Happy Birthday!!

Well...my baby turned 1 today!! She got some wonderful toys and had a great time tearing them apart. John also got her the cutest hoddie ever, and she looks so happy wearing it! We had a birthday diner of chicken and rice, but Puffin was so excited about digging the squeaker out of her now toy she let the rice wait. No worries she devoured the chicken, but left the rice until her toy was sufficiently destroyed.







Before -


After -





Other than Puffin's B-day nothing much is going on here. The weather is changing here and it is getting a bit colder, but that is what long john's are for, right?

Also THANK YOU all very much for the care packages. They are the highlight of my week - it is sooooo great to get them and the food really wonderful! The lady at the post office always comments how much my family must love me and I just "Yes, they do!"

Random Happenings in New Stu

So mostly I have been berry picking on my time off from work. Little village kids love to "visit" with me. Maybe it is just the Somerville in me, but there is no reason for 5 little 10 year olds to be at my apartment! Instead, I put them to work and make them help me berry pick! So my hands are all stained from the blue berries. I found some high bush cranberries. They were fun because I have to reach up to get them like apple picking! The leaves are changing here and it is really pretty...not quite as nice as home, but really pretty.








Puffin had a really great time running around on our hike. Here se is practically getting lost in all the space. Some birds (maybe Ospree) tried to get her. They were flying around her and diving at her so I threw rocks at them!!





Here is Puffin being a little bear and eatting berries right off the vines.





Also, this week was spirit week here at school - it was great!! One day was swtich day, where the boys dressed as girls and the girls dressed as boys. Also, we had charator day. Two other teachers and I dressed as the three blind mice.

OMG - I SKINNED A CARABOU

OMG - I really skinned a Carabou last night!! A teacher got one (so he went out hunting and SHOT and killed it). I was AMAZED. I kept saying so this was really alive a few hours ago?!?!

A bunch of my boy students went over to his house to help cut up the meat too. One of them cut himself, not bad but he is a boy! So anyway - he was my paparatzi! I put him to work photographing this adventure for me.

 

FINALLY

So I finally got the Internet at home today...hopefully this will let me blog more b/c I know how much you LOVE reading about me :)

Today after school I went to go visit a girl's parents b/c the girl has been cutting one of classes. She is rediculous - she comes to my morning class and cuts the afternoon one...duh - Like I am not going to notice.  Anyway I came home after school to drop off my book bag for the hike up to the girl's hut and Puffin was VERY angry that I left her behind. She not only unmade my bed, but also tore ALL the covers off! This is what I came home to:

Everyone in the village has a nickname. For example, I teach a girl Tiny and a boy Chubs (who I guess was a very chubby little kid, but is now VERY thin!) so my nickname is Dora (as in Dora the explorer) b/c I am always wearing my backpack. The women who gave me the name always sing me the backpack song!

Also, I got (am borrowing) a VHF radio (yes, I am in NH)! Since I don't have a phone here the princlpal let me borrow this radio so I could contact someone if I needed something and so I could know what was going on in the village. I thought the company would be good for Puffin - You know some noise while I am at work, but she FLIPS out at the radio. She thinks someone is in the house - man it is wicked funny!! For real though, I am in Wisky Tango NH - people even have GUN racks on their "Hondas" (aka - 4-wheeler). They all call them Hondas b/c I guess that is the most common brand, but it is funny that people even call a kawaski a "Honda"!

Apartment

School has been going really well. I love the students and my classes are going great! Shopping in the store is a bit PRICEY!! For example, Sugar is $8.89 a bag, eggs are $4.00 a dozen, and cabot cheese is $13.00 a pound. Good thing I am only one person and Nana taught we well - I freeze EVERYTHING!! I have also been berrypicking a bunch so I am "putting berries up" - that means freezing them for the winter :)

So, I figured that I should probably show you guys some picutures of my apartment. I thought you might get a kick out this - I know you love wood panneling!

This is my kitchen:


This is my livingroom. Notice the lovely coffee table (a.k.a. kitchen chair). Puffin LOVES her chair and she is loving her blanket. That is where is sleeps all day.


This is my bathroom. Last weekend my washing machine broke and flooded my bathroom - oh the excitement!




This is my shine to Revere beach. John sent me the sand, flipflops, and tanktop. He said that when I get homesick I can crank up the heat and spread out the sand on a towel and pretend I am sitting at Kelly's!



