Training in Mountain Village

Anyway, although now it seems like so long ago, on my birthday, all of the new teachers went to Harold’s house for dinner. Harold, as you may recall, is our new principal. Everyone brought something to contribute, and it was just a nice relaxing evening. Unfortunately, NOT a foreshadowing of the next week!

The next day, Monday, was the day we were all flyiing to Mountain Village to continue with new staff Inservice Training. Again, the flight was fine, and I’ve got to tell you, I am loving flying in those 12 seater planes! You feel like you could reach down and touch the landscape, which is really pretty from above. Robin pointed out to me that there are many pairs of swans that live on the land we were flying over, although they appear to be two white specks. Did I mention that Robin married a native she met in the village when she taught here years ago? Well, she and Jerry got married in Kotlik. Just as the ceremony was done, a flock of geese flew overhead which seemed prophetic because geese mate for life. I found out from Robin during that flight that swans mate for life, too.

The Inservice Training was fine, but they certainly crammed one heck of a lot of information into those days! We had a training session Monday afternoon after we arrived, two full days on Wednesday and Thursday from 7 til 5, and another half day on Thursday before flying back to our villages. And then Friday was the first day staff reported to school! Holy Buckets – talk about worn out!

Maybe we wouldn’t have been so tired had it not been for two key elements of those days in Mountain Village. First, we all slept on air mattresses in the school, and Bryn, her daughter Lorna, Maria and I all slept in the kindergarten room. What fun! An air mattress on the floor in the kindergarten for not one, not two, but (count ‘em) three nights! It was fine, though, of course. As long as you approach everything with the attitude that things will turn out unexpectedly, you are just fine working in Bush Alaska! Second, we had some really neat opportunities for things to do while in Mountain Village, and I found myself pushing forward regardless of my fatigue because I didn’t want to miss a thing!

Monday evening, a group of us went hiking along the Yukon River. It seems so surreal to say “hiking along the Yukon River.” I apologize at this point for the lack of pictures, although I will have some to share soon, I hope. The district provides digital cameras for staff, but they were short cameras, so a number of us are still waiting for our cameras. I brought my personal digital camera, but, alas, I neglected to bring the cords to charge it and to download pictures! (Gee, how could I have forgotten anything…) Anyway, it was really beautiful and quite the walk!

Scheduled for the next night was a barbeque and boating on the Yukon River. We didn't end up having a barbeque, but after dinner, Bryn, Lorna and I walked to the store and then down to the river where John Lamont, the superintendent of the district, was taking people out on the river in his fishing boat. And when I say fishing boat, I don't mean a bass boat with all the acoutrements, I mean an old fashioned flat bottomed fishing boat with no seats. He was taking a group over to where the bonfire was. When we got there, he was going to take another group out, and some of us were able to stay on the boat. Given a choice, there isn't much I'd rather do than be out on the water in a boat. So he took us out and drifted a net in two different spots. I helped him pull in the net, and Kara took pictures that she is going to send me that I'll send on to you. Then he went back to the bonfire and dropped off/picked up and took a couple of guys out who wanted to cast. Do you know what I really want to do with you next summer if the opportunity presents? I want to go fishing - not just the lazy throw a line in the water kind, the real kind - where you catch FISH. About 9:00, we came back in. So I was out on the water for about two hours! I had a lot of fun, and just being on water and in nature just made me reflect on things, which was good.

By Wednesday night, I had about had it! We were all dragging – every moment of every day was just packed! That night, there was to be Eskimo dancing and a fiddling at the Community Center. When Robin told me I would have plenty of chances to attend Eskimo dances and fiddlings in Kotlik, I decided not to go. A group of us walked down to the store (gotta have chocolate, you know!), and instead of going straight home, I decided to stop at the Community Center for a half hour. Oh, I know… Take one guess… I got there at 7 and got home at 10:30 – and had a blast! A group of women from the village performed the Eskimo dancing while the musicians played in the background. Then the band played music – guitar, bass, drums, and fiddle. Guess who played the guitar? The Assistant Superintendent of the District, Rich Patton. And let me tell you, they were pretty good! Finally, at about 8:30, I decided to head home. I had my purse on my shoulder and my jacket on when one of the new staffers who is now teaching in another village, Paul, asked me if I wanted to dance. Gee… let’s see… does Pam want to dance? You guessed it… I didn’t get home until 10:30, and I had a blast! We covered the floor doing the polka!