Once again, we're sorry it has taken us a month to update our blog. As the year is coming to a close, we have become drastically more busy with life here in Mountain Village. A couple of weeks ago we saw a change in the weather. We went from being below zero to being in the 20's! The snow started to melt and soon we were being exposed to the dirt road and mud! We put our snow machine away and got out our Honda. Instead of going to bed to the sounds of revving snow machines, we go to sleep with the much quieter sound of Honda's cruising by.
I'm not sure if I mentioned in out last post that we got to go to Mt. Kulzivak, which is about thirty miles away. Some of our closest friends here (the Long family) let us tag along. I have SO much appreciation for the Long family. Nuka (Natalia) has been one of my closest friends here in Mountain Village. Her mom whom I've become close with as well is my classroom aide. She is like my adopted mother. She tells me when I need to dress warmer, she has made me warm socks, an adorable headband, and shared a lot of native food with us. She makes the BEST fish strips! Anyway, we went to Mt. Kulzivak to go manaqing. (ice fishing) We left around noon and arrived home around 10:00 while it was STILL light outside. I caught three pike and Ben caught two. There were several people from other villages who were fishing at this beautiful spot. Everyone there was in good spirits and having fun on such a beautiful day. In fact, I got a sun burn on my face!
One hard part about being here in the fall and spring is the light/darkness. Right now it is staying light out until around midnight. It is VERY difficult to get your body to wind down to go to sleep at night when you have warm light beams coming through your window! I haven't seen darkness in a couple of weeks. I remember last year when we came back to the Midwest and it was dark, we kind of looked at each other and thought, what is this? The extended daylight hours effects us much more than the extended darkness in the winter. It also effects the kiddos that I teach. Kids aren't getting to bed early, in fact most of them stay up later than I do and I go to bed around 11! With less sleep comes more behavior problems and crabby little children. The biggest challenge about teaching here is probably dealing with the behavior of our students. Ben's kids are much different than mine, but in some ways they are the same. This year I have been punched, kicked, and cussed at by students of mine. (Yes five and six year olds!) It is hard to blame the child as we don't know what they live through at home. We don't know what they are going through or the things that they have to see. I treat each day as a new day and greet my kids with the love that God has called me to love them with.
Ben and I just discussed what we are most excited for about coming home. I will list my top five and his as well.
Anne's Top Five:
1. Seeing our families.
2. My sister having her baby.
3. Seeing green grass.
4. Cheaper prices on produce.
5. Eating out.
Ben's Top Five:
1. Family
2. Working on projects.
3. Cooking/Grilling
4. Sleeping in every day.
5. Driving White Lightning.
I hope to blog one more time before we leave, but I can't make any guarantees. This is what our next three weeks looks like:
Headstart kids transitioning to Kindergarten.
8th Grade Promotion
Middle School/High School Prom
Senior Dinner
Graduation
Awards Night
Thanks for reading!
