It's Saturday, May 19....last working day for the 2011-12 school year. So many thoughts swirling through my head.
I am sitting here quietly in the ECE building....my last time to do this.....looking out the back windows. I see the two dogs curled up on bare ground now....where there had been piles of snow just even last week. I've enjoyed watching those dogs....one is more playful than the other.
Also right outside my window are several snow machines in various states of repair. It's my understanding that the folks living in that house also take "outsiders" on hunting excursions during the year so the machines serve as means of transportation. There must have been some hunting going on recently because I can see a bear hide sprawled out on a blue tarp. Yesterday in the warmer afternoon, flies were swarming over the hide. I can see the skull on top on the shed.
I've watched many birds throughout the year. Seagulls, ducks, geese, and cranes are now returning after spending winter somewhere else. I've posted a picture of a snow bunting on my Facebook page. You might also want to check out "Birds of Shishmaref" on Facebook....posted by Ken Stenek.
Probably the thing I will miss the most from this view of Shishmaref is watching the airplanes come and go daily (unless there's a snowy white-out or fog). It was my "connection to the outside world" in a way. Of course, when an incoming plane would fly over, I laughingly would call out, "Da plane, boss....da plane!" I'm not sure who amongst this young group of people I work with actually knew why I was saying that! Then when the planes would fly off, I'd reach out my hand and pleadingly say, "You forgot me....come back, come back!" I was always only joking. I'm happy here!
Looking out at that airport brings up other memories....the most recent being the loss of our District pilot, Doug. I had never had the opportunity to meet him but I sure heard the stories. He was a quiet man but an incredibly skilled pilot from what I understand. If you flew with him, you were in safe hands. He could get you through anything. He flew District staff, village teachers and students all around to various meetings and school events. It is my understanding that he flew for 45 years in western Alaska and logged in over 47,000 miles. It has been said many times that if the weather was iffy and someone was coming or going, people would ask, "Who's flying today?" If the answer was ERA...you weren't going anywhere. If the answer was Bering Air, it was possible but don't count on it. If it was Doug flying the District plane, it was, "Oh, ok, you'll get where you have to go." Doug passed away suddenly on Monday, May 14 here in Shishmaref. He had just flown in five folks out of the Unalakleet (District Office) to attend our graduation ceremony. He was walking out to the airport to check on the plane as the group would be turning around and going back home that very evening after the program was done. He didn't even make it to the airport. He dropped, face first, into the snow and was gone from a massive heart attack. Needless to say, everyone was shocked. He was supposedly in good health and was to have retired this coming week with lots of plans for an enjoyable future of sailing, working on his antique motorcycles, and spending time with his wife. Sad to have lost such a good person but also thankful that this didn't happen while he was in the air. One of the folks that he brought in said something that brought tears to my eyes, "I'm honored to have been on his last Earthly flight and am positive he was in good hands on his final flight home." I trust that he was.
I also remember looking out this window many times at the rolling waves coming in from the Chukchi Sea and listening to Wilsa describe what it has been like to have the island erode into the water....losing land and buildings. Back in November, we were all preparing for what was being described as a hurricane-force storm and I watched the sea gained strength as if to say, "I'm coming to get you this time." The storm, fortunately, did not arrive with as much vengeance as was predicted. Nome got it worse. But we did lose more frontage off the seaside of the island.
I also watched on several occasions when the fog rolled in blanketing the airport and buildings. Flights were delayed or canceled altogether. It looks fairly clear right now but that can quickly change. I know there are several teachers planning to fly out today starting the mass exodus for the summer. They are anxiously watching the weather!
I remember being in this spot when one evening I could hear from the airport a very loud and different noise. I happened to be on Facebook at the time and the word quickly went out....upon landing of the District plane, a wheel collapsed and the plane did some swirlies on the runway with the girls' basketball team on board. Everyone was fine...although the plane did sustain some damage. There was a boys' basketball team from Gambell waiting out at the runway to leave on that plane. Needless to say, they didn't leave that night.
