The Time Just Gets Away...

It's already Wednesday, and I thought I was keeping on top of this thing. We had a couple of days without internet. We have our own network in the building, and we were generously (if I must brag on us) sharing with some visitors that we have had lately. Unfortunately, the high school teacher that was visiting from Fairbanks, apparently used to unlimited service, shared our password with his four students. Needless to say, we reached our limit before the end of the billing cycle. So, we shut off the wi-fi for a couple of days.

I am actually blogging at school, just killing a little time while my kids have some after-school free time on their computers. I can do this here as well, but I lost track of the days.

We are in the midst of more mandated testing, this time computer-based. It tends to work best with machines that are updated frequently. Ours are a little behind. For that, and other reasons, we had some issues with applications that crashed in the middle of a test. It got a little hectic there for a while. I will not miss juggling some of the tech issues.

In other news, the weather is warm again, and the slough had moving ice in it last night. That has come to a halt as of this morning. A check of the ice condition information available doesn't shed much light on the overall condition of the river. It is interesting that less than three weeks ago, I was able to drive my car on the river, albeit for the last time. The vehicle is now for sale...

Three weeks from today, my teaching career is done out here, at least for now. Both of us are excited about returning to friends and family, but we have friends and family here, too. I sense some reluctance, and I suspect that we have been a little lax about getting things organized for our departure. There is no avoidance, however, and we shall have to begin preparations in earnest. The big push will come this weekend...

Sunday Updates...

The baby got a trip to church and a walk, and is now napping. I got my lesson plans finished in my chilly classroom, and I am now sitting in the sunshine warming up. My father-in-law is packing for his epic overnight return voyage. My wife is making a cake for the vigil for our elder who has passed on. Just a spring Sunday. It's warm, and has been pretty consistently lately.

We found a hidden note that our wonderful babysitter had left for us in the junk drawer from back in March. She thanked us for our confidence in letting her watch Alice, and in opening our home to her. Very sweet, and it choked both of us up a little bit. We will miss her very much.

Rest and Recovery...

Yesterday was a day of much sleep and rest. Cultural week, with the dance festival every night, was exhausting. I didn't get home from work until 11 PM or so each night, and I walked in the last night at 11:57. I could barely keep my eyes open Friday afternoon while attempting to write lesson plans. My wife was busting it in the kitchen, working on a feast of staggering proportions for the community. All in a good effort. I thought the week went wonderfully, and that the event was enjoyed by all.

Yesterday was time to catch up on a number of fronts. I did laundry all day. I lost track of the number of loads. We usually wash twice a week. It did get done, and I just have a little bit to put away.

Speaking of Little Bit, as we call her, she did not want to go down for a nap for some reason yesterday. It took one trip to the play deck and the gym, and then a walk, before she finally fell asleep, at three in the afternoon. We obligingly joined her. There were sleeping bodies scattered around the house.

The long-term effect of this was that we ended up walking the same baby around the village at 11 PM last night. My wife went off to steam with one of the Matushkas (priest's wife), and I put Miss Bit to sleep after her bath at about midnight. Craziness. It is hard to get to bed when it is still light out.

We all slept soundly, and are preparing for a walk, and perhaps a visit to church, with my wife's dad. One of our village elders passed on last evening, and I suspect that we will visit the vigil at his house some time later. We need to do lesson plans, but they just seem like less of a priority today...

Pure Crazy Today...

We have had a couple of hours of time between the end of the official school day and the beginning of dancing in the evenings. Not today...there is a big community feast scheduled to begin at about 5 pm. The school day goes until 4:30. Figure set-up time, and there goes that bit of respite. Dancing has been going until about 11.  I suspect that it might be later tonight.

Having said that, this is a lot of fun. Lots of high spirits and fun, especially in the evenings. So far, I would call it a success. One more grind day, and we will be through to the weekend. I look around the room and see one or two sleepy faces. Who has more endurance, the old man, or the young kids? Stay tuned...

Hanging With The Ladies...

Today, I am in my wife's classroom again, only now some of the girls are in here. The boys had been here, getting set up for the photo part of their storytelling project, but they have departed for the great outdoors. Some girls have mover out of the adjacent classroom, because it was oppressively warm in there.

We are in the second day of the cultural week/district dance festival. Things seem to be running fairly smoothly, thanks to the effort of a lot of different people. We had dancing last night until 11 pm, and I judge it to have been a hit. More of the same tonight, with a different order among the groups. The weather is wonderful for wandering the village, and I know that my father-in-law has been taking Alice for walks in the afternoons. Although I am extremely tired by the end of the evening, this has been fun so far. Tomorrow will be the challenging day, as my experience suggests that kids begin to get a little ragged with their projects at about that point. Then again, it may be no problem at all.

A check of the calendar shows that our school and work year comes to an end four weeks from today. We both continue to react to the reality of our departure. I am just a little concerned that we may be avoiding some of the packing-related activities that we need to complete, because of our reluctance to acknowledge the end of our time out here, at least for now. We still have a lot to get done.

But now, we are enjoying this short burst of crazy for as long as it lasts, and I think that is the way that it should happen. A slow and pleasant farewell seems like an excellent idea...

Back To The Grind...

I am sitting with a fairly large group of 7th-12th grade boys in my wife's classroom. Jack Dalton, who helped us make a lovely little movie two years ago, is running a writing exercise about Yup'ik dance. I just went down to fetch a large cup of coffee when I realized that I was falling asleep in this chair. This session will last until 4:30, but my check of the evening's schedule revealed that we will be going until 10:30 tonight. I hope to get home for a couple of hours of rest and maybe a bite of dinner, and a kiss from the baby. The next three nights promise to be the same.

This would be an exercise in endurance in any case. The baby got the two of us up at 3:00 am, for reasons best known to her. So, I am definitely running on fumes here. Ergo, the coffee. It is not my usual beverage at 3:55 in the afternoon.

We have been invaded for the district dance festival, which will run through Thursday night. Things have run smoothly enough for the first day. It has consisted, in large part, of groups of students coming into our building in waves. I am helping in the carving room, in which groups of boys are making something out of antler and bone. The task has been relatively simple thus far, but the logistics will get more complex tomorrow with larger groups of boys to shepherd.

I will be interested to watch the performances tonight and on the following evenings.  And now, that the coffee is beginning to revive me, I might just make it. This might be fun...

A Perfect Sunday...And A Day Off!

Yesterday morning began late, and sleepy, at least for me. I was awakened by a smiling 13-month old, who is very happy to be walking. She loves to walk everywhere, and can get fussy in the stroller, even if we want her there for some reason or another.

My father-in-law spent the evening in Bethel, because we believed that we needed to fly him across the river. As it turns out, there were people taking trips back and forth from here on snow machines or four-wheelers. It appears that the ice has lifted, and that some of the water that had been previously present was not an issue, at least not on Saturday.

I think that it was likely for the best, as he got the chance to sleep off part of his jet lag instead of getting hauled off to midnight church services. We set it up for him to fly across on Sunday, on a chartered flight from one of the local air services. He got a chance to meet some friends of ours, and to take a stroll around the AC store and marvel at Bethel grocery prices.

We spent the Sunday taking a stroll around the village, and having a very nice Easter dinner. As a bonus, we had today off from school.

Because of this, the first thing that we did after breakfast was to take Alice to the school, so that she could play in the gym. She loves to walk around and kick a ball. We then took my father-in-law on a tour of the village store, and a walk down to the river. We also ran into Joe on the way, and he invited the two of us to steam tonight. Time to prepare the steam bag!