Hallelujah!

Here it is, September 22 (well, it's the 23rd back in Michigan)!  It's my good friend, Diane's birthday....well, yesterday in Michigan!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIANE!  Can you hear me down there in the Lower 48?

Hallelujah....I have managed to access my blog.  Here's how I did it.....I received my newly purchased laptop (which I will be paying for throughout the year!) and it's not logged into the BSSD site which was, for some reason, blocking my access to my blog.  YEAH!  Now to give you the news since I last posted which was back at the end of August.  Yikes!

I am currently in Stebbins (another village in the Bering Strait School District).  It's very different from Shishmaref in that it has paved roads!  We landed in St. Michael's because of the size of our charter plane and the length of the airstrip.  We were picked up there and driven seven miles into Stebbins.  That, too, is another difference....a road that connects two villages.  There are "driveways" up to the houses and I actually saw a car at one of the houses.  No trees...so that's the same.  But I must tell you....the tundra is absolutely gorgeous in the fall colors.  It's quite different from Michigan but equally beautiful with the water and colors.

We are here with three other schools to attend a two-day SIG (School Improvement Grant) inservice.  The rest of the staff gathered a few weeks ago in Savoonga for the first inservice and during that time, I was in Nome.  This is my first chance to be a part of the SIG info and another chance to see some of the people I met at Welcome Wagon in Anchorage before I flew into Shishmaref.  It's a good time to touch base again and compare experiences.  We were all so "new" to what was ahead of us back at the end of July/early August.  It's a good time, too, to rejuvenate!

So....let's see!  On August 31, I had my first day with my new students.  I have 13 children in the Four Year Old program of ECE (Early Childhood Education).  We are in a building along with the Three Year Old program.  Our building is located behind the "big" school and we have lots of "issues".  For example, a couple weeks ago, the power kept going on and off throughout the village....and, of course, in our building. The "big" school has a generator....but we don't.  It affected the drinkability of the water in our building and also messed up our toilet system.  So, we had to let our kids go home early.  Everyone had left the building and I was trying to do some catch-up work.  In the quiet building, I could hear some trickling...and finally went to check on it.  The adult toilet was overflowing BIG TIME.  I turned off the water valve and called for help and started mopping!  We've been without our adult toilet ever since...which means being sure to use the toilets in the "big" school when we can.  The kids' toilet is ok....but I'm afraid to use it.  It's so small and low to the ground that I'm afraid I'd either break it or wouldn't be able to get up!

There are also printer issues in our building so when I have to run a daily report, I have to zip over the "big" school to print it.  Plus, our kids have to trek over and back each day to the "big" school for lunch.  Believe me, that's quite a chore with little ones and just think what it will be when we have to put on all the layers and layers of winter clothes.  Today was our first fire drill and the little ones are required to put on their coats before leaving the building.  That sure doesn't happen down in East Jordan!  But then again, if these little ones head outside up here in the winter time to get out of a possible fire, they'd freeze rather quickly outside.  Six of one, half a dozen of another.

It's definitely different up here and I'm enjoying it immensely.  The experience is everything I had hoped it to be.  I've said it before....I will say it often....the people in Shishmaref are so friendly and welcoming.  The other night on one of my many walks back to my house I thought that the village should be nicknamed "Smiling Shishmaref" because wherever you go, the people smile at you and greet you.

BTW, just for the record....we're called the "Northern Lights".

Back to my first week of school....the kids were rather shy and I wondered if they would get beyond that.  It's now almost a month later and....yes, they have gotten beyond that!  We've had our ups and downs but the routine is falling into place now and I'm learning to pronounce names and recognize families.  Today brought it all into perspective when I was at the post office.  One of my students spied me and shouted, "Donna" (we're called by our first names up here) from across the room and ran up and gave me a big hug.  He'd been out of school most of the week as he had been sick.  His hug and smile just lit up my face and heart.  If you could hear him laugh...oh, my gosh!  Last week, my "District Coach" was in Shishmaref for the week to help out with our required testing.  When we worked with this little guy, he started to laugh and had us in stitches just listening to him.  What an absolute hoot!

I work with some pretty nice people, too, out in our building.  They are so helpful in many ways.  Recently, I was invited to a traditional birthday party.  What happens is that you will get a phone call to come to the party after the main family has had a chance to have their celebration.  The problem was that I still don't know my way around the village to individual houses and I had no idea how to get to the house with the party.  I called up one of the ladies I work with and she came on her four-wheeler and trailer and hauled me off to the party!  At the party, you wait until people before you have had their opportunity to partake in the goodies.  Then you move up to the table to eat.  There are several desserts served....cakes, pies, cheesecakes, jello and...AND...ESKIMO ICE CREAM!  I had my first opportunity to try it out.  It's made out of different berries (including the local salmon berries), seal oil (in this case, caribou fat), and sugar (optional....but I sprinkled it on).  It isn't frozen....just mixed.....and it really was good.  I'd try it again!

Well, folks....it's after 11:00 p.m. and I have to get up quite early in the morning to make a phone call down to Michigan on a prescription.  We're four hours behind up here so trying to make business calls is a bit of a pain.  Oh, well.  We have an early start to the day tomorrow anyway....what's another hour?

I have more to add about the last few weeks....and now that I have my own laptop, I'll get those pictures downloaded.   Stay tuned.....and take care.  Remember that when you look at the moon....it's the same moon I see, too.  We're really not that far away from each other!