Christmas Break

Eskimo Games happen every year the week after Christmas. Chris participated in the event called Leg Wrestling.

Learning to sew!

The makings of the kuspuk. These are the cuffs and the front with the pocket. I sewed on the border and then the rickrack. I am finally making my lines straight.

It's so cold outside that there is ice on the inside of the window. I had to use a hair blow dryer to melt the ice away.

An ornament made from an Alaskan Native. They are made from seal skin and then beaded on the perimeter. These ladies make ornaments in the shape of polar bears, snowmen, reindeer, angels, and trees.

The first big snow fall of the year. The snow fell and then the wind came. The constant blow of 35 mile per hour winds for a couple days straight causes the wind to blow the snow into drifts. Most of the drifts are about five feet tall.

Eskimo Games: Leg Wrestling

Deck the Rooftop

Merry Christmas from Brevig Mission School!

Christmas Time

Well it is Christmas time up in the bush and that means Christmas Tree!

The pups are growing. They are almost too strong for me to hold them both, but Chris thinks they make a great pillow!

The weather is always around 0 degrees. The wind however makes the temperature hit negative numbers very quickly.

The sun comes up around 11:30 and sets around 3:00-3:30. We are still losing 5 min. a day in sunlight.

I have made it through my first semester of teaching and loved it.

Chris and I went to Anchorage for a visit and were supposed to fly out yesterday to Nome, but after flying all the way to Nome and finding out that we couldn't land because of weather, we turned around and came back to Anchorage. The booking agent informed us that all planes were booked til Tuesday. Good thing we are on Christmas Break.

Frozen Land and Sea

This is what the beach looked like a couple months ago. The water is flowing and the rock filled beach is inviting.

Now the ocean looks like this. The water is freezing and the rocks are now slippery with ice.

The ocean is freezing but as it still freezes it moves to and from the coast. This will be one of the last parts of the ocean to freeze. It's crazy to think that the ocean is freezing.

The Tundra is freezing!

Planes land on runways of snow. The Bush Pilots are some in the best in the state, I am confident in their ability. It is an experience flying in a plane and taking off and landing on a runway of snow.

Volleyball, Halloween, and Puppies

The volleyball team is undefeated! The next two weekends we travel and then we have Regionals in Unalakleet! Brevig Huskies only lost two games out of the 25 they played. I am excited to see how they do this weekend in Golovin. Go HUSKIES!

Just like anywhere else in the United States, Halloween is a big deal. The Friday before Halloween was a half day at school because after lunch students put on their costumes and then were involved in a parade where judges chose the best homemade costume, the scariest costume, and the most effort costume. My students were very excited about it all.

Living in the Bush means that one gives up some luxuries, like fresh produce. Well, Oregon has this great place called Full Circle Farms which ships up fresh produce to people in Alaska. This was the first week we ordered it and this is what we got! Carrots, kiwis, spinach, lettuce, apples, oranges, grapes, leeks, and celery. I am very excited about it!

Snow has finally fallen in Brevig. Apparently it is very much overdue. The temperature hovers around freezing but the wind is strong. I have been told its going to get much worst. It will be interesting to experience.

We took the puppies for a walk. However, the wind was so bad we didn't get very far. The dogs loved it, but my lip was numb from the wind, but I do love my new Parka. I didn't feel any wind on my upper body through my awesome parka!

A Little Bit Of Everything

There is a bit of snow starting to show up on the mountains. There has not been a good snow yet in town, but its getting colder and there will soon be snow covering the ground.
This last weekend the staff volunteered their Saturday to go to Nome and pick 5 palates of supplies includes soda and food to Brevig. Staff members loaded freight from Nome to the boat and from the boat to the truck and from the truck to the extra room for supplies. It was a lot of lifting and coordinating. It wouldn't have been possible without the help of everyone.
This is just a small section of how much material was moved that Saturday afternoon.
Chris took some driftwood from the beach and made cuts into and made it into a photograph display.
Another driftwood display!
The weekend we got married, we decided to paint all the walls facing north in the duplex. It looks wonderful and it is so relaxing. We made the color all by ourselves by mixing in a dark blue with white. I think it turned out pretty well.
My first baking creation! Blueberry Streusel Muffins. They look delicious and even taste good.



The next pictures are graphic. They are pictures of some seals that were hunted by the natives.












Seal hunting is a way of life and there is an abundance of seals around the area. They are used for food, for fur and for the oil. The seal oil is a delicacy that is used to dip walrus or meat into. You don't need much, just a tad or a dip, too much will hurt the stomach.
These were three that were there when I arrived, but the boat pulled up a bit later and brought in another one. That was one happy Eskimo family.

Other news. Chris is now the VPSO (Village Patrol Safety Officer) or "sheriff" of the village Brevig Mission.
I am coaching the co-ed volleyball team. I will post pictures after we have our first tournament.

Wedding on the Alaskan beach

Chris and I after our ceremony on Sept 18, 2010 and Noon. It was a beautiful day and the sun was out shining.

Our four-wheeler

The rings
These are just a few pictures, more will be posted soon.

From Home to Nome and Back

To get to Nome, the first thing to do is to load the 4-wheeler on a boat and go across the channel. The 4-wheeler barely fits on the boat.

This is what the boat looks like with the 4-wheeler on it. There is also the trailer in the boat.

Finally, on the road. It was a beautiful trip. 70 miles from Teller to Nome.

The road the whole time. Except on the way back it was raining.

Just a view from the road.

Trip up Sunset

We took the 4-wheeler out and followed the trail up to Sunset. Eventually the trail ends, but until then, this is what is sorta looks like.

The trail ends, and in its place is the river. We rode the river for most of the trip. It was crazy.
There is this old house that was built from a family that found gold in these hills. This is taken from an upstairs window. Muskox herds are all over the mountains, but this is the closest I've seen them. This was also the biggest herd I've seen so far. It was amazing.
Trees like this do not grow up in Brevig Mission or the surrounding area. These are brought over with storm surges from Russia.

This was just a cute little waterfall that fed into the river that we were driving in.

Classroom

Open are to learn and tables for students and then my corner table. Eventually the long desk will have computers on it! I even my own bathroom and sink.
The door to my classroom and the back wall.
The reading corner and my smart board, which is not quite working yet.
My desk and the back wall.
Me in my classroom!

Blue Berry Picking Adventure

The crew of blue berry hunters! We are ready!

We found some wonderful blueberries.


My wonderful bunch. The orange looking berries are called salmon berries. They are delicious with sugar and cream.

Working hard.


It is not easy picking blueberries. You have to really want them.

It was a success.