knew when Senator Begich brought along the Senator from Michigan, he was helping the move along. The one from Michigan was completely shocked as to where she was. It really is a different world up here and everyone who’s new experiences the culture shock.

During the fall we have a longer walk to school than during winter because of the permafrost melting. The ground is muddy and if you step into the wrong spot you could sink like you’re in quick sand! Plus, you do NOT want to get the mud on you because of the e.coli. There are still people who dump their honey buckets in the wrong place. More land is falling off into the sea and it’s noticeable since last May. The move should happen within 4 or 5 years, I hope.

Our incinolet is finally working again. I can’t count the number of times it’s gone out and we’ve had to use bedpans and/or walk up to the school. Not cool. So it’s fixed…for now. We just have to kick the side of it to begin the burning.

Since I’ve been back in Newtok I got some sad news. “Girl,” the husky that went on every hike with me, was shot over the summer. Her owners did not take care of her and she was going hungry. I hate that! I fed her every day last year but I couldn’t take her home for the summer. When dogs are not put on chains, if they are caught when there is a visitor in town, they are taken to the edge of the village and shot. Now I have to find another dog to feed all these dog biscuits I mailed to myself. :(

The wind blows constantly and last night it was so fierce our house was shaking. It’s difficult to get some sleep when your bed is wobbling.

There are not as many mosquitoes as last year and our fly problem is 95% better now that we moved the trashcan to the arctic room. The arctic room is what southerners would call a mud room. It’s where you take your snow boots off and it’s a barrier between inside your house and the outside. It keeps snow from falling into the house – after a blizzard you would open your door and the snow goes in the arctic room instead of piling into the living room. It also helps keep the house warmer by having an extra room between you and the cold. The arctic room is also where the deep freezer is, which we share with the school. Right now it’s packed with food and they will eventually move it to the school.

At our first staff meeting Grant used me as an example for warning about the harsh environment: “If you’re adventurous like Kim…” everyone had to laugh because there’s a little too much truth in that. Anyway, he told of my adventures out on the tundra… snowmachines, foxes, stranded in -60 degrees weather, etc. And he ended with “but she got the fox!” I hope the new teacher will heed the advice but I also hope she has fun!

Hope yall are having a good weekend. Let’s go out and love with the heart of Christ!

Back in Action!

Beautiful sunset in Newtok

Breathtaking beauty in Anchorage! (the background, anyway!)

I’m back in Alaska! I had a nice summer but it feels good to be back in the land of cool weather! It’s 50 degrees right now! I spent some time in Anchorage before I flew out to the bush – mailing some groceries to myself and soaking up the beauty of Alaska. I stayed with my room mate’s relatives and we met up with some other teachers from Newtok. I took a bike ride down a beautiful trail, beside a river and down to the coast. A guy riding the opposite way warned me there was a moose up ahead and sure enough one was right next to the trail. I stopped a short ways off to take some pictures. There were also a few bear sightings! I never saw them but there was a mother bear with her 3 cubs only about a quarter of a mile from where I was staying, and another bear was actually breaking in to someone’s window in another part of Anchorage! Not sure when this happened but it was some time this summer. There was also a polar bear in Hooper Bay, which is a village out here in western Alaska! Not too far from Newtok! I’d love to see a bear.

Monday evening I flew on the smaller jet to Bethel (the bush hub, 300 miles from the road system) and caught a cab to the school district office, which is where I spend almost every night I stay in Bethel. It’s a lot of fun catching up with other teachers in different villages. So we find a place on the floor and blow up an air mattress if there are enough, and it’s pretty cozy! Only in the bush do you have teachers sleeping in the office and you wake up to the “district mama” coming in to make coffee.  

We had 2 days of in-service in Bethel and it was great being able to collaborate with other reading teachers. Wednesday evening we were scheduled to hop on the bush plane and fly out to our villages and I could hardly wait to get back! We took our luggage to the gym at the Bethel school to wait till our flight time, and when we were loading the shuttle van they shove a pizza box in your hand and send you off out into the wilderness!

I understand how those new teachers feel right out of college because I was there last year! I feel for them because I know what it’s like to thrust yourself into an uncertain world, out of your comofort zone, cut off from everything and everyone, broke and not knowing how I was going to do this unique job. So needless to say I feel much more confident having survived this crazy life in the bush! Of the 8 teachers in Newtok, we  have 1 new this year. Her name is Betsy and she will teach the 2T class, which is when they transition into English instruction. Betsy is 24 years old so I’m excited about having someone close to my age. It would be nice to say I’m no longer the youngest teacher in Newtok but my day will come!

