Fish

So I have received another fish..again not gutted....I took a look at the fish and said "umm..I think I need someone to help me with this." good thing, as this fish isn't taken care of the same way as the first one. :) Thank goodness Joann and Lucy were able to come to the rescue.



Joann came over and asked if I had cardboard, we took out a box, spread it out on the floor, and Joann says "okay you're going to do this" we tried using a knife but it just didn't work the same way as the ulu. First, you have to scale the fish, and then cut the head off, and then cut down the middle to remove the guts.

I keep acquiring these fish and am very thankful for the meat, will have to master the skill of cleaning and cooking them though :) As Maat would say...I'm on my way to becoming an "Eskimo Woman". The fish was very slimy. :P All in all it wasn't bad, it was...an adventure :D

Yuck!! first time, I've seen fish eggs up close, they are so tiny. Joann laughed at me as I tried to clean the fish using a spoon--Need to stop being a pansy and just get dirty. :)

Russian Orthodox Church

This is the old Russian Orthodox church; looks a lot bigger on the inside. I think it could make someone a cute house if given some attention.

The current church

Russian Orthodox cemetery. In response to numerous questions....during the winter ice picks or similar tools are used to chip through the ice to dig the grave.

Tunt Beauty

Tonight the mix-six high school volleyball team took on the staff. Nice to be out and to mingle with the other staff outside of school. After the games Kat and I headed over to the Hultbergs for a game of Seafarers.--It was an enjoyable evening and attitudes and tempers were more mellow than usual.

Our Friday staff meeting dealt a lot with language. Is it okay to allow students to use Village English? or should they be expected to use standard English? Lots of interesting discussion ensued. Are they able to master standard English when using Village English or their native tongue? If a student is proficient in one language does it make acquisition of a second language easier or is it more confusing to make transitions?

Tuntutuliak woods. This was taken on my favorite path in Tunt....what a gorgeous afternoon.

This picture portrays a bit of the daily life in Tunt. The big green building (the shop) is Nick's classroom, the raised, fenced in area is the basketball court where kids hang out after school. My house is next to the shop and the school is further to the left.

Look at God's artwork; isn't it amazing?

Almost Friday

What a whirlwind week...speech language pathologist was here yesterday and today...she has had a lot of helpful information and been great with the kids; she's been teaching me a lot of new things. :) One of my one on one aides had jury duty this week, it's difficult to find a sub for their positions; it makes for a crazy irregular week. Today marked the completion of the district wide writing assessment. Hard to believe how fast this year is flying by. I've been fighting a migraine since about last Friday; have a lot of work to catch up on as a result.

Tonight Joann was here, she helped make bread and then we went for a nice walk.



Yesterday a barge was here, unloading gas. Tunt purchased their first propane tank this summer and another one came on the barge. The barges are huge, and quite impressive. There should be another headed for Tunt. loaded with our water treatment supplies.

Frank is in hopes of connecting the older teacher housing to the main sewer system when the guys are here to install the water treatment system. Currently he pays to get our sewers pumped once a week. It costs $67 per tank per week.





Weather continues to cool off..today we had more rain (again, nice for the dwindling water tank) the boardwalks are getting slippery around 8:30-9:00 when it cools off.

Ugly Sweater Day :)

A few weeks ago I ordered a cute sweater online....well when it arrived it wasn't nearly as cute as the pictures showed, it is however very soft and very warm.:) I kept telling Kat about the ugly sweater and she asked to see it when she came over last Friday night. I showed her and she says "that's not ugly. Do you want to know why that is not ugly? I ordered the exact same sweater" We had a good laugh :) So today was ugly sweater day. Now we have matching qaspeqs and matching sweaters. Great minds think alike.


After taking the picture of the matching sweaters, one of my gems wanted to take a picture "Me Too!! Me Too!"

The first frost appeared in Tunt this morning. The days are getting cooler, and nights are quite chilly, almost cold enough to think about digging out the winter coat. Rocky has earned the title of stinkiest kussaq dog the last two days. Last night while Kat and I were on our walk, he rolled in something NASTY. Whenever he ran within five feet of us we had to cover our noses; the stench was awful. His fur is caked, looks like he put gel in it. YUCK! He was going to sleep outside last night but is way to spoiled and barked until I let him in. He is banned from most of the house until he has a bath.

