ina | to stay somewhere and enjoy yourself

pisuaqtuaq | to take a leisurely walk

The view from my classroom window on a foggy day.

caribou skin on the ground

the lagoon

Quya near the graveyard

Slurp.

qaumaniq | beam of light

10:30 P.M. sunset

11:30 P.M. sunset

siġmaaq | to have competitive spirit

Life is peachy; life is grand.

So far.

First two days of school were pretty awesome. Seems like a good group of kids.

We started off the school year with a high school block party. Music was jammin', jump rope was swingin'... Kids had a good time. See video below.

Rusty Arctic Coast Trading Post truck. Also called ACTP. 

The first football game of the season was today. I left at half-time, when Barrow Whalers were beating the Valdez Buccaneers 30-something to zero.

These are some Valdez players wearing Barrow Whaler coats. When you're out in the cold, you don't care if you're wearing your enemy's school colors or not.

back in Barrow

One of the frustrating things about getting to Barrow is the fact that what should take two hours to get there usually ends up taking five. The primary reason for this is that a flight from Anchorage to Barrow makes two stops: one in Fairbanks and one in Prudhoe Bay (a.k.a. Deadhorse). People get on and off, just like it was a bus. Unfortunately, this makes traveling long and exhausting, especially with a dog in tow.

But at least when I arrived in Barrow yesterday, it was sunny! Something to be thankful for.

aasii | "and then..."

Um, hey. Fancy meeting you here. Long time no talk, am I right?

It's been over a month since I've blogged. And to think that once upon a time I was a devoted daily blogger. What happened? I even used to READ blogs.

I'm trying to remember what are all the blissful Barrow moments that the world of blogosphere needs to experience through me vicariously. Really, my life has become pretty boring/busy up in the North. But here are a few snapshots of life since I've been MIA.

#1. There's some serious cuteness going on in Barrow. And her name is Quya. (Remember, folks, you pronounce it Koy-yuh.)

#2. This is the Barrow High School parking lot. Of course, once things started melting, kids started using ATVs or just their legs. 

#3. Cool house in Barrow.

#4. Beware deathly icicles!

#5. Beautiful sunrise in the cemetery.

#6. And then this happened. A blizzard. On May 5th. School was canceled, but not for teachers.

#7. The new hospital is nice. Really nice. And artsy. 

#8. Quya got to play with one of the homeless dogs at the vet. Too cute.

#9. I asked some of my boys to stack the books neatly on the table. 

Clearly, books are just a poor man's blocks. Boys will be boys!

#10. Yeah. He didn't do so well on this assignment. Nice touch, that d.g.a.f. In case you are like I am and had to ask a more-informed person about this abbreviation, it means "don't give a f...." Isn't that just darling? (Bonus point for you: Can you find my two typos in the assignment instructions?)

#11. But for every ungrace that exists in this world, there are double (times infinity) the graces that our Father gives us. Sorry for the blurriness of these photos, but these are two quick pictures of rather large paintings that two students made for my classroom. Seriously, guys, Barrow's got some TALENT. (Did I mention that they've won the state migratory bird art contest two years in a row now? Go, Whalers!) These paintings were done on ceiling tile, and they'll be installed in my classroom over the summer. Yay!

#12. Flying over the Brooks Range never gets old.

When will you stop posting about Quya, Meredith? When she stops being cute, I guess.

Mischievous.

She thinks she's a cat.

It's been snowing occasionally! Not even September.

 the view of town from the post office 

Bright light at 9pm

I've been walking Quya around the lagoon, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on sniffing & stopping.

There's a nice board walk around part of the lagoon. 

Quya is desperate to go into the cemetery, but I won't let her. 

There was a funeral the other day, and people put boards from the road to the grave. I guess so the coffin could be carried easily to the grave.

new mound

  

Such a baby.

Quya carried a caribou antler around for awhile. It was cute/gross.