On the 45 minute flight out to Newtok I could barely contain my excitement! God has His ways of letting you know you’re where you’re supposed to be, and I know He was pressing that point, because I literally couldn’t sit still from excitement.  We landed and I jumped down on the rocky ground and had to jog off that eager sensation. It sounds funny, but seriously, I am glad to be here – even with our incinolet not working, our stove not working, the dodgy boardwalks, packing water, the e.coli infested land, and back to the busy busy teaching schedule. Teaching in the bush is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle. From the time you get up in the morning until (many days) you go to bed at night, you’re with students or doing work or doing something that there is not enough people to do. And even though it drained me completely last year, I’m happy to be here. How GREAT is God that He allows you to persevere, to overcome, and to glorify HIM in the process!?!? All I can do is give this year to Him and I know He will do great things.

I was walking to the school yesterday and a little girl asked me when school started. I told her Monday, and she replied, “in three more sleeps?” Instead of saying 3 more days, they measure time in sleeps.  The sun sets at 11:30 and last night it was so beautiful I couldn’t even try to describe it. The colors were so vibrant, so vast and so bold, that all I could do was stand there and bask in the beauty of God’s handiwork. The picture at the top doesn’t even do it justice.

Over the summer Newtok had a tragedy – a 14 year old took his own life. My heart aches and of course I wonder if there is something I could have done differently, if maybe I was part of the reason it happened, as he was in my home class. We had several suicide threats that almost happened last year. I’ll never forget the times I spoke with those students, completely moved by the Spirit, and I absolutely know God is in complete control, because I wouldn’t have a clue what to say, but He spoke through me. Not every situation ends up happy, though. Eskimos have some of the highest rates of suicide in the world. This summer alone there were 8 suicides in southwestern Alaska. Here’s an article about suicide in Alaska, and it talks about 2 suicides that happened in Bethel: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/us/14alaska.html

So with that, I’ll ask for your prayers again for the people of Newtok and all over Alaska, that they will find the peace that comes with salvation that God offers through Christ.

In Him,

Kim

written in alaska, posted in texas... finally!

It’s done! I’ve made it through my first year of teaching. Good gravy, I’m glad it’s over. Professionally it was a difficult learning time; spiritually it was an amazing and humbling time; recreationally I had a BLAST.

I’ve learned another piece of the Yupik culture puzzle. The young kids seem to be unruly and simply not disciplined. For a long while I assumed the parents had a tendency to be apathetic towards managing their kids’ behavior, and I’ve had to force myself to accommodate the unruliness. Little kids crawling around at funerals, talking while elders are talking, completely disregarding guidelines and direct instruction – I am simply stunned at the lack of structure – it really bothers me. I don’t mean to be a grouch – I love kids and their playfulness, but there are boundaries (at least where I come from) to how far a little one can act up. I know my upbringing demands self-control - playing sports and years of academic studies, and my strong family values all play a part in how I carry myself and why I hold a high regard for being strong and disciplined. Respect for yourself and for others is a big part of my life.

But I’ve found out that the people here are not being apathetic when the kids run rampant – they are simply being Yupik. That is how they discipline their kids – by letting them figure things out on their own. They allow the kids to “experience the world” – let them do things the way they do and they will eventually learn on their own what is acceptable and what is not. I wouldn’t have the patience! But it has helped me be more tolerant and patient, knowing that it’s tradition, a way of their culture. Who am I to judge anyway, since it’s worked for their ways of life for centuries! I’m just comparing the stark contrasts of different culture upbringings. It’s one more thing to understand while living among the Eskimos, and it’s important to understand. I didn’t know for a long time. Knowing that they are raising their kids (just in a very different way) makes a great difference, especially as a teacher! It takes time, though, to adapt.

I stayed up late last night just to see how long the sun would stay up. At 2:00 in the morning it was still light outside. Dusk lasts a long time! Then the sun rises around 5:45. It’s so awesome!

We picked up trash today around the school and had cream soda floats afterwards (we didn’t have any root beer.) We’re all excited about summer! Soon afterwards our bush plane came in for most of the teachers to leave. So right now I’m actually in Bethel waiting for the flight to Anchorage. I remember last July when I first arrived here at the airport. I was terrified! I didn’t know what I was getting myself into at the time and I was already past the point of no returning to the road system! Ha.. I’ll never forget that. I was acting all strong and tough but really my heart was pounding. 

