"Down South"

Three Warrior III's
Kasaan, AK

This is what people refer to the lower 48 as, for example, "My aunt is from down south." It cracks me up every time. I'm not sure why, I think it's because it reminds me of the "dirty south" which I would consider Mississippi and the Carolinas. Any who, I've been meaning to share that for some time.

Friday we had a really bad storm. Winds up to 90 MPH, it was pretty impressive, it felt (and sounded) like the wind was going to rip the roof off my house. People say that the storm was unusual, but I've weathered three storms like this since I've been in Coffman. Whatever, I thought it was cool. It instantly wiped out the electricity which didn't come back on until the evening, so we didn't have any electricity for all of Friday at school. I was kind of sad because I had a huge Harvest/First day of Fall celebration planned. We still had the party but I couldn't make any of the food I wanted to, it was okay, the kids had a great time. It just kind of sucked when the water ran out. I was thinking about how funny it was that we were even at school, all things considered. Anywhere else this situation might have been considered a health hazard, the whole high winds, dark building, no running water, no phone, but James and I discussed it and we decided that even if we cancelled school, none of the kids would go home so we might as well carry on and count it as a full day. That's what we did.

Trying to get something notarized

Kasaan Beach Clean Up

Easy right? Find a notary and have them stamp it? Maybe pay them a small fee, easy peasy. No, wrong. I needed to get my application for my counseling certificate notarized, no small task. First, I needed to get all my documents together for my application, which included my official transcripts, which had to be mailed, and I think everybody knows by now that it takes a long time to get stuff in the mail, anyways they finally show up LAST Monday. Great. This is good news because I cannot get paid for counseling until I receive my certificate so there time is money.

So now all I need to do is get the application notarized BUT there is only ONE notary in town and she works at the city office BUT the office is closed on Mondays. No big deal, I'll go on Tuesday (last Tuesday). So Tuesday afternoon rolls around, leave school, walk down there, only to find that the (only) notary has left town....for a week...she'll be back next Tuesday. Awesome, I guess I'll wait a week to send in my application. Fast forward to this week, Monday: office closed, Tuesday finally comes; I'm all ready to take care of business, leave school, walk down there to learn that the notary "just stepped out." Dang it, but they tell me they'll just call me at the school when she's back. Perfect. I get a call several hours later, they wanted to let me know that they notary person got busy, but she took her stamp with her and will see me tonight at the School Board Meeting (in another Town, an hour and a half away). Er uhhhgh, I wasn't planning on attending the meeting so I guess I'll wait to Wednesday.

There is a happy ending to this story, today, Wednesday, I got the stamp, put it in an envelope, walked it down to the the Post Office (taking care of business). Done. Except that it has been really windy here and there hasn't been any mail planes for two days and they don't expect another one until Saturday. Oh well, it's just money and it's just funny, simple things take a long time in the bush. I'll get use to it someday.

SHOUT OUT: To my Father for sending me a care package that made my entire office smell like an Asian market. He came through when I asked for, "A bunch of random shit from the Grocery Outlet." Special thanks to AUNT LISSA for cookies, they were delicious!!

I leave you with this quote from John Muir, "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

PS. I have my 3rd graders acting out a conversation between John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt in social studies, it's going to be awesome. I will try to record it.

----------------Peace----------------------------------------

Me: Did you eat breakfast.....

Oaks: "Best day at school ever!"

Shirly: Yes
Me: (skeptically) You did, what did you eat?
Shirly: I had a couple of pieces of venison jerky.

Exciting week here in beautiful Coffman Cove and the Howard Valentine School (for the awesome), happs included an emergency/special PTA meeting (DRAMA), a new after school club on Thursdays and our first XC meet.

Not much to report about the PTA meeting except that we have a lot to prepare for the XC meet on October 1st and we set a date for the Halloween Carnival (Saturday, Oct. 29). Oh yeah, and we'll be selling bottled water at the XC meet.

French Braiding and Double Dutch, Thursday night was a total success. The four girl students and myself had a dance party and braided each others hair after archery practice on Thursday. It was awesome. Today I got up early and was at school by 7AM (and hour and half b/f school normally starts) to braid all of the Lady Timberwolves hair before our XC Meet (Teacher of the Year). Oh my goodness the XC meet.....