Travis is getting more courageous with his radio...called a bit ago to see if I was listening (wasn't, oops). I turned the radio on, and now he's chatting (first time he's used the mic)...."Well might have at least one person listening...Marie are you there? Are you there? Gonna play a song for Marie, gotta find a good song...still looking...looking..looking....all right marie found your song, it's up next..man this song is long...okay,okay marie here's your song..happy birthday, last week was marie's birthday..she turned about..how old were you marie about 45? LOL, sounds almost like he's singing along...no idea what the music is but it's not bad :) "alright, got my new toy going, now you can hear me. this one's for nick, this is nick's song" okay, enough of the radio programming in Tunt.

I'm finding all this radio stuff rather amusing. :) hope you enjoyed the commentary.

Have a great day

Tunt happenings

This weekend there were district church meetings held in town for the Moravian church. This afternoon there will be a sale at the community hall for the Russian Orthodox church. I baked some things for a bake sale last year and then attended the sale. It was a very unique experience--will try to attend another bake sale this year, maybe get some pictures. The sale this afternoon might be more of a craft sale..homemade wooden spoons etc. I may go to try and purchase some Christmas gifts.

Tunt near the airport 9/21/06

Last night found us at Jason and Kimberly's house playing games. It's so interesting to see how dynamics change with just two new teachers. It's different not having Ryan, Katy and David around. Ryan and Katy-always sweet and encouraging and two steps ahead in thinking about others--glad to hear they seem to be doing well in OR. Miss David's sense of humor and sarcasm. We (nick,dana, kat, kimberly and jason) chit chatted, had snacks and played kat's new game.

I've been shopping for plane tickets to return after Christmas and for a trip to Juneau over Thanksgiving. PFD fares are out. This means that Alaska Air drops their prices for about 6 weeks so that people who get their dividend checks will purchase sale priced tickets.

Last week Prism Optical people were here to check eyes and the people from the village could order contacts or glasses. Most people who visit stay in the school overnight as there isn't a hotel. :) We have mattresses upstairs for people to use and visitors can buy the school lunches as we don't have a restaurant.


The weather here remains cloudy and rainy and yesterday was chilly. It was dark, dark at 9:30 last night.

A Virtuous Wife

My cousin sent me a study in an email and I was challenged by it. Before you read her study I have a some words I'd like to share. Many women are in the same shoes as I am right now. Longing to be in a relationship (or running from one), longing for the right person, looking into our hearts to see who we really are, refining who we are, reminding ourselves of the person we should be and our roles in a relationship. What qualities do we want in a future spouse? Why do these characteristics jump out? Why are they important? Often we forget that we are to be the bride of Christ and that our relationship with Him should be first and foremost in our lives. It is easy to put worldly relationships and worldly possessions before the relationship with our heavenly groom. Our Heavenly Father longs to be loved by us in the same way we long to be loved by someone else. Beth, my cousin, took the passage from Proverbs 31 and looked at it as being The Bride of Christ. She introduced the following document with this statement: "This passage is no longer a guide for finding the perfect woman to live with, nor is it a "how to" guide for women in becoming every man's dream. It's God's love letter to us, modeling and challenging us (men & women alike) to become His dream." One more thing: Remember you are beautiful inside, your inner beauty radiates out. God made you in His image you are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Gen. and Ps. 39) "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment..instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." ~1 Peter 3:3-4

May you be challenged and encouraged as you read this.

September 20, 2006
Elizabeth Burkholder

Preparing as the Bride of Christ
Will I be a “virtuous wife”?
a unique study of Proverbs 31:10-31

10 Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.

Do I sense my great worth as the King’s bride?

11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.

Can God trust me for gain in His kingdom?

12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

Am I always “good” to God? ever “evil” to God?nt>

13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.

What are the wool & flax of my calling? Do I actively seek out the materials & environment necessary to fulfill the duties of my calling? Am I willingly working in my calling?

14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.

Do I go to great lengths to feed my soul?

15 She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.

Do I awake early just to prepare to provide for His sheep? Do I remember to serve & thank those serving around & under me?


16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.

Do I weigh my decisions, then walk confidently in them? Do I follow up on the fruits of my labor to ensure their profits also?

17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.

Do I do my part to stay strong for tasks ahead… spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially?

18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.

Do I value the gift of salvation I preach? Do I keep the flame of faith burning?

19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.

Do I reach out my hands at opportunity to serve?

20 She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

How am I serving the needy?

21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

Are the Family members under my care ready for the storms of life?

22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Am I clothing myself with Christ for the approaching wedding day?

23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.

Am I spreading the Groom (Christ)’s fame?

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.

Am I helping to clothe others for the wedding day?

25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.

