education is a mission of love

"Loving someone does not simply mean doing things for them; it is much more profound. To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance; it is to understand them, understand their cries and their body language; it is to rejoice in their presence, spend time in their company and communicate with them." - Jean Vanier, Seeing Beyond Depression
(Thanks for the book, Tacy & Stephen!)

swimmers between the island

A few weeks ago, several filmmakers from the Dominican Republican came to Little Diomede to film Marcos Diaz swim between Little and Big Diomede. Although I didn't get to meet Marcos, I did get to talk to two of the filmmakers. Their project is called Swim Across the Continents. I enjoyed talking to these amazing guys. Their documentary is meant to "unite the continents in favor of the Millenium Development Goals." You can learn more about this project at their website. The documentary should come out in December.

Marcos Diaz isn't the only one who has been swimming between the islands. About a week ago a herd of walruses was swimming towards the south. After school I received a Skype message from Joe: "Big herd of walruses outside!" Adrienne and I ran outside and headed to the helipad to watch with the others from the village. Some of the men grabbed their guns, but most of the men called to the walruses, which sounds like deep husky hooting. The next day one of my students came to school without any voice because he called for the walruses all evening. Walrus calling brings them closer to the rocks, making it easier to shoot them and pull them up with a lasso around their ivory tusks.

I have a video which I hope to post later this week. Until then, here are some pictures. I can't wait to see the walruses floating on ice floes. The way time flies here, it will be soon...

up top

Last Sunday I went to the Catholic church with the mayor and her husband. It was a small crowd (total of four people), but it's a nice little church. We listened to mass on the radio from Nome. Afterward we three up on the cliff (Willis, Adrienne, and I) went to eat lunch with the principal and her husband, Sandra and Joe. Their house should be called the Quinn Restaurant because it is fine dining every time we visit. They are incredible chefs -- Thai food, coconut salmon and shrimp, boiled clams with Louisiana hot sauce. The day was so pretty that we decided to spend it outside, so Joe, Willis, Adrienne, and I went up top on the island.

The wind was gentle,
the waves calm,
the birds talkative,
the water deep blue,

and the ground bright green.
It was a beautiful day.

Side Note: The Great Lake Swimmers are so awesome that they let me use their song "Pulling on a Line" in my little video. They are one of my favorite bands, and you should check them out at their website!

I am halfway through my second week of teaching. I can't deny that these weeks have been hard. Naturally, lesson planning is time-consuming, but in many ways, education on Diomede sometimes feels like a one-room school house. Finding time for whole-group instruction is incredibly difficult when each of your students is on a different grade level or standard. Besides the natural stressfulness of lesson planning, getting to know the students and build a positive relationship with them is another challenge that requires time and careful cultivation. I believe that this will be my most challenging goal in the classroom. I am learning that teaching teenagers is a lot like loving your enemies. Sometimes I feel like I am pushing against a wall, but the support and advice of experienced Alaska bush teachers have kept me going during these initial weeks. "Be consistent, pleasant, and firm" seems to be the motto of the teachers in the district, and that is my goal.

In the midst of all the mayhem that a new school year inevitably brings, I am dealing with some disappointing news. First, my one-year-old niece, Lucy, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I know this is hard on my sister and brother-in-law, and I wish I could be there to help. How I wish I could give Lucy a hug and a kiss right now... Secondly, my dog is finally coming to the end of her life. This week she will be put to sleep. I have had her since I was ten-years-old, so you can imagine how I feel.

I am thankful for the light of Christ and for the steadfastness of His nature. These events are no surprise to Him. I am thankful for the prayers of my friends and family, and I am thankful for the laughter that I can have in the midst of challenges and disappointments.

While I haven't had much time to upload pictures, I will leave you with this one, which Adrienne took. It was taken on the day we arrived to the island. Here we are in the skiff next to the crab boat. It seems like so long ago, even though it hasn't even been two weeks yet.

holding a bird

Some of the kids gathered on my front porch. The one you see above is holding a little bird. He said, "We only had to catch 10 of 'em, but I caught 20."

"What do you do with the birds you catch?" I asked.