.....So James and his wife take their own car so I'm stuck driving the entire school to the meet, whatever. It's in Craig about and hour and half away. We have satellite radio in the van so it's bearable. Any who, we're almost to the meet when I hear, "AAAGHHHH, Miss Moody, Ace*, Ace is sick." Then I smell the puke. I pull over, get everybody out of the van. Ace has managed to puke ALL over himself, on the back seat of the van, and on Chase's backpack. Now all the girls are gagging, acting like they are going to puke and Chase, well, he is our first grader, he's crying. F. Naturally, I don't have anything to clean up the puke. So I have Ace take off his clothes, put on his track suit and we wait for James to come back. All the kids (like 10) get in his truck and I take Ace, we go to the school. I wash him off, he runs the race. Everybody is happy, except the van reeks of puke. Back ground, two of our students didn't show up this morning b/c they were sick last night, one of Jame's kids was sick last night, and one of our 6th graders didn't show up because he's sick. So needless to say, after hanging out with sick kids all day I feel kind of sick. Oh yeah, best part of the story. I tell the kids' parents as they are being dropped off this morning that I will call them when we get back to town because I don't know what time it will be. When I get back to school I go to the office to get their phone numbers only to discover that none them (there are 3 at this point) have phones at their homes (kind of like me). So after spending my entire day (or week for that matter) with them, I then got to drive them all home. Whateves, they all did kick-butt today. We are really proud.

Oh and this happened, after the meet we took the kids for pizza. Jame's wife, Becky ordered all of the pizza and drinks. She told the kids that they had to drink water because they shouldn't drink soda after a meet. I thought this was really surprising given the whole families propensity to consume sugar. When we sat down she told me that the only reason she didn't buy them soda was because of me, she didn't want me to be pissed. IT'S WORKING!!! Don't worry, she made up for it buy buying the whole team ice cream. Baby steps.

Next week: BEACH CLEAN-UP in Kasaan, woot woot. Can you say field trip?

Two things:
1. Please note the ladies' attire: tie die and peace signs. :)
2. Looks what is written on the board. Guess who was teaching last?

Me:(during health) Okay, write down one goal you have for the fall.
Oaks: (written) Play a lot.
Me: (smiling)

* Names have been changed for confidentiality purposes, I'm serious.

"Man, you're really loved."

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

THANK YOU to everyone who has made a point of contacting me here in Alaska, whether it's an email, postcard, FB post or in some extra ordinary instances, a CARE PACKAGE. Notably my Mother, Jana MF Howard, Ginger Mansfield, Megan Zaback and Robert McCormick. It's with the help of these rock stars that I've maintained a healthy supply of coffee, chocolate, spices, dried goods, incense and gloves. After I opened my last package from (The) Jana, the other teacher was like, "Wow, you're really loved." And then I smiled.

I know that I'm like impossible to get a hold of but I truly appreciate everyone for trying. Please know that I miss you all and think of you often and want updates on everyone.

POWER TO THE PEACEFUL in Southeast Alaska and EVERYWHERE!!!

Shit Storm Rising

Couch

Man, I have tons of good titles for this post:

Burning Bridges and Picking Battles
"We're always down to burn shit."
Hanging with Mormons
"You live in bush Alaska now. It's going to be a long winter if you're going to get upset every time the mail plane gets weathered out."