Am I wearing strength and honor? Is that what others see?

26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

Does my mouth speak wisdom & kindness?

27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Am I actively involved in the lives of other believers: watching and stepping-in to speak wisdom as God shows me?

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:

Do my spiritual offspring see that I am blessed?

29 “ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”

Am I running the race to bring my best to Jesus?

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

Do I fear the Lord, recognizing that true beauty lies within?

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Do I sense the freedom that God has given me to serve Him with my gifts?

Who Me??

Someone gave me these pics today :)
















Who me?? Sweet and Innocent!! :)--(hehe)

The Mischievous Duo-- Winter 2005

Angniq anutiiq! (Happy Birthday)

My card from Kat and Iain

Thank You for all the birthday greetings. It has been a great day.

My Present from Travis--Tundra style wrapping paper :)

Most embarrasing/sweet thing today was Maat (Martina)--I walked into the cafeteria after my lunch break at 12:15 all the kids grades 3-12 turned and looked at me and started to sing Happy Birthday. Very sweet Maat; totally unexpected :)


My Cake: Maat and Sylvia planned last night during a steam...Sylvia walked in with Cake and Maat walked in with Jello. Maat says "I knew no else would make you a cake"

My new Ipod arrived today, I've spent time this evening playing and figuring out how it all works. :) I also received a HUGE bag of blackberries and a smaller bag of smoked fish strips as a birthday gift. Thanks to Everyone for a GREAT day :D

The card Kat's kids made

Today was crazy..and my routine was... well...far from normal. One of my kids who occupies a great portion of my time was sent home yesterday with a fever and flu like symptoms. Today I walked a student home that had pink eye, not just in one eye like yesterday but in both eyes. Needless to say half an hour later the student was back in school.

No baking was done today, I had two aides who needed jobs and a pretty free afternoon....Our classroom is very well stocked with TONS of stuff from the DO (district office) all of it is nice and useful but adds a lot of clutter to the room. So I had my aids start pulling stuff out this morning and cleaning cupboards. They did an awesome job, cupboards look much better and I have things that will be useful that I hadn't ever seen. We had boxes of stuff stored up on top of our cupboards and were able to find a home for much of that stuff. We decided we were done for the day a little after four. I have two incredible one on one aides, they are very helpful, listen when I tell them what needs to be done, and know how to brighten one's day. Sometimes they know me too well--and can come up with something out of the blue that embarrasses me beyond belief..oh well, guess it's part of life huh? :)

I received another fish today, this one is a white fish and is much smaller than the salmon. It came fully gutted; thank goodness. :) By the time I leave here I should have perfected the skill of fish cooking. It'd be fun to learn how to cut fish as well.
Speaking of cutting things...in Alaska many people use what they call an Uluaq (sorry, may be spelled incorrectly). They are called an ulu for short. Last year I purchased one from a friend. I was hesitant because of the cost, but have learned to really like it. It works great for chopping nuts and vegetables. Our school cook uses one for chopping up tomatoes, or meat all the time.

My Ulu--If you turn the Ulu upside down you will notice that it is shaped
like a walrus.

Random Ramblings

Will try to keep people updated more frequently on the happenings of life in Tunt. and hey...if you get bored you don't have to read them :)

This week has been long and it's only Tuesday..weekends seem to fly by, not quite sure where they go. A lot has happened in the last few weeks...the rain continues and so my tank is still full--it's nice to have such beautiful water to brush teeth, take showers, and even wash dishes with. Between head lice, vomiting kids, pee on the floor and possible pink eye I sometimes wonder why I signed up for this gig. I jokes...I love my job and the kids and staff I have the opportunity to work with. I received one of the biggest compliments yesterday as I was cleaning up the floor.."did__pee on the floor?.....makes me almost want to be a special ed. teacher" Being a Sp Ed teacher (or any teacher) definitely has it's challenges and can be so overwhelming at times but the rewards are so incredible and sometimes come from out of no where. I have learned a lot in the past year, and still have so much to learn...wonder what I'll think when I look back on these first few years ten years from now...

This afternoon I received a phone call..wondering if my dog was in as they were out shooting again. I was thankful I left Rocky in the house today--as we were still on the phone I looked out my classroom window to see two people walking around with rifles. Rocky hates being tied up so I sometimes let him loose, but am concerned he'll be shot--he is not on the best of terms with the VPO.

