from Christmas time

This is what happens at Christmas time when there are nine kids all under the age of eight in the house. :)

quya | to celebrate Thanksgiving

Quya: "I's a big fan of dis bed."

By the way, I just found out that Quya is an Iñupiaq word that means "to celebrate Thanksgiving (of many people)."

I knew it was the root word of "quyanaqpak" which means "thank you very much," but I didn't know quya in and of itself means to to celebrate Thanksgiving. Cool!

Snowy morning.

Current Stats:

Time: 1:15 P.M.
Temperature: -7 Fahrenheit, -22 Celsius
Wind Chill: -28 Fahrenheit, -33 Celsius
Sunrise: none
Sunset: none

Quyanaqpak, Father, for...

Thanksgiving break

Christmas lights

apple cinnamon candles

Darjeeling tea

good friends and Just Dance parties

ambition to keep on wrestling with Aristotle's Physics

hope of a new world

island living. valentine's day. oogruk!

Well, I wasn't able to go to Brevig Mission. Weather wasn't good on Friday, so the flight was canceled. Adrienne was supposed to return to the island yesterday with eight students, but we had bad weather again. And it doesn't look so good today either. Something I am learning about traveling in Alaska: don't plan on traveling unless you are in the plane and up in the air.

Mail is so slow even though we have plane service now. I am still waiting on stuff to arrive that I ordered a month ago. Speaking of plane service, we've had some strong south winds which have pushed the northern ice even farther north. I wonder if our ice runway will last long, if we keep getting these south winds. Apparently, a few years ago the ice runway floated away. And how appropriate -- I read this verse this morning: "Around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns" (Ecclesiastes 1:6).

This semester is going to fly by. February is already almost over, and I can't believe it! During March, I will be going to Nome as a middle-school chaperone for a week at NACTEC. We will also have a visiting teacher come give lessons in geography and art to the students. And if the sun shines, the school will go crabbing one Saturday, which I am really excited about. In April we will have state testing and then our big student trip to Anchorage and Fairbanks. Once we come back from the student trip, we'll only have 5 weeks until the end of the semester. Of course, on all of these activities, there is a big fat label that says "weather permitting" stamped on them.

 In January our school had its annual Island Living celebration.

 Writing a story.

 The students were able to make their own monster pillows, which they had a lot of fun doing.

 Dance contest!

 

We also had a few races and competitions.

 You can see the road that leads out to the ice runway.

 Polar bear meat! Yum.

 Going to school early one morning.

 Snow...so...much...snow...

 At religious education class, we made Valentine's Day cards.

 Speak from the heart.

Roses are red. Violets are blue. U are sweet like hard candy.

One of the teenagers caught an oogruk -- bearded seal.

Я знаю что такое любовь.

It's hard to believe that two years ago today I was in Kazan, Russia. I explored Russian Orthodox churches, visited the Qolşärif mosque, bought a kilo of dried apricots at an open market, took pictures of metro art, and visited Tolstoy's alma mater.

February 14th, 2009, is one of my favorite memories. Several university students were celebrating St. Valentine's Day with balloons and candy, while encouraging passersby to sign their names to this poster in the square.

"Я знаю что такое любовь. да? нет?"

 

I know what love is. Yes? No?

да. Yes.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins." - 1 John 4:10

"Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

ice is a fickle monster

It's after 1 a.m. I am packing, and my mind is abuzz. Tomorrow we are leaving the island for our break. We thought we were leaving Friday, but we have a perfect weather/ice window tomorrow that would enable us to make our escape. You know, ice is a fickle monster. It toys with my emotions...or at least it has been for the past few days. On Thursday and Friday, the ice and slush came. On Saturday we had a beautiful day with lily pad ice. Then, on Sunday all of the ice melted, and September waves returned. This was bad news for the teachers who wanted to go home for Christmas. The chopper will only take us if there is ice -- enough ice to land on in case of an engine failure. So, back and forth, for the past few weeks -- Yes, we'll get out for Christmas, wait, no, it looks like we might be stranded. Back and forth, back and forth. I think my mom had the entire church praying for ice to build up in the Bering Strait. What a weird prayer. Well, on Monday, big slushy waves were crashing on the shore, but today (by today I mean Tuesday, and not the actual day it really is) was all quiet. No waves, just slush that does what slush does best -- it slushes. Some thin layers of ice float in between the two islands. From what I understand, after the chopper delivers mail tomorrow, we'll hitch a ride to Wales, which is about 20 miles away on the mainland. Then we'll take a flight to Nome. After Nome is Anchorage, then Seattle, then Atlanta. Long trip, but worth it for a few weeks home.

 Sunset 3:45ish p.m.

 Ice around sunset today.

 Ice to the north of us.

Thanksgiving Festivities

 

Thanksgiving Dinner for the entire community.

 Sistuq tried to teach me how to eskimo dance!

Grandma Alice, one of the beloved elders in the community.

 One of the sweet 1st-graders. Every time she sees me, she says, "I love you, Miss Beck!"

 The drums are made with walrus skin and ivory handles. The men have to spray water on the drums in between songs to keep them from getting too dry. The mittens and gloves on the floor are used for the dances.

 Relaxing on the gym floor, listening to eskimo music.

 One of the 10th-grade girls. She aspires to see the world, specifically Fiji. She is a smart cookie too!

 The Diomede Eskimo drummers and dancers. They are amazing!

 Teaching one of the teachers how to eskimo dance.

 One of the students. His love for eskimo dancing and singing is evident.

 Sweet smiles. Our principal made these kuspuqs for the all the girls kindergarten through 7th grade.

 This man works at the post office and is the father of one of our seniors. He went to Moscow in '84, so we compare our Moscow stories. He also was a part of the Bering Sea Friend Expedition in the '80s. He knows a lot about the history of Diomede and is a great resource whenever we have questions about the island.

Teaching the younger girls.