Monday, April 20, 2009
Spring in Chevak
Last week was Chevak's annual "Cultural Heritage" week. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we did not have regular school, instead the students participated in cultural activities. The middle school and high school students spent the mornings in sessions with Native speakers discussing culture and language. In the afternoons the students were able to choose an activity to participate in. They did basket weaving, fishing, beading, ivory carving, wood carving, and a few other things. I went to the ivory carving. I worked one afternoon on making an ivory ring and a few minutes before school was out I discovered a crack in the ring. I showed it to Pat, the expert on hand, and he just smiled and handed me a new chunk of ivory. So, I worked on it again the next day. I thought it was looking pretty good and I was fairly pleased. I showed it to Pat and he sort of smiled and said, "Do you want me to finish it?" Apparently I was not finished.
The evenings during Cultural Heritage/ Winter Fest are all about eskimo dancing, ya'raq. Wednesday and Thursday nights they began with the Head Start kids and went grade by grade all the way up to high school. This lasts from about 7:00 to midnight. Teachers traditionally dance with their students, so I joined in. I just pick a kid to follow and try to keep up. All those years in Destiny are coming in handy. It is fun to dance with them. Each song tells a story and I really enjoy it when someone can explain to me what the story is about. (My middle schoolers don't know the stories, they just laugh when I ask and say they just dance.)
Just in the last couple weeks I have started to feel like I am connecting with people outside the school. It is hard to get to know the adults, especially when they don't work in the school. Community activities like dancing give me a chance to see people. I am also getting better at figuring out the family units. (Believe me its not easy to master) It has been a good few weeks.
Today it was close to 30 degrees! Thats warm! I am excited when I can downgrade to my ski coat and leave the parka at home. Actually, this afternoon all the teachers and teacher kids were outside sledding off of the teacher housing roof. We were all out without coats. Is amazing how much you acclimate. 25 is like Hawaii. It is supposed to get to 40 this week. It should be interesting to witness the melting. There is so much snow! We are going to have a mess! It is also staying light much later now. I am writing this at 10:45 and it is still completely light outside. Its strange, but a nice change from the darkness of winter.
We have 4 weeks of school left. I can hardly believe this year is coming to an end. But like any teacher, I am counting down the days and looking forward to the summer!
Happy Spring!
The evenings during Cultural Heritage/ Winter Fest are all about eskimo dancing, ya'raq. Wednesday and Thursday nights they began with the Head Start kids and went grade by grade all the way up to high school. This lasts from about 7:00 to midnight. Teachers traditionally dance with their students, so I joined in. I just pick a kid to follow and try to keep up. All those years in Destiny are coming in handy. It is fun to dance with them. Each song tells a story and I really enjoy it when someone can explain to me what the story is about. (My middle schoolers don't know the stories, they just laugh when I ask and say they just dance.)
Just in the last couple weeks I have started to feel like I am connecting with people outside the school. It is hard to get to know the adults, especially when they don't work in the school. Community activities like dancing give me a chance to see people. I am also getting better at figuring out the family units. (Believe me its not easy to master) It has been a good few weeks.
Today it was close to 30 degrees! Thats warm! I am excited when I can downgrade to my ski coat and leave the parka at home. Actually, this afternoon all the teachers and teacher kids were outside sledding off of the teacher housing roof. We were all out without coats. Is amazing how much you acclimate. 25 is like Hawaii. It is supposed to get to 40 this week. It should be interesting to witness the melting. There is so much snow! We are going to have a mess! It is also staying light much later now. I am writing this at 10:45 and it is still completely light outside. Its strange, but a nice change from the darkness of winter.
We have 4 weeks of school left. I can hardly believe this year is coming to an end. But like any teacher, I am counting down the days and looking forward to the summer!
Happy Spring!
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