Looking out at that runway reminds me of the day I flew in on August 3, 2011. I was on a plane with Esther, Annie and Luke. They were the folks left at the Nome terminal when my new friends, other teachers from the BSSD, left on their flights into another village. I remember being a bit nervous because this was my "first time" of a lot of "firsts" connected with this new adventure. I hoped I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing according to everything I had researched online and with communications with people here in Shishmaref via email. As I sat there, one of the ladies asked me if I was going to Shishmaref. When I said yes, she said I must be one of the new teachers. I think being Caucasian up here and maybe looking a bit out of place and nervous might be clues to
the locals!! When I said, "Yes, I am. My name is Donna Bennett and I'll be teaching in the ECE classroom." She smiled and said, "Donna, I'm Esther!" The biggest smile came across my face and I jumped up and hugged her. You see, Esther and I had made a random connection on Facebook while I was back in Michigan. It was good to meet up with someone who could "lead me into the village." But what happened next was really fun, too.
There was a little boy resting on the chairs....with a cast on his leg. His mother was across the room and overheard the conversation between Esther and me. She spoke up and introduced herself (Annie) and pointed out that her son, Luke, had recently broken his leg. He would be one of my four year old students in the ECE class this coming year. He wouldn't say a word to me!!! However, when class was over for the year this past week,
it was Luke who came up to give me a hug!
Anyway, as we were approaching Shishmaref (folks up here refer to the villages by their airport code so I might use SHH), Esther tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out the window to the village appearing now down below. You can't really talk on the little bush planes....it's just too loud. But as I looked out the window, my excitement mounted. I was about to begin my adventure....one that took root back in 1993 with a trip to China with People to People Citizen Ambassadors. Such a long time ago....and here I was.
The plane landed and we disembarked....into a rainy day. Oh, happy me! I much prefer a rainy, cloudy day and that's what greeted me here in SHH. Also greeting me was John Bruce, the assistant principal. He gathered up
my suitcases and my wheeled cooler of perishables purchased in Nome, put them in the back of the beat-up green pick-up and drove me into the village. Before leaving, I met Don who told me he was Helen's husband (she teaches High School special ed). They would later take me under their "southern hospitality wings" and I'd eat many a dinner with them and their family.
As John drove me into the village, my eyes were wide opened to all I was seeing....kids playing outside at what I would later find out to be the "new playground" and basketball court...."black things" hanging from poles around the village (found out later that it was seal meat or fish being dried to later eat with seal oil), antlers of caribou and moose perched on top of roofs, tall deep green grasses clinging to huge mounds of dirt and deep
ruts in barely passable "roadways", houses that looked to be the same shape but different faded colors...and mud, mud, mud....which would dry out to be sand, sand, sand....EVERYWHERE...in EVERYTHING! I would find
that it would drift just like snow does....and later, of course, came the snow....and it came...and it came...and it came!
I am sitting alone in this very quiet room...hearing the ticking of a battery-operated clock. I love that sound. It reminds me of so many things....my Grandmother Peterson's house....the night my son was rushed to the ER in Petoskey and as I quietly rested my head on the railing of his bed, I could hear the clock ticking....my livingroom back at home where I would rock in my chair to the rhythm of the clock and I even now think of my cat, Dusty, who had to be put down back in November. He'd be curled up somewhere in the livingroom. Let me tell a little bit about
that story.
When I left East Jordan back in July of last year, my sister, Shirley, was driving me downstate where I would meet up with my daughter, Jessica, and they would eventually take me to the airport in Detroit. Hey, you know what? Now that I think back, we traveled to Detroit in the rain, too. Left Michigan in the rain and arrived in Shishmaref in the rain. Anyway, I told Shirley to go to the car and let me have a few minutes alone in the house. I scooped up my cat and hugged and petted him...and cried. I knew it was the last time I'd touch him and be able to smell his fur and talk to him. He wasn't well and I knew he'd never make it until I returned. Gosh, I have had so many pets and have had to watch them go. Dusty was 19 years old. My kids Skyped with me the night before he died....so I could see him one last time. Skype has been a godsend for me up here...over 3000 miles away from my family.
Oh, here's a funny one....! Just before I left Michigan to begin my school year up here, I received a jury duty notice in the mail....you know....the questionnaire you have to fill out and return under penalty of law and all that? Well, I filled it out with glee....and pointed out that I was moving to Alaska and I doubted they would want to call me for jury duty. I filled out the mileage part where they ask how many miles is it from your home to the courthouse....and I put something like 3,100 miles. I was never called for jury duty!
