never a dull moment

Last week, the week after I got back from Anchorage, brought to Unalakleet the annual Elementary/Junior High wrestling and cheerleading tournament, all at the very same time. How do they do this, you may ask? Well, I tell you what, it isn't calmly. In fact, it's what many like to call organized chaos, though many times in between matches we wondered where the organized part came in.



Anyway, it was actually pretty cool. You know you live in a small town when you get so excited about an elementary or middle school wrestling match that you lose your voice. Don't worry, this didn't happen to me. Actually, it did. But UNK took first place in the Junior High Unlimited weight class for wrestling - it was a pretty sweet match.



The gym was hot and stuffy from all the bodies, and it smelled of sweat and breath. The crowd went wild with each match, and among other various pieces of advice from the stands, one was sure to always here, "Squeeze!" (keep pushing until the other guy is pinned) or "Get on your knees!" or "Roll over!" or, my personal favorite, "Shoot!!" (which means, basically, take the other kid down, preferably, go for the legs). I also liked to throw in a few of my own, such as "Bite 'em!" But that's illegal, I'm pretty sure.



It was pretty crazy, trying to teach while wrestling matches and cheerleading shows were going on all day. Seriously, all day long. And there were kids here from all over the district. Where did they sleep, you ask? Good question. The girls slept in classrooms. All of the boys slept in the gym. Ew. Anyway, classrooms were packed with luggage. It was pretty sweet. But the kids in my room were pretty great. Koyuk can stay in my room every year. :)


(Some boys on our team getting their game face on...)

I actually enjoyed watching all the matches and such, so it wasn't bad. I didn't teach a whole lot... We'll get something out of it, I'm sure. :) Other great things that happened this past week and a half include the following:

1. Adrianna and I tried our first aguduk, or Eskimo ice cream. It's made with berries and seal oil. I didn't like it so much... but some of the kids told me this was made differently and that I need to try a better kind. This video is pretty hilarious, though. (But I hate the sound of my voice in it... you can totally turn the volume down if you want. The looks on our faces are quite enough.)



2. We also tried other native foods - including muktuk (whale fat), herring eggs (literally), and dried fish (which we've had before, and I love it). The muktuk was gray, which means it's a young balooga whale. Basically, it's a layer of skin, then layers of fat. Mmm. Actually, I liked it pretty well.



3. Pep band played at the tournament finals. Jake and Janelle organized it - it was pretty sweet. We played Star Spangled Banner and the Hey! song. I was on clarinet, Janelle was on tuba? or some weird big brass instrument (sorry...?), Adrianna played trumpet, Dan and Damon both played saxaphone, Tara played flute, Matt played drums, Jonathan played bass guitar, and Jake played the trombone. We actually sounded pretty good, considering. We'll be playing more during basketball season.

4. I finally baked the cake for Carrie's birthday that I promised her. It was pretty tasty!!



5. Somewhere in all that time, there was also a very cute baby Carter who likes to smile. It wasn't so much an event, but he's too friggin' cute to not include. :)



This is me being very teacher-y in my classroom. Pretty much, this is the wench face I make all day to my kids... just kidding. And yes, despite the occassional setback, besides the minor things about which I complain (probably daily... I'm working on that), and other than during the first two hours that I am awake in the morning, I really do love my job. :)



This is also fun. Looks like it's about midnight outside, right? It's pretty sweet that this picture was taken at like, 7:00pm. We're all bundled in our parkas and warm things to go for a walk down by the river, or the mouth of the river rather. Parts of the river are frozen, but the ocean isn't quite solid yet. I really want to go ice fishing. Anyway, I'm trying to spend a lot of time outside so I can get used to the dark. I really need a headlamp so I can go into the tundra past 4pm. ;)