The principal and me were talking today, reminiscing over my first year out in the bush. We’ve had lots of adventures! It’s become a joke between us about the fox chasing accident. Whenever one of us tells about some kind of bad news, the other says “but I got the fox!” (When they rolled the snow machine off of me the first words I said were “I got the fox!”) He laughs every time that is brought up. I mean, yeah it was a really close call but he was impressed at the fervor at which I gave to the task.

He was thinking back and said “You’ve survived two life or death situations” and noted with humor how I’d better tone the adventures down a notch next year. The potentially fatal situations I get myself into are tallying on me.

I guess it’s safe to tell now about my other life or death situation, now that I’ll soon be home and mom will be able to see I’m still alive. I guess it was late February or early March when I took a ride out on the tundra, but it was a very cold day. The temperature was -60 plus wind chill. So before I tell the story, I’ll say now that it’s over, I know I was stupid! I know I was carefree and too optimistic and completely naive. I knew it was dang cold, and it’s only colder when you’re going fast on the snow machine. But at the time all I could see was how fun it was going to be and nothing would happen.

So anyway… my roommate had kept telling me I should take my cell phone with me on hikes just in case something were to happen (not that I’ve ever been able to get service out there, much less get acceptable service in the village.. ) but anyway, I was walking out the door before I remembered the phone, so I went back to get it. I was wearing my snow pants, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and the carhartt on top of that, with gloves, my ski mask and snow goggles, which (now I know) is NOT appropriate for days as cold as this, when you’re outside more than a few minutes. (At least not for a native Texan) But like I said, at the time I was invincible!

So I took off, first riding around the outskirts of the village then picked a random direction and went southwest for about an hour, quite a few miles past the village. I ran across a frozen stream and the frozen ice walls were a beautiful sight, so I parked the machine and got off to look around. It was cold. Every time I took my gloves off to take a picture I had to put them back on within only a few seconds because they would get blue and start to hurt…so I decided I didn’t really have to have pictures. After walking around a bit I became really cold and thought I should go back since I didn’t have any food or drink, and the ride back was long and cold.

When I sat back on the snow machine and got situated, I put the keys in and it wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t make a sound! I tried not to panic – after trying to start it maybe ten times I stopped and had to take a few deep breaths to assess the situation. I was probably 6 or 7 miles from Newtok, in -60 degrees weather, the wind blowing constantly, a white sky, with no parka, no food, no drink, and no one knew where I was. Stupid me.

I was already freezing from walking around and taking off my gloves and ski mask to try and take some pictures. I didn’t understand! The dang machine was working FINE just a while ago! (this was before the wreck). I started to move around some, bouncing up and down in an effort to try and get warm, but no luck. I tried to start the machine a few more times and it simply wouldn’t turn on. I was in deep stuff. I slung my backpack around and thanked God for the nudge to remember the cell phone, but I doubted I’d get any service. I tried to call Kevin but I couldn’t get a signal.

I’ve been told you shouldn’t leave your snow machine because it’s more likely you’ll get lost. They usually find the snow machine before the person if you’ve wandered off from it. But I knew too that I was freezing, and I couldn’t just sit there and freeze to death, especially when no one knew I went out! So I decided to take action and try and walk back to the village. I was praying a blizzard wouldn’t come but the sky wasn’t promising.

Not wearing the proper attire, it wasn’t long until I was shaking uncontrollably from the cold. I trekked on in 2 feet deep snow for a couple miles and tried to call again – Brandi answered (Kevin’s wife, a teacher) but right after she answered the call we lost connection. I tried to jog to try and get back sooner but if you’ve ever tried to jog in 2 feet of snow you know it’s pretty much impossible!

Well, only a couple minutes after trying to call, the phone rang! I was so excited. It was Paula, another teacher and Brandi’s sister. The problem now, though, was that I was shaking uncontrollably from the cold and my voice was barely audible.
I was able to get out a “yeah?” to let her know I was there, and I knew by her voice she was concerned – she asked if I was okay when I couldn’t say much else, but when I forced myself to stop walking, I held my breath for a while and had to regain my control. Mentally, I was pretty calm. But I couldn’t control my body. I wasn’t sure I would be able to tell them where I was. I slurred the short version of the situation: “I’m behind the airport. Can Kevin come?” She repeated it back to me and said Kevin is on his way. I was so glad...and really surprised. I was still miles from Newtok and I couldn’t believe I had service! There had to be some divine intervention there! I mean, honestly, that just doesn’t happen!

