September Events

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but things here have been crazy.  This is my first weekend home in a while, but I have some great pics to share.  

Before all the traveling, we had a really nice day and after school about 20 kids and 4 or 5 teachers climbed the mountain together.  

This is a crazy kid climbing some rocks on top the mountain.

Here I am on top the mountain:

This is Puffin and that is Russia behind her - I think think this would be a nice Christmas card:

Puffin checking out the view:

Here is Gambell from the top - 

This is the lake, runway and then the ocean - how beautiful:

I try to take Sundays off from school and go out with Puffin.  I can't take her to school with me this year so I try and give her a little more attention on the weekends.  A few Sunday's ago Puffin and I walked up to North Beach about 2 miles from our place and played catch.  We were at the base of the mountain and I was hoping to see some cool birds, but it must have been too windy or the birds were just sleeping.  

This is North Beach:

On our walk there, we passed by these:

Why can Gambell (which currently has no water) have windmills, but the Cape can't figure it out? hmmm.....

I went to a village in the district for a "cultural weekend" and learned that living on Gambell has exposed me to more culture than I was appreciating.  Also, the weekend let some of the teachers bond and act like fun idiots :)  The village we visited was Shaktolic and was amazingly beautiful and the people were unbelievably friendly!  

This is the village as we were landing.  They have trees, mountains, lakes, and the ocean!

This is main st:

Megan, Me, and Natalie are all bundled up and ready to go.  That is a Blue Fox Ruff that I am wearing I was the only one that stayed warm!  

Here is Tyler and Megan on the Honda before our big adventure:

Superman:

Amy, my roommate, (the one from Shewsbury) and I:

This crater is over 2000 years old and was the site of the first Shatltolic residents:

Group shot of new teachers:

We met some very friendly natives that invite Amy, Megan, and I over for tea.  This is some drift wood they have collected.   The growths on the wood are called "burls", I thought it looked really cool.  They were a very interesting couple.  The husband has run the Iditorod 3 times, raised sled dogs and herded reindeer.  The wife collects a lot of artifacts.  This baskets is a berry picking bucket made of bark, leather, and ivory.

I even found a Purple house for Aunt Grace:

There were some crazy jellyfish washed up on the beach.  Here are a few:

Here is a jellyfish and a sea sponge:

Tyler is showing me it is a real sponge because he can wring it out.

A kid we were hanging out with found this sand dollar for me on the beach.

Here are some sleepy heads on the trip home:

Final Group Shot: