Did You Know I'm From Michigan?

Soooo, yup. I'm back to my home state for a few days. I decided to fly to surprise all the birthday people in Michigan. Ella and Grace's birthday was Sept. 14, Dad's was Sept. 21, Matt's was Sept. 23, Henry's is Oct. 3, Jessie's is Oct. 17, and Marty and Jessie's anniversary was Sept. 20. I needed to celebrate with people... If I forgot your birthday, I appoligize. Lack of sleep. So I was supposed to make it home for the tailgate and OSU/MSU game on Saturday. I missed it. But I did make it in time for Matt's birthday party! I'm so glad I made it Matty! And I got to sleep that night for eight hours! So great!

I drove to Jessie and Marty's house Sunday morning for Henry's party. Dad caught Al and I walking up...ugh. And the little munchkins did too... But we surprised Mom and Jessie really well! We had tons of fun at the party, then we went to PF Changs.  Yum!

Henry's new horsey:)

Then we went and surprised more people. Went to Aunt Marge and Uncle Stan, tried to see Aunt Patty and Uncle Dave, but they weren't home. Then we went to surprise Lindsay, but she wasn't home, but at Sue and Tim's, so we went there. And we got to see Ryan, Andy, and Kate! Then since we were by there at the time, we stopped by to see Aunt Kathy. I want you to know, just because I didn't visit, doesn't mean I don't love you! It means you went to bed early, you live farther away, or we ran out of time! I didn't get to go shopping today, so don't be too upset (please note: I just wrote "sunset" and didn't notice until 10 minutes later instead of "upset." that's how tired I am).

Cutest dogs ever...Laura take notice.

Yeah...Lindsay made it onto the blog...:)

Traveling...TO MICHIGAN!

I wrote this post Friday to Saturday while actively engaged:

I'm sitting on the plane to Anchorage. None of you know I'm coming home. I just hope that I make it there in time. I was suppose to leave Mountain Village at 3:45pm. Took off at 6:00pm. Then when I got to Bethel, I checked in from the arriving flight. I had never taken a plane through Bethel before. It was supposed to leave at 7:10pm. They didn't tell me I was supposed to check in (you don't check in in the Bush! You show up, say I'm here for this and they load you up). So they almost didn't let me get on. Then we waited forever! My layover time of 50 minutes was dwindling away. We finally head to the plane and we can't take off because in the time the plane sat there for the freaking terminal people to get their crap together, ice collected on the wings. So the pilot went to look for deicer. Um, their deicer was out of batteries. So we waited more. They finally found a hand one. So we spray an we leave. Everyone is feeling horrible for me because of my layover that is pretty much gone at tho moment. I just keep hoping that we have a good tailwind and we get there quicker and I can run really fast through the terminal. The worst part is that when you fly in or out (or around) the Bush, you don't go trough security. So now I have to go through it to get on my Delta flight. It would be soooo much better if I could jut run down the hall, but I'm goo to run as fast a I can.

Plane I flew Mountain Village to Bethel on

The Captain's...log?

Beautiful sunset

So I've reached the time in the flight that I told myself I could start worrying. It's 9:09pm. My Delta flight takes off at 9:50pm. Whew. I can do it. If they would only get to the airport soon... And they have their stupid important headphones on so I can't ask questions. I know. I can't control anything. But I sure wish I could tell them to speed up...

 As I sit here at 9:23pm and my chances of making my flight are slipping away, I'm getting more depressed. Maybe I'll be able to buy presents in Anchorage for people. I just keep holding onto that 1% chance that my flight's delayed. But then I don't want to put people into my same predicament. I see the line of clouds out the windshield which should mean that we're heading down. Into land. But with my luck it's jut going to push me farther and farther back... You can't see a thing out the windshield in this cloud. We're flying blind. We're heading down, but to where?

9:39pm and my next flight leaves at 9:50pm...I see the landing lights. Shit this doesn't look good. Excuse my French Aunt Betty. Oh no. We're better now. A little more level. They did a good job landing at 9:45pm but that wind was blowing like crazy!  They opened the door of the plane at 9:49pm.