"We kill 'em, and then we eat 'em!"

traveling by sea

On Friday, we left Nome on a crab boat. Seventeen hours later, we arrived at Little Diomede Island. The crab boat we traveled on was named Inalik, which is also the Inupiaq name of Diomede. Captain Greg Alexander could not have been more hospitable, and his crew -- two young men named Gus and Stanley -- were kind and generous. Captain Greg is not only experienced on the seas, but he is quite the chef too. It was fine dining for us teachers. We ate crab salad with jalapeno dressing and barbecued ribs at 10:30 p.m. while the sun was still up. Gus and Stanley put together the salad, and Capt. Greg grilled the ribs to perfection. I will never forget their hospitality. In fact, there were only four bunks on the boat and a total of eight people, but they freely let us sleep on their bunks. Capt. Greg, Gus, and Stanley hardly slept all. I can't emphasize to you how much I appreciate their kindness. Because Gus gave up his bunk, I was able to have one of the best nights of sleep I've had in a long time. I slept for a full eight hours. The weather was calm, and the sea was still -- only a gentle rocking that put me to sleep quickly.

The next morning we had stronger waves, but the weather was good. I felt like I was on a seesaw and that the boat was going to tip over a couple of times, but Greg never flinched. It was so normal to him, and his knowledge and experience kept me calm at all times. The only time I felt nervous was when walking outside on the boat. To me the railings were completely inadequate, although I know Greg kept everything up to coast guard approval standards, but for someone such as myself, falling off would have been very easy. With a watery deck and my clumsy hands, I would have been gone. So, I mostly stayed inside, unless the boat slowed down to 3-4 knots. At that speed, I felt safer, but only on the lower deck. You know, Greg told me that he was writing a book and that I would be in it -- a chapter called "From Tennessee to Diomede." I am not sure if he was serious, but I should tell him that he is already in my book.

The sea was beautiful, and the sunset and sunrise was clear. I watched all morning for the place I was soon going to call home. And now that I am here, what do I see and hear and smell and feel? Instead of mourning doves, I hear seagulls. Instead of cars driving by, I hear the waves crashing on the sea. I see Russia from my front door, and I see white coffins from my back door. I see men hunting and women berrypicking. I hear children playing and dogs barking. I smell the sea, and I feel the mist that constantly surrounds me. I see little joyful faces -- the little children who cling to me and say "mine." What a strange, mysterious, and beautiful place I am in.

"He goes before you. He prepares your way." - Thomas a Kempis

Unalakleet, Part 1

This morning was my last in Unalakleet. We spent a total of nine days there. Currently, I am in Nome. We will do more grocery shopping, and we will eat out a lot since it will be our last chance. Normally, we would fly to Diomede via helicopter, but from what I am told, new regulations require passenger-service helicopters to have two engines. Therein lies our problem. We anticipate finding a two-engine helicopter by Christmas time, so hopefully our holiday travels will be much quicker. So, since we cannot go by helicopter this year, the Diomede crew will travel by sea. Last year Diomede staff traveled by crab boat as well. If you haven't read the story, check it out here. As you know, fellow teacher Adrienne and I are new to the Diomede staff, but thankfully, the rest of the staff have traveled by crab boat before. They can help us get through it. The nice thing about going by boat is that I can buy all the food I want in Nome and get free shipping. Pretty nice deal, if you ask me.

Since my boat adventure isn't till Friday, I'll leave you with some pictures of beautiful Unalakleet. I thoroughly enjoyed walking around this town and getting to know the Unalakleet staff. Kira, Tim, and Derek generously opened their apartment to us so that we didn't have to spend all our free time at the school. Even the tech guys are friendly and don't hate helping computer-illiterate people with their computer problems. We had several people offer their washer and dryer to us Diomede teachers too. (Unlike the other school sites, we did not get to fly to our site for the weekend nor could we go to our site before new teacher training or inservice; thus, we had to say a lot longer in Unalakleet than most.) Everyone has been very friendly and hospitable. I think though one of my favorite things about Alaska so far is how everyone waves to you when they drive by on their ATVs.

fireweed

The beautiful new high school in Unalakleet...

musk oxe

native style

Kira's $800 parka....

My new friends -- Sonia from L.A., Jessie from Cleveland, TN, (yay!), and Kira from Vermont!

This is one of two restaurants in Unalakleet, Peace on Earth. A pizza was around $35, so we decided to go to the Igloo, another restaurant in town, which sold bowling alley food. A burger & fries was approximately $15.

I have a lot more pictures of Unalakleet, but the Internet is really slow here in Nome. So, they will have to wait...or you can just check Facebook.