I decided on, "Shit Storm Rising," because that is exactly what is going on தேரே இன் கோப்ப்மன் கோவே. யு சி, இ'வே பீன் சார்கேத் வித் தி டாஸ்க் ஒப் புட்டிங் ஒன தி சக் ற்றச்க் மீட் ஒன அக்டோபர் ௧ஸ்த. பைன். இ அம பல்ல்ஸ் தீப் இன் லேச்சொன் பலன்ஸ், ப்ரொபெஸ்ஸிஒநல் தேவேலோப்மேன்ட் பலன்ஸ் அண்ட் அட்மிநிச்ற்றடிவே டாஸ்க்ஸ் பட் வ்ஹடேவேர், இ'ல் பிளான் தி ற்றச்க் மீட். சோ தி அசக் (பட எஃஉஇவலெந்த) இஸ் சுப்போசே டு பே இன் சார்ஜ் ஒப் திஸ் பட் நோபோடி கமே டு தி மீட்டிங்...சோ இ நீட டு பழசே அன் ஆர்டர் போர் பூத் தட் வி ஆர் கோயன் டு செல் சோ தட் வி கேன் ரிசே மோனே. அச செவேறல் பெஒப்லே ஹவே போயண்டேது அவுட் டு மீ, திஸ் இஸ் ஓனே ஒப் ஒஉர் ஒன்லி ஒப்போர்டுநிதீஸ் டு புன்ட் ரிசே. கிரேட். சோ இ வாஸ் தல்கிங் வித் சம்ஸ் (தி அதர் டீச்சர்) அண்ட் இ டோல்ட் ஹிம் தட் இ அம பைன் ப்லன்னிங் தி எவென்ட் அண்ட் தோஇங் தி ஒர்தேரிங் பட் இ அம அப்சொளுடேலி நாட் ஒர்தேரிங் பிளாஸ்டிக் வாட்டர் போட்ட்லஸ் டு செல் ஓர் கிவ் அவே. இ'ம நாட் ப-இங்க தோஇங் இட். ஹி லாக்ஹெத் அட் மீ (வ்திச் ஹி கம்மொன்லி டோஎஸ்) அண்ட் சிட், "பைன், இட்'ச கூல், இ ஹவே என்விரோன்மேண்டளிஸ்ட் பிரிஎண்ட்ஸ் அட் ஹோமே." வ்திச் இ லவ் பெகுசே இட்'ச லைக் மீ (அன் எர்த் கொந்ஸ்கிஔஸ் பெர்சன்) அம நொவ் சோமே ஹொவ் மி ஓவன் ரசே ஓர் கந்தர். (இட் ஜஸ்ட் மாடே மீ தினக் ஒப் ஹொவ் சோமே ரசிஸ்ட் பெஒப்லே ட்ரை டு கிளைம் தட் தே ஆர் நாட் ரசிஸ்ட் பெகுசே தே ஹவே எ பழசக் பிரிஎந்து. திஸ் கமெண்ட் இஸ் உசோல்லி மாடே அபிடேர் தே செ சம்திங் ரசிஸ்ட்). எனி வே, இட் வாஸ் புன்னி.

So anybody who knows me, knows my thoughts of plastic water bottles. My feeling toward them are even stronger now that I live on an island, with NO recycling facilities and literally tons of gallons of fresh drinking water. So I won't bore you...so when I went to make the order, which consists of walking down to the only store in town and talking with the store owner and ASC member. She looks at my list and says that you have to have bottled water. I tell her I don't want to have bottled water and I tell her why. She looked and spoke to me like I was a child not wanting do my chores. She explained that we HAVE to have bottled water...blah, blah, blah.

So I'm standing there and I'm like OH SHIT, this is exactly what the people in my program were talking about. I'm the outsider coming in with an agenda. So, I just say, "You know what, you know a lot more about this than I do. Let's just order whatever you want." And that's exactly what we did.

On a much brighter note, it's been sunny and warm all weekend, which means that I finally had an opportunity to burn this nasty couch that came with my apartment. My neighbors kindly loaded up the coach, drove me out to the "second rock pit," and we lit that shit on fire. On the way home, I was like, "Man, thank you guys, I've wanted to get rid of that coach for like a month," to which Robert replied, "No problem, we're always down to burn shit. I just regret not blowing holes in it first." Sweet.

Later on in the evening as I was lamenting over the plastic water bottle ordeal, he reminded me of two things. First, somebody who doesn't want to use plastic water bottles is an environmentalist and ALL environmentalist are bad because they killed the logging industry. Fair enough. Second, we probably did more damage to the environment by burning my coach then several cases of bottled water. Touche.

Other funny things happening to me (depending how you look at it) is that my diesel powered furnace has not really been operating correctly since I moved in, in that it makes really loud noises and pumps exhaust into my house. My landlord tried to fix it on Friday and the result was a huge plume of smoke in my house. I had t open all of the windows. So I haven't had heat all weekend, which is fine because it's not that cold. Any who, the heater is fixed now and I'm back in business with a furnace. In other news, somebody informed me that it usually starts snowing on Halloween and stays until March. Ouch, I didn't realize they got that much snow, being that we're living on an island (at sea level).

Holy Smokes

20 Filets

Look at all that fish. My neighbor, and main Homegirl, Chirssy invited me to help her smoke and can fish that her brother and boyfriend caught over the weekend in exchange for me getting some fish. I gladly excepted. In addition to the fact that I love smoked salmon, it's a nice break from working on lesson plans which is pretty much the rest of my life right now.