Okay. So I missed my flight. Not really happy. I cried. I yelled. I got people in trouble. Now I'm moving on. Mom and dad and Connie and Jack and Bob and Anne, I'm sorry. I was going I surprise you at the tailgate. Now in going to have to meet Mom and Dad at Henry's birthday party.

The DOUBLE Captain Morgan and Sprite that helped me get over my grief

God rubbing in my missing the OSU/MSU game after I just missed my flight

My plane to Flint...It was snowing outside

Ice and I are fighting. The next available flight was at 6am. So I'm on the plane (window seat thank heavens!), but it's 6:11am. We had to wait for the deicer. Oh, did I mention the one and three year olds with their parents sitting behind me? They scream/talk very loudly. And mom is a good mom. Is very quiet when they're talking and redirect. However, I'm tired. Shut their mouths! I say with the sweetest of emotions:). And of course I am sitting next to the only two women on the plane who want to read and insist on turning  on their lights. I have had...10 hours of sleep the past 72 hours. Urgh.

Ice on the wing...

Spraying the wing

The deicer...

Beautiful Sunrise

I just love the clouds...

See?

How pretty?

If the kid says "ga ga!!" one more time....

I slept! On a plane! For an hour! I feel good. This might not seem strange to you, but as Alicia can tell you, I've never slept on a plane before (unless you count the 10 minutes I fell asleep on the 5 hour flight on the way to Anchorage...I didn't sleep on the 8 hour red-eye flight to Europe...never).  I woke up to the baby SCREAMING her head off. I was worried her ears were hurting but I believe that they were stretching her.

By the way Phoebe, I just found one of your hairs on my sweatshirt. I just bought this in Anchorage! How did it get on it?! Oh my gosh Sara. The book I'm reading (third of the one you are) I'm crying on the plane. Came out of nowhere! We'll talk when you get to this point. I look like a fool!

If you all in Michigan see me in the next few days and I look a bit scraggly and disheveled...no judgements. I showered in the bathroom of the office of a bush school on Friday, I slept for an hour of the eight I spent in an airport in anchorage, I've spent five hours in front of a screaming child, been on 6 planes in three days, and am now up to ten hours of sleep in 90 hours. No judgements. It's to come see the people I love! =)

Myself before I left Mountain...I tried...

Myself before I left Anchorage...I was still working on it...

The pilot just said that we would be leaning with 79 degree weather. Matty, how is that cold?

I got into Minneapolis and went straight to my gate.  I waited for about 10 minutes and then I was on the plane to Detroit.   I had the sweeeeeeetest flight attendants.  I sat down and the man informed me that this was the VIP section (I was in row 39).  I told him that I was going to lay down on the 3 person seats if no one showed up beside me.  The last two people on the plane were next to me...isn't that always the case?  The woman attendant came and told me they had a few empty rows and that I could go in the very back of the plane and lay down.  She even gave me a blanket!  They were sweet.

Then we landed in Detroit.  I had a little over an hour...however if you've ever walked from terminal A to terminal C in Delta in Detroit, you know how long of a walk that was...I only had to sit for about 20 minutes before I boarded my flight.

Yup, I totally bought an Alaskan Sushi Roll...

They asked for people to jump flights.  I almost did, but no one could come pick me up (or so I thought).  Dad was at the MSU game (I thought Mom was too) and Al was at Matt's party.  I found a woman's watch in front of the teller counter, and gave it to the clerk.  The woman soon came back to get her watch and thanked me.  She got onto the plane and handed me a $20 bill.  I told her I wasn't going to accept that.  She said that I was young and needed the money.  The guy next to me (who I had been talking about the Bush life to) goes "Dude, that's like 2 1/2 heads of lettuce for you. Be grateful!"  I was.  It was very sweet of her.