Back to the ECE building....we don't know if it will be here or not next year or if there will be a new building. It's an old building...1975....and it was built on marshy ground. I don't see how that could be avoided here on the island! Oh, I just heard last night that even the "big school" that is up on stilts settled some and the front doors were left ajar. Anyway, our building has a history of being many things...a bed and breakfast, a restaurant, part of the "big" school, the ECE building. Earlier this year, we noticed a crack in the ceiling and as the year rolled on, the crack widened and additional cracks began to appear in the walls and along the support beams. We finally shut down our program at the end of March and began looking for a place to hold class to finish out the year. We moved to the church basement thanks to the gracious approval of the church board and Pastor Mark. Our schedule had to change....three year olds going in the morning and four year olds going in the afternoon....but it worked. We didn't have running water out there...nor flushing toilets....but since most kids live with that anyway in their homes, it wasn't that big of a deal during school.
I suppose the other "big" story would be the "break-in" while I was here in the building. I had a guy jimmy his way into the building! The door was locked but he got in. He was surprised to see me and apologized several times if he scared me. He said he was just wanting to see what was happening to the building because he'd heard about it. Silly me....I didn't think much of it at the time. At first, I thought that it was one of my co-workers trying to get it and wiggling their key. Our door has been goofy...like a lot of things up here! But when I got to the entryway, it was this guy already coming in.
So...like I said, silly me. He started saying right away that he wanted to see the condition of the building so I showed him through the classrooms and chit-chatted. As we were walking back to the entryway, he pointed to one of the rooms and said he had had school in there (the building has been used for lots of things) and then he spied the vacuum and said he'd used that vacuum to clean in there before. Again, I'm still not thinking much about it because I've heard so many stories about the different people who have passed through that building at one time or
another. As he got to the door, he again apologized if he scared me and said he knew I was in the building because he saw my tracks leading in. Then he said he has seen several kids standing out by the door before and
that the door wasn't locked very securely. Then he left.
Now, I sat and pondered the "event" and thought it was strange that he jimmied the door knob until he got in.....even though he "saw my tracks and knew I was in there"....why didn't he knock? The more I thought about
it, the weirder it became. I was on Facebook and saw one of the custodians at the big school on there and mentioned it to him. He thought I should call the VPSO (cop) and tell him about it....and I did. I was finally able to reach staff from our building and they all showed up. We messed around with the door some more and realized that it doesn't take much at all to open it even when we think it's locked. This guy had probably been in the building before. The thing is....we don't think anything has been taken. It really could just be someone looking for some food. It's hard to say.
What's crazy about it is that I just chit-chatted with the guy and although it seemed a little strange that he jimmied the door to get in initially....I didn't "get it" until thinking about it more once I was alone. This guy was so self-assured when he walked in and seemed to know what he was talking about with the condition of the building and with saying he'd been a student there and such. Truth of the matter, he broke in....with me in there!! Thank goodness....nothing happened.
By the way, when I say things are "goofy" up here....I say that kindly. Let's just say things are "different." But it's important to point out that being "funny" doesn't mean being hilarious or silly. Nope...it means being "mean" to someone. I learned that early in the year when a child came to me to say that so-and-so was being "funny." I started laughing and saying, "Well, what is so-and-so doing to be funny?" That's when I found out that "funny" is actually "being mean" and now here I was laughing at the child trying to tell me the situation. Oh, well....sorry!
Oh, ERA just flew out on their morning flight. I didn't even hear them arrive this time...just saw them leave. The next flight out will carry several of our teachers. Others are going throughout the coming days. I leave on Tuesday, May 22. Another teacher will leave on June 18...she has reason to stay longer in the village!!! She has a "honey" here! Then the three new teachers will begin arriving. Our new assistant principal's parents and a couple of her siblings live here in SHH. She's married with children. Another one comes with a husband and son. The other two new teachers...I don't know a whole lot about them except that one is bringing up 100 lbs. of fish with him from his summer job as a fishing boat captain! One will be taking over this position in the ECE building. I wonder what she will observe out this back window in the months ahead. New adventures for new folks.