Chrissy is rad. She is the kindergarten teacher and ultimate Alaskan chick. She hunts, fishes, forages and knows hows to process all of it. I have a lot to learn from her for sure. She's the girl who fed me deer burger for dinner. She also likes yoga and baking, so we are going to be friends.

Chrissy adding a little more brown sugar.

In other news, my heater/furnace makes a really loud noise and as I suspected is actually producing exhaust (in my house) so my landlord is fixing it today, hopefully. As of last night, my roof started leaking in the bathroom so I have a couple of pans around my house collecting water. Whatever, I'm glad that I don't own the house. It kind of reminds me of my childhood because it seemed like our roof was always leaking.

Oh this is big! We are officially on the grid. The city of Coffman Cove until Friday produced all of it's electricity with a generator....can you say expensive? No worries, Friday we got a phone call at school telling us that in five minutes all of the electricity for the town would be shut off because the power lines had finally reached our community. HOORAH, electricity is now literally half as expensive (or twice as cheap) as last week. Awesome.

Internet/phone Update: I still don't have the internet, phone or radio at my place which is really annoying but I'm not sure what to do because the Internet is really expensive and slow and I don't really want to get a land line....because I'm trying to maintain my residency in the 21st century, but man I would really love to be able to stream radio....I will keep you posted.

What have I gotten myself into?

Thorne Bay, Alaska

I had this thought as I walking BACK to school last night to work on some lesson plans: Teaching has got to be the ONLY profession where you get paid to work 7 hours, end up working ten, and still feel GUILTY when you're done because you couldn't finish everything. This is not a new story, teaching is a lot of hard work, a part of the story that sometimes gets over shadowed is how immensely rewarding teaching can be. This is why there are still people in the profession.

Tomorrow is Friday and it hasn't come a day to soon. If you've ever wondered why school starts before Labor Day it's because teachers cannot have a five day week the first week back to school. It's just too crazy. I am so grateful that next week will only be a four day week as well. What?? School is crazy? Yes, teaching any subject is difficult, there are lots of things that go into any lesson: content, standards, grade level expectations, learning styles, and most important...how the hell am I going to keep these kids engaged? This is no small task for any teacher, anywhere. Now, if you can, try to wrap your mind around trying to teach Alaska state history to a class of five students grades 1-4 and a health class to the entire school, grades 1-9, at the same time. Shit, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. One of the reasons I was drawn to this profession is because it allows me to be creative, yeah you could say that, I have been squeezing my brain of every creative thought in there to try to come up with lesson plans while considering all of the things I listed above. It's ALMOST impossible.

It can be done, teachers do it in small schools all around Alaska with a lot of success, everyday. I've had minor achievements this week: I led the entire school in a breathing meditation and சார்லி, our little first grader told me today that not only am I his favorite teacher but I am also his BEST FRIEND. Oh சார்லி. One of the biggest challenges for me working at this school is that half of the students are in elementary. None of my training is in elementary ed, I have a lot of learning to do in this department.

I want to leave you with a list of funny quotes that I've been meaning to post from inservice and the first week of school.


"Last year the major offense at school was kids bringing knives. Not big knives, just, you know, pocket knives. So you know what I'm going to do this year? I'm going to change the rule so that kids are allowed to bring knives as long as the blade is less than 3 inches."

- Nick, Principal of Thorne Bay, on discipline issues at his school.

"If I were you, I just wouldn't teach sex education at your site."
- Nick, Principal, when discussing the sex ed materials in the district library. (I naturally had objections to this suggestion)

"...and here is the school gun safe."
- Liz, on my school tour. This statement was followed up with, "And what is in the gun safe?" To which she replied, "guns."

"I just can't stop laughing."
- Charlie, the first grader, as he was covering his face and laughing during our meditation. (He was dead serious to, I could tell he didn't want to be disruptive, he just couldn't help himself.)

"Poop Tag"
- Howard Valentine School children, this is a name of a game they made up after a kid got bird poop on him, then wiped it on somebody else. This started a school wide game of tag trying to stay away from the kid with poop on him. (It was awesome).

"Miss Moody will you push me on the swing?
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm swinging."
- Exchange between me and one of my students. This is a perfect example of the difference between MS and elementary students.

Okay, here's to tomorrow being totally awesome.... It's pretty cool, our district mandates that Friday afternoon be dedicated to a project or activity that the entire school can do together, we are either going to the beach or having a read-a-thon (depending on weather).

Peace in the Southeast