Enjoy some MN scenery--this was taken while overlooking one of my dad's rye fields
(needed to add some kind of color to this drab page. :) --will get more AK pics soon)

Today found me doing detention duty..I had a classroom of kids, I'm not sure if detention is for the teacher or for the students :)--Boy was it BORING!!--I think it's great to have a detention system in place, and am thankful we only have to do it about once every two and a half weeks. I sent someone to the principals office for the first time this year today, my student was very remorseful and I felt bad about it for awhile. I've some problems with swearing this year from one particular student...as bad as it sounds sometimes I have a hard time not smiling or laughing because of the way the words are said, and sometimes she is so sneaky she just laughs after swearing. I'm not quite sure how to eliminate it--ignoring doesn't help and it's not accecptable language for school....any suggestions??

Kat and I just returned from a nice walk....it's nice to get out of the house after being cooped up with all the rain. I was starting to get cabin fever. :) Hours of daylight have diminished greatly in the short time I've been up here. This morning at 8 the sun was starting to peek out and now at 9:30 it's dusky.

My big investment of the week/birthday present to myself (kinda selfish I know) :) Is an ipod and speakers. The speakers have arrived and the ipod left Anchorage so it should be here any day...can't wait to play with it.

Travis continues to make revisions to his radio and his playlist..he got a bunch of new music in the mail today, has started reading the Monday news, and today had people in the school record little bloops saying...FM100. It is fun to watch him and see how excited he is with the whole thing. :)
well...I'd best go find my sinks, my girls will be coming over tomorrow and they love washing dishes, last week they discovered the spraying hose and thought it great fun. :)

Congratulations Kristen and Sudhir--The wedding pics I have seen are beautiful.

Church

Today Nick, Dana, and I met for the first time this year for church/Bible study. We read a passage from Ezekiel 40-41 that talked all about the new temple. It is amazing to me to read about all the detail and all the dimensions. Detail was given in cubits and handbreaths, if you look a cubit is about 1 1/2 feet and a handbreath 3 inches. Detail was given to the carvings on the walls of the temple...there were palm trees and cherubim--the cherubim had two heads, one like man and one like a lion--I'm curious as to the significance of these things; why were these objects chosen for the carvings? The pattern was palmtree, cerubim, palmtree,etc. Another thing that caught my attention was the use of directions; "the chamber facing south is for the priests who have charge of the temple and the chamber facing north is for priests in charge of the alters." It made me think of other religions who pray in certain directions. When reading my Bible previously the use of directions has never jumped out like that before.

After reading in Ezekiel we read from Psalms 128--which brought up a lot about fearing the Lord and being blessed. After Psalms we continued to Revelation 21. We read about all the splendor of the temple in Ezekial but Revelations talks about Heaven, and it is so mind boggling, so hard to try and even imagine. There was an angel measuring with a rod of gold and walls were approx. 200 ft. thick, the city as mentioned is nearly 1400 miles long, wide and high...can you imagine..that's huge. 12 is a number that comes up a lot..12 jewels, 12 gates that are like 12 pearls..and "the city was pure gold, transparent as glass" (Rev. 21:21)....hmmm...lots of interesting things to ponder :) thought i'd share some of my thoughts.

May you have a blessed week.

Tundra Times

BANG, BANG, BANG! the sound resonated through my little abode. What in the world is going on? I was in the middle of trying to take a nap; what is all the racket? Then I hear "What are you doing?" "What?" "Where are you?" "Under the house?" I decided I needed to do some investigating...I went out on my porch in time to see Nick carrying some boards. Mr. Handyman to the rescue again. Yet again my cable wasn't working, courtesy of the dogs running under the house, Nick wired the cable back together and surrounded it with boards so it is impossible to pull loose. After nearly three weeks I'm able to watch tv again.

We have had a plethora of dogs running through the area lately. One of them bit Rocky's face a few days' ago and snapped at me. They come up on my steps and camp out, have decided it's the honeymoon suite and when the opportunity arises they like to sneak into the house. Nick built a gate at the top of my steps so that I can keep 2 legged and 4 legged creatures out; giving Rocky some extra space and freedom. The 2 legged creatures now have a new game, how can we climb over the gate onto the porch and how noisy can we be. It's kind of amusing to watch them. The novelty of the gate will soon wear off. Yesterday after complaints from people within the school the VPSO and his help, captured and eliminated some of the dogs who had been a problem outside the school.

Rocky

Today I survived the monotony of a Special Ed inservice via the polycom..Travis and I were camped out in the school library all day, watching this and that. Our aides (angels) joined us this afternoon for training and they have three more hours in the morning; I think I'm going to make a nice breakfast to take up to them since they have to sit there.

