So...It's been a while, eh? Sorry about that. I haven't really been super busy, just not very productive. I think my brain has been recovering from over-exertion from the first 2 weeks. I'm happy to say, however, that I do believe I am getting better. I'm figuring out what makes my students tick a little bit. Teaching is still a huge challenge, but it's getting better. I'm beginning to accept some things that "just are" and am figuring out how to work within the constraints that I have. But I'm getting more time for myself. I still often stay up late doing work (not as late), but it's been because I haven't been as productive. And am multi-tasking while doing work, so I haven't been as effective in my planning. But the planning has been a lot less stressful. Which is good. Dorothy and I are still having our daily "homework parties" but they're getting more enjoyable, and shorter. And I'm getting a handle on my curriculum materials. I don't think I'm going to be able to teach quite the way I'd like, but I think the students up here need a different style of teaching that how I would prefer to. At least for right now. There are a lot of behavioral/social learning that they need to do before the academic stuff can be very valuable.
Anyways....I met state mentor this past week. She was super friendly and nice and supportive. She's going to be at the school once a month, and we're supposed to talk every week. We'll see how that talking thing goes. I've already got a handful of people that I'm supposed to talk to regularly, and that's too much right now. So, we'll see. I had her come into my "bad" class to offer some support, and of course they have the best day so far. The one time I want them to be a pain so that I can get some advice on how to deal w/ it, and they decide to be quiet, calm, mellow, and generally well-behaved. Go figure...
On that note, it was a pretty good week this week. Monday was a little rough, but after that things went pretty smoothly. Far from ideal or perfect, but if every week goes like this one, things will be OK.
So, let's get on with some firsts...I had my first "F***k You" from a student in my second week. I held him after school for being "naughty" (as they say) and called his parents, and he got a little upset. It was only going to be for 10 minutes, but turned into 25 or so because of that little comment, mainly because he didn't want to apologize. Students get angry quite easily up here, and don't handle it the best. The odd thing was that it didn't ruin my day. It was actually a decent day and I was happy to have one at that point. I don't think it's happened since. I've had students express their displeasure with me (I think I've been called "stupid" and have had them say they don't like me), but I don't think they've sworn at me since (not in English, anyway. Who knows what they've said in Yup'ik...). So that was interesting. Like I said, there are a lot of behavioral/social issues to iron out...
Another first was trying some moose meat. At least the kind I tried. I think I had a moose burger in Canada this spring, courtesy of Johnny, but I had forgotten that when I tried the moose this time around. One of my students had been gone a few days during the week for moose hunting, and Dorothy and I ran into him when we were going to one of the little stores in the village. I asked if he got a moose, he said yes. I asked if we could see it and he said yes again. So we went over to his house (actually his grandmother's house). On a tarp in the middle of the kitchen there was a skinned moose head. The skin was in a pile next to it, and all the meat from the head was in a big bowl, also on the floor. It was pretty interesting. So, Dorothy and I snapped a few photos (on facebook - I'll try to get some pictures on here) of it, and his family invited us to try some it. They were boiling some of the bones and it would only be a few more minutes. So, we hung around. When they pulled the bones out of the pot (they boiled it w/ onions and rice, I do believe), I learned exactly what we were going to be eating: Marrow & Joint Cartilage (and a little of the meat that was left on the bones). I was a little nervous about how the marrow and cartilage would taste. However, it was all pretty good. It actually reminded me of dumplings (both the marrow and cartilage). The cartilage was a bit chewy, but it didn't have a terrible texture. The marrow was really smooth and creamy. It was actually quite pleasant feeling. As far as the actual meat went, it tasted a lot like pot roast. So that was a good little experience. We even got invited to party the next day, but we couldn't make it. And they said they'd send a chunk of the meat over our way, but that hasn't showed up yet. I'm hoping it does.
I also got to skin my first beaver (no giggling in the back, there!). For whatever reason, one of the guys from the village brought Tim a beaver (he uses them as bait on his rather extensive trap line). He doesn't particularly like skinning them, and I wanted to learn, so I volunteered. He happily accepted to teach me. So, in my Arctic Entryway we laid down some cardboard, plopped the beaver on it, and he walked me through the process of skinning a beaver. It really wasn't too difficult (I would have totally botched it w/o his guidance, and still need A LOT of practice), but I didn't put any holes in the hide, and learned a little something new (it was also a lot better than my attempts at filleting fish - I'm terrible at it...). There were a couple girls that hung around and watched and offered some advice. And Cindy came to check it out and take some pictures (again, there are some pictures on facebook, and I'll try to get some up here). So, once it was all skinned, I cut off a couple chunks of meat (Tim doesn't like it much, but I want to give it a try) to eat. And Tim is letting me keep the pelt. He's got to get all of his equipment for stretching it and fleshing it out, but once he does he's going to show me how to do all that. Then I'll send it off to get tanned, and have myself a beaver pelt! It'll be nice when I'm able to get the pelt off an animal I actually killed, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Right now the hide is just sitting in my freezer.
And Cindy bought a boat. There were a few issues w/ it, but those got fixed yesterday, and she, Dorothy, and I went out for a very brief little boat ride. Our first "adventure" w/o the guidance of someone who actually knows what they're doing! It was really nice. I got to do a little bit of driving (it has tiller-steering, which I haven't done since sailing school about 10 years) which took a little getting used to. But the boat is gonna be fun. Give us newbs a chance to get out a little on our own (it also give us plenty of opportunity to get lost, break down, and just generally run into back luck).
What else.........oh yes. I do believe that I'm going to do my first ever hunting this weekend (possibly even today!). Bird season just opened up this weekend, and Tim has been itching to go get some birds, and we decided that this weekend we're definitely going this weekend. So, hopefully by the end of the day (and certainly by the end of the weekend), I'll be a bona fide killer! And I'll have some more food in the freezer (to go w/ my fish). So that's pretty exciting, I think. This all assuming that I can actually hit anything...which might be assuming a lot.
I looked up some fish recipes last night. So I can experiment w/ some ways to cook up some tasty salmon and whitefish :)
I also bought an X-Box controller to so I can play games w/ Tim and his kids. That should be fun. Anyways...I think it's time to (try) shoot some birds. Wish me luck! Have a good day, thanks for tuning in, and God Bless!
P.S. Hunting was a lot of fun. I was able to shoot 5 ducks (3 wigeons, 1 mallard, and 1 pocket duck). Tim and son picked up another 5. I don't know about them so much, but I certainly shot at a lot more than 5, but I'm pretty happy with how everything went. I missed a couple of really easy shots, which I would like to use a mulligan on, but whatever. Spent a handful of hours walking on the tundra, trying not to get stuck in mud, wading across rivers/streams/sloughs/creeks, and looking for birds to shoot. I actually got pretty soaked. I shot the mallard and it fell right in the middle of the river and just kept floating there, not getting any closer to the bank (more specifically, MY bank). So I walked along the river bank for a while hoping it would start drifting toward me. It didn't. So I waded in. The river was a little deep and I took about 1 too many steps toward the middle and got my chest waders flooded. But, I was able to use a stick to pull my duck to me. So it was all good. Anyways, just thought I'd give that little update, although I don't think any of you have even read this yet, since I haven't made an announcement on facebook. But I'm doing it right now. Take care!
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