Anyway, I figured I might as well keep walking, so I kept following my snow machine tracks back the way I came. I walked maybe 20 minutes more and saw someone on a snow machine come up over a hill maybe half a mile away. He was not directly in my line of trekking so I was waving my hands to make sure he saw me. Thankfully he did! But it wasn’t Kevin, it was Grant (the principal). He was with Kevin when I called so they both went, in different directions from behind the airport. I was so glad to see him because I didn’t know if my body could handle the 4 miles remaining. I clambered up on the back of his ride, but instead of going home he kept going, toward the stranded snow machine. At this point I didn’t care about the dang thing, I just wanted to get out of the cold and wind. But he gave me an extra parka he brought and it did help. Anyway, come to find out there wasn’t even anything wrong with the snow machine! The emergency stop button had been pressed sometime between getting off the snow machine and getting back on, but it’s a small button that I had overlooked and never even realized was there. So needless to say, I felt pretty stupid. I was able to drive the machine back, and I profusely thanked him and Kevin for coming to my rescue.

That’s 2 times those guys have saved my life this year! I am forever grateful for them!

So glad to be back in Texas!

2 weeks to go...

I’m stoked about summer and am having to put all my effort into maintaining momentum to finish the year strong! I guess it’s just the weight and pressure from the first year of work coming to an end and the relief is already starting to feel sweeter than I can describe! When I fly into Texas my first stop will be the ballpark in Arlington to watch the Rangers game that Friday – what better way than baseball to kick off summer!

The other day I was walking a ways out and met a little boy named Nikki who has gone with me on several hikes. For just being 10, I was surprised to see him toting his .410, spitting tobacco! He said it was his dad’s birthday and he wanted to bring a bird home for him. What a world of difference between our 2 cultures! For one thing, that a kid would want to go actually hunt an animal for a birthday gift, and another, that you can just walk a little ways from your house with a gun and start shooting birds! (Not to mention a 10 year old with no supervision, carrying a gun with a pocketful of ammo, chewing tobacco!) So we hiked on, settled on a high part of the tundra a couple miles from Newtok and waited. Geese were plentiful and he got a few good shots but didn’t hit any. He made the bird calls and knew all the tricks and safety procedures… I was pretty impressed, but nothing surprises me much anymore. Geese are nice to get, but the real victory is when you take home a few cranes. I hear they taste excellent. We only saw them in the distance and didn’t try that far of a shot. Nikki was excited to share some of his expertise with a kussaq (white person) so he was explaining how you have to keep your back to the village and don’t shoot in the direction someone may be walking or riding. He was proud to know you don’t keep the gun loaded but only when you’re ready to shoot, and what you do to attract different kinds of birds. It was cute, but mainly I was impressed! He wanted me to try a few shots so I did, and it was pretty exciting! I can see myself hunting in the future.

The snow is finally melting. The drifts aren’t as high and there are lots of slushy fields. It’s tricky when hiking in it because some snow is still sturdy and will hold your weight, but your next step may cause you to sink up to your waist. A couple of days ago I was buried in snow up to my waist and literally had to crawl on all fours for 30 yards in the slush to higher ground. So even though I no longer need the full winter apparel I was pretty cold and soaked pretty good after that incident. This doesn’t just happen out on long hikes though – the route I take to carry my laundry and pack water to and from the school is the same way. When you’re carrying 5 gallons of water and bags of clean clothes and you sink through the snow, it takes a while to crawl out!

Last night was prom. The teachers and some older students helped decorate and the dingy gym actually looked pretty good for a few hours! I’ll post pictures on facebook. The dances we’ve had in the past we just plugged an ipod into the speakers for music, but we went all out this time and flew in a DJ. It was great! And even though there’s not a clothing store for 100 miles, most of the students wore nice clothes. No tuxes, but not a problem! I love the simplicity and casual atmosphere.

We are officially done with Saturday school for the year. I’m so thankful! They weren’t too bad, but all the same, having to go to the school every Saturday starts to wear you down. But hey, if it’s one thing I’ve learned this year it’s that hardships make you stronger, and I won’t take free Saturdays for granted, you can be sure of that!

Well, I’m out – it’s a beautiful day and I want to go for a walk. Happy Mother’s Day mama, and to all the other mama’s out there! :-)