This is the second bedroom with some great bunk beds!


This is what I really use my second bedroom for!



This is my bedroom - again do you like the nightstand (a.k.a kitchen chair).


This is my shared porch. I basicly live in 1/2 of a double wide.


This is my apartment.


It was so nice out the night I took these pics I was wearing flipflops!

B-Day!

Sooooo this year my B-day was vastly different than last year - And I LOVED it :)

On Friday, I went fishing for the first time. It was NOTHING like fishing in the Mystic!! HAHA I caught nothing though, but the people I was with caught a bunch and they shared with me :) I have to "put up fish" for the winter my friend Jeff says. "Putting up fish" consists of catching and "clubbing" (knocking it with a rock or piece of wood until it is dead) then cutting out the guts and stuff...Can you see me doing ANY of this...hahaha. I think I might starve this winter! No - I will be FINE. Everyone here is sooo nice and helpful I am sure someone will help me "club" a fish if I ever actually catch one!

This is Carla the English teacher. Her and I shared a pole b/c of course I don't own one!

This is the view up river on our way to go fishing.


This is the view down river on our way home from fishing. Isn't the Sky AMAZING?






We even saw bear prints while we we're fishing!! No worries we had a gun (and someone who actually knew how to use it) with us :o




On Saturday, I did want all good teachers do - LESSON PLANS!! Grrrr - they are NOT fun, but they are actually really helpful to have a plan of where I am going and where I want to end up for the week. So far I am really liking teaching though! My only gripe is I have 6 periods a day and 6 Different classes to prep for and NO prep period! I even have two different classes in the same room sometimes (ie. Pre-Algebra and Pre-Calc) so it can be a bit trying! The kids are really great and I have NO problem with any of them, but they are NOT the homework types. I usually have only one or two kids who actually DO the homework :( Since it is still so light up here at night, they are always out. No one ever goes home so I guess that doesn't really leave in room for HOMEwork! But, I think they will get better...we'll see.

On Sunday, some of the others teachers here in New Stu and I got together and we all had diner. I made macaroni...ever the Italian :) It was really nice. The three girls I went fishing with framed my first "catch"...it was a plastic lure! But it was VERY thoughtful and is hanging on my wall :) After diner, I went out berry picking and got about a gallon of really great blueberries. I eat them in my Cream of Wheat for breakfast. Next month is Cranberry season so I am really looking forward to that.

This is where I went Berry picking...



I also got to talk to my aunt's and my mom and Debbie on Sunday so that was very nice. They were having a cookout in my honar (and John was teasing me about the good steak tips!)...my salmon is good too! hahaha

Other than that I have been Reading a ton! I just finished A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving. It was AWESOME! It is about a kid from NH who thinks God has put him on earth for a special reason. It really was a great book (thanks Debbie!) - I totally recommend it!!

Some Adventures

Hello ALL,

So I have been up to quite a bit, but I am now in Dillingham for training and FINIALLY have Internet!! Puff and I are doing GREAT - we are
really having a great time!! We walk everyday and hang out at the river and read...that is the lump sum of our days (and nights so far).

Here are some pics -

Puffin in the airport- she is my little guard dog and she kept me safe :)















This is the only pic I am posting of my apartment b/c I really don't want to scare/horrify anyone, but doesn't Puff look happy!! She LOVES her blanket and since we go out so much and is the most mellow dog EVER in the house :)















This is the river where Puff and I play and read all day :)














This is my new enemy...GRRRRRRRR...This weed is EVERYWHERE - it is called Fireweed and man it kills me!















These are all in Dilingham (the center of the District).

Here is the Dump in Dillingham. We were looking for Bears, but we only found really BIG sky.














Here I am getting ready to go out on the lake...Aren't I wicked cute :)














Here are some Salmon spawning. It was really awesome they would swim like crazy and then rest for a bit then swim up stream again like CRAZY!!















This is a pic of Max and Whitney at the river where the Salmon where spawning. They are really. Actually everyone here is really great! I am really going to miss them. Whitney is my roomie and we are def getting along GREAT.















All they have up here are BIG, beautiful skies!! Here is just a small sample



























This is Tara hanging out at the dock after our adventure on the Lake all day.















That is all for now, but no worries there will be More to follow soon :)