The high of my day would have to be that it is Friday and that it is pay day. Rent this year is lower than I expected and I have more sick days/personal days than I anticipated. Kat and I may travel to Juneau over Thanksgiving break too bad we can't extend a holiday with our personal days :)

What are blankets for??

Rocky has been such a good little trooper, he isn't fond of being home by himself all day, but is doing very well. He has become very needy, at night when I come home he crashes right next to the couch or next to me on the floor, and whines if he's not receiving constant attention. When I'm in the kitchen he follows me all around.

The best discovery of the week is pandora.com you can search for music that you like and it pulls from artists with similar styles, the music is continuous, with no commercials and it doesn't have to stop every two minutes to buffer.

Weather has been moderately warm, and we have had a steady supply of rain. My water tank is full to the brim, I'm very thankful. The tundra continues to look more and more like fall...with hues of brown and yellow. Commercial fishing has ended and we are at the end of the blackberry season, red berries are starting to appear.

Need to sign off, am going to make a birthday present for my SpEd associate teacher...the sped staff is well represented with birthdays in the first month of school :)

Have a relaxing weekend.

Bethel Inservice

We have returned from our adventure in Bethel. We flew out on Friday afternoon--we weren't supposed to have a charter with one of the little airlines but they forgot, and didn't have us on the schedule...needless to say they lost all school travel business from the school. Josh, our designated school travel agent, called another airline and they got us a charter and were in Tunt within 45 minutes.

This mural is painted on the wall in one of the Bethel Airports

We arrived in Bethel around 3:30--meaning we had a whole afternoon for fun and relaxation. Kat and I checked in at the Hotel and then walked to Corrina's--a great grocery store in Bethel selling lots of food in bulk (kinda like a small Sam's Club) After a fun trip to Corrina's we went to Swanson's another grocery store, we recieved a 15% off coupon... after $100 worth of groceries (each) we were on our merry way :) Swanson's is about a block or a block and a half from the hotel we were staying at Kat and I were too cheap to pay for a cab...I mean $8 for a block, no thanks; but our boxes were a little too heavy to carry all the way back sooo....we borrowed a cart. We decided to push the cart to the Bed and breakfast. Now for those of you who need an education on Bethel...Bethel is very muddy and sloppy during the rainy season, and some of the roads are gravel/sand/clay--Kat and I pushed and pulled the cart through the muck to get our stuff home. A year ago, I probably would have been horrified at the thought of taking a cart, and to be honest I can't quite believe we did it. It was an enjoyable walk and we kept others entertained in the process. :) We returned the cart on our way to play a game with Nick and some other teachers from Kipnuk.

This is inside Hagelands--one of the small Bethel airports

You never know what you might see when you're in Bethel...always something new and exciting. This weekend it was the barges. There are barges that come to deliver goods to Bethel and to the villages. Last year the furniture for new teacher housing was on a barge, this year a new water treatment facility is on a barge and headed for Tunt. Frank (our Site Administrator/principal) is in hopes that it will be done by next year.

The barge...we saw a few barges parked in Bethel; they are massive!

Welcome to Tuntutuliak--This is our airport in Tunt

Hope your day is filled with many smiles. :)

It's been a busy, short week. Tuesday was our only full day of classes. Monday was Labor Day and we had parent teacher conferences Wed and Thursday. Today students will be dismissed at 12:50 so that we can attend a polycom (2 way video) training. 2nd year teachers and site administrators are to fly to Bethel this afternoon for inservice.

Weather has been iffy the last few days; cooler, very windy and lots of rain. Planes were grounded for awhile, and we may get weathered in Tunt today. For those of you who don't know, many things revolve around the two words "Weather Permitting" planes don't fly in inclement weather. This means no mail, and no adventures outside of the village unless you go by boat or snow mobile.

Last weekend one of the younger kids caught two seals, this is very exciting as it was the first time the student caught a seal. I learned that the first time a seal is caught it is cut up traditionally, the fins (or whatever they're called) lay across the front of the seal and where the fin ends they start cutting. They cut from the fins down and share that meat with other people; primarily elders. The meat from the top of the fins up (the head) is the meat the family will keep.

Blueberry picking

A few weeks ago, on a rainy sunday afternoon I went berry picking. I went out with the principal and his family and a few other teachers--we took the principal's boat and went just across the river. Walking on the Tundra is like walking on a big sponge or walking on bogs in the pasture. The tundra is made up of mosses, with short little roots because of permafrost. If you look closely you can see the blueberries. :)