the long and winding road...

The little green and yellow Frontier plane came early this afternoon. I had settled in cozily in my parents' modest abode, playing catch with my puppy, when the phone rang...it was nearly an hour and a half before I was supposed to leave, but whoever called said that we had 15 minutes. I deplore the rush-hour---the not having any time to say goodbye.
Just as well, I guess. I do loathe goodbyes.
Of course, I'll miss my parents and my puppy, but I'm also somewhat surprised by how much I'll miss all the kids that I met and became close to in such a short time---especially the little ones. They're adorable.

Above is a picture of Sunny (parents' golden retriever) and Spencer (my gorgeous & evil puppy). Little Spence is on the left.

saying goodbye...

The parental unit...
We took this picture in my mom's classroom just before 1st period. Later on, while I was warming up in the gym with the high school kids, my dad started to shoot around with us. Then, he decided he would play. Well, for not playing in a LONG time, he did a good job. Though, he tends to dribble as high as his shoulders. I think the kids enjoyed playing with him; one of them used my dad's back as an inbound check.

I'm kind of sad to be leaving so soon. I had thought before I arrived that maybe 7 days would be a long time, but I could definitely spend another week here at least.

moby dick?

In Kaktovik, the whaling season starts in the Fall after Labor Day. Though there is a strict limit of 3 bowhead whales a year, there certainly is no shortage of food or celebration. Normally, about 7 crews go out at a time to try to bring in a whale. Guns that shoot out harpoons with explosive devices are used to kill the whale, then 3 or 4 boats help to pull the whale by its tail to shore. A frontloader is used to finish beaching it.
As tradition calls for, all the kids in the village run on top of the whale and pose for pictures. Measurements and blood samples are taken by a biologist, then the frontloader dumps sea water on the whale. The men begin to butcher the whale, which (depending on the size) can take up to 12-14 hours. Meanwhile, the women cut the larger pieces into smaller ones. Some of the meat and maktak is boiled for people to eat that day. But the next day is when the real celebration begins. The captain of the crew who caught the whale has a lunch feast at his house. He shares his large portion of the whale with the village. Other shares of the whale are divided up among the crews; some of these are brought back to the village during upcoming holidays, and some are shared with other villages nearby. The scraps and leftovers are brought to the Boneyard and left out for the polar bears to eat.

rules of bingo

We walked to the Kaktovik Community Center after lunch today. I was intrigued by some of the posters hung on the walls inside the main room. The "No Abuse" poster is striking, especially the statements about elder abuse and bootlegging. The other poster is for Bingo, which is quite popular here.

sugar-high

All of the students made Eskimo doughnuts and bread (which they shaped and put raisins on) today. The entire school smelled like a greasy bakery. By the afternoon, the kids were predictably hyper and plenty of them had rings of flaky frosting around their mouths.

i pledge allegiance...

This is the Pledge of Allegiance in Inupiaq. I heard the 5th and 6th graders recite it this morning before they recited the English version. I was quite impressed. Afterward, they worked on irregular verbs and then explained the difference between a simile and a metaphor. I spent 2nd period playing basketball with the high school kids (girls v. boys), and once again I am sore and it is painful to walk.

I read with the 1st and 2nd graders this afternoon; we worked on reading comprehension and word puzzles. We also played "Simon Says," which made me feel a bit ridiculous but it was fun.

one flew over the basketball net

Here is part of the entrance to Kaktovik's Harold Kaveolook school.
This morning I played a few full-court basketball games with the high school kids in their gym class. Our team won 2 out of 3 games (though the last one we only lost 10-9). It was so much fun, and not just because I love basketball. It was really great to interact with the kids outside of a regular classroom. I'm going to play with them every morning for the rest of this week. Hopefully by Friday I will not leave the gym sore, bright red, with my hands and legs shaking from the shock of exercise.

During the afternoon, I went to a World History class. The kids were learning about Renaissance England, the common dress (including man-tights, farthingales, ruffs, and trussing), Shakespeare, the Globe Theater, and even Galileo Galilei and the introduction of astronomy and science. The kids were totally interested and engaged. Later on, I spent a couple of hours with the "little ones" (1st and 2nd graders) and worked with them on sequencing, spelling, and telling stories. I read to them on the bean bags and then we played volleyball with a beach ball in the gym.

I felt completely spoiled today.

bunny ears

My dad teaching his music class...and the two little girls who were obsessed with my hair. Notice the bunny ears.

first day at school

Ute is teaching a geometry lesson to middle school students during 6th period. Kristy and I are busy helping some of the students one-on-one. The girl I help is so excited that she knows how to do geometry that she starts clapping and says that she loves it. Sadly, I still hate math.

Today was quite interesting. I visited a music class where students practiced playing their guitars and keyboards; a gym class (the kids played hockey); a Literacy lesson for 3rd-5th graders; a class full of noisy 1st and 2nd graders (two of the girls made it a point to mess up my hair, then braid it, then put it in pigtails...it was cute, but then it felt like they were ripping it out so I tried to re-focus them by reading to them more, then showing them my camera).
So far I think the kids are great. It is also nice to be in a classroom where you can give individual attention, as opposed to teaching 25-29 students at once.

school pics

Here is a picture of a high school science/math classroom. It is fairly well-equipped and colorful with lab tables, laptops, student science fair projects, wildlife and nature photographs from around Alaska, and much more. The other picture is of the school gym. It is squeaky-clean, lined with banners and Inupiat value posters, and looks brand-new.

a late sunset

Kaktovic at night: windy, cold, and gorgeous.

the Social Club

This is the Barter Island Social Club. It is closed, sad, and desperately in need of a paint job. It is located right next to Waldo's and a school bus flanked against a bank of snow.

There IS a community center, which is much larger, seemingly much newer, and is used for bingo (every Tuesday and Thursday night), funerals, the all-important whaling feast, dancing, community meetings and other community celebrations. It is a very vital part of Kaktovik.

Dinner at Waldo's

Waldo's Restaurant and Hotel looks run-down and old on the outside, as most of the buildings here do, but it is colorful and cozy inside. There are shelves packed with books, couches centered around a TV in the front room, a room with a pool table, a back room with a long dining table where guests and residents eat...the walls are covered with maps, photographs, Inupiat art, whale baleen, etc. It is owned by Walt Audi, a retired legendary bush pilot who is known for bravely flying through thick fog even while other pilots would be reluctant and fearful to.
Above Right Image: The menu at Waldo's. Notice that a hamburger (which is very thin and basic, comes with store-bought krinkle-cut fries) is 10 dollars. There is another restaurant in Kaktovic, called March Creek, and similar entrees range from 16 to 22 dollars. Nevertheless, a hamburger and fries is one of those simple pleasures that is worth a little splurging when there aren't many other options (especially for the teachers, I hear).

Welcome to the Native Village of Kaktovik:

Kaktovik is located on Barter Island, which is often considered the "Arctic Icebox." It is home to about 300 Inupiat people who depend on the bowhead whale for much of their food. "Not until it was built up as a Distant Early Warning (DEW Line) system back in the fifties were the outlying Inupiat brought together to benefit from the new clinic and school; the advent of oil royalties in the late seventies and the need for a bureaucracy to dispense the money has given a kind of semipermanence" to this village.