So many stories, so many thoughts and feelings. What a strange and exciting year this has been. I am looking forward to going back down to the Lower 48 for awhile. Some people up here will say I'm going "back to the United States" and I think they mean it! Shishmaref is so far removed from the continental United States and what that conjures up. But there are folks who proudly and fiercely hold onto what it means to be an Inupiat Eskimo and it is NOT the same as being a Caucasian in a town or city in the Lower 48. That is neither good nor bad....it just IS.
Consequently, I have strong feelings about what is expected up here in the school system when we are dealing with such a different culture and environment and such...and yet we have to "grade" these children against the expectations of the Lower 48....not fair, I tell you!
Nevertheless, countdown to "liftoff" has begun and I will leave on May 22. I will arrive in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 23 (it does take awhile to get flights and connections back to the continental US...we really are way out here). Oh, wait....that reminds me of something else I have found a bit humorous up here. People will often say, "Oh, I would love to come to Alaska. It's such a beautiful state. Can I come visit you?" Well, yes and no! Alaska IS a beautiful state...and vast. I was in awe of what I saw last July when I flew up to spend a few days in Anchorage. I look forward to being able to spend a few more days again touring the Anchorage and Kenai areas....and in the future, other spectacular locations throughout the State. BUT....where I live is NOT easily accessible. Anyone living in the "Bush" knows that it's not like anywhere else! You have to fly out of Anchorage to a "hub" which is where you will catch your smaller "bush" plane into your village. Speaking of which, on my last flight out of Nome, our pilot was one of the guys featured on "Flying Wild Alaska"! Anyway, the flight out is not cheap, folks. Well, just figure that a gallon of regular gasoline here in the village is over $7.00 so take it from there. Anyway, once you reach the hub, you then board your flight to your village. Once you reach your destination, it's not like you hail a taxi into the center of the village and find a motel or a restaurant. True, we do have Snack Shack up here but that's not always opened either. There are no motels...there are no taxis. You have to have made your plans to be picked up before you get here or in any other rural Alaskan village. You MUST have pick-up plans because the smaller villages do NOT have a terminal to go inside to get out of the frigid cold. Our staff was once dropped off at a airstrip to await our plane taking us back to SHH after an in-service. The vehicles dropping us off had to leave to drive the seven miles back to the school to pick up some other folks for a different plane. The problem is....our plane never arrived and after 45 minutes or so in -40 degree weather....it wasn't pleasant.
So, the answer is more like, "No, you probably won't come to visit unless you have saved up some money for the high plane fares AND you know someone up here to be able to stay with and will pick you up out at the airstrip."
On the other hand, IF you come up to visit, you are in for a wonderful experience. I do miss the trees up here in the tundra...the smell of pine and freshly-cut grass and the sound of a thunderstorm....but, I have seen some of the most incredible sunsets and Northern Lights and tundra ground cover and vast snowy views...and different animals and birds....and the people. I love just looking at the people. Their faces hold so many stories of what their ancestors have endured and learned and passed on. And their hands....so strong....and to know they have used them for gathering berries and eggs...for fishing and hunting....and for carving and sewing some of the most beautiful pieces of artwork I have ever seen.
Goodness, I can't forget the dogs....everywhere...curled up in the snow and wanting it no other way! I have been immensely thrilled at watching the dog mushing that goes on up here....from what I saw right here in the village and the stories I've heard from Bessie (raising and racing her own dogs) and Elizabeth (wife of the legendary Herbie Nayokpuk...the "Shishmaref Cannonball") to actually seeing and being right amongst the Iditarod mushers and dog teams this past year in Unalakleet. I couldn't have asked for a memorable experience.
Stay tuned....I'll be adding more once I get back to Michigan....or maybe I'll add some "tourist shots" of my long-awaited trip to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. Whew....talk about going from one temperature extreme to
another!
By the way, I WILL be returning to Shishmaref in August to teach another year. I will be in third grade next fall and in the "big" school. I'm sure I'll have lots more to share then.
Take care...I'll be back...soon....because I have some interesting pictures to share of springtime in Shishmaref!