Honey Jack...mmmmm

The guy I rode next to on the flight to Flint was a pastor in Kansas and was going to Clarkston.  He was very nice.  It was good learning about his church and ideas.  I babbled the whole 19 minute flight because I was so excited to finally be home (AND NOT BE FLYING!).

Not afraid of those planes anymore I guess....

I touched down, RAN to get my bag (they took it at the gate in Anchorage so I didn't have to lug it around), and RAN to Alicia's car that she put in long-term parking for me.  There was a "Welcome Home Jac" sign waiting for me in the windshield.  I drove...of course the speed limit...to Matt's party.  The whole time traveling (24 hours to be exact), the plan was to get changed, do my hair and makeup in the bathroom when I was coming out of Flint airport.  On my second-to-last flight, I decided against this plan. On my last flight, I decided my new plan was "run to friends."  I threw a little makeup on in the car and got to Al and Matt as fast as I could.  I think I almost ran Al over with my body.  I cried I missed her so much.  I was so overwhelmed with wanting to be home and see people I missed, I let it out on her.  Then we walked into the garage, Al went in and told Matt to come outside.  He (begrudgingly) came outside, looked at me, and said "What in the hell are you doing here?" took me into a hug, and I didn't let him go for a full minute.  I cried again.  I was so tired and had so many emotions in such a short time.  He told me not to cry.  I go, "I'm just so tired and emotional right now." All night long I'd randomly grab a friend and hug them for a bit.

THE BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!!

It took about 1 glass of drink to get me intoxicated.  My tolerance is down...

The drink...

It was nice to just hang out with friends, play games, and let loose.  I laid down at one point under a table.  Alicia told me to go lay upstairs or get up.  I guess I was a little too tired/intoxicated because I looked at her dead straight and said, "Matty said I could.  I have five minutes."  Nick tried hitting me too.  Matty yelled at him too.  I believe it was, "She's traveled for 24 hours.  She's exhausted.  Leave her alone."  Thanks Matt.I got up again and partied.  Then I went HOME:) to OUR house.  I slept in a bed for 8 hours...it was heaven...

The Jello Shot tower that Glen made for Matty

Ohhh...Planking...with the Lesiewicz boys...

ELL Training in Mountain Village

Yesterday we flew back to Mountain Village.  It's kind of fun this time because I've been here before and slept in the "Hilton" but the others haven't (who are relatively new here).  The EMO teachers and IL's got our own chartered flight to Mountain because we were enough that it was cheaper (8 of us) (most of the sights got their own flights).  The flight in was....horrific....I almost threw up a few times.  The pilot did his best with the wind and weather he was given.  50MPH winds.  Yeah, not so fun on a Bush Plane.  We got here, and ate some "New York Strip Steak" (notice the quotes).

We found out we were staying in rooms based on schools and gender...Sara and Nate are married...come on... So we decided Nate could crash our room:).  So we're also with the Hooper Bay girls...so it's Sara, Nate, me, Mary (Hooper Bay), and Jenna (Hooper Bay).  We're the fun room!  We walked down to the store here and got supplies to eat snacks last night and watch a movie (Mary's a movie buff so she brought a bunch).  However, we just talked and ate and didn't end up watching a movie.

By the way, half of us are here at Mountain and half of the district are in Hooper Bay.  They used to do it "Up River/Down River."  If you were "Up River" on the map (the district basically is all on the Yukon River), then you went to Mountain Village.  If you were "Down River" you went to Hooper Bay.  However, this year they decided to break us up between Elementary teachers and Secondary teachers.  So, Phoebe, Laura, and the other elementary teachers are at Hooper, and us secondary teachers are here at Mountain.

I don't know what they're doing in Hooper, but the secondary teachers are learning about ELL teaching (English Language Learners).  All the students here are raised with Yup'ik and English in home and school, so they aren't fluent in either.  So technically, we have 82% of our population of students as ELL.

I got a migraine after lunch today, which didn't feel great.  I took some medicine which made me tired.  So, I took a nap once we wrapped up at 3:00pm, and while all the "cool room people" watched a movie in our room.  I was so tired I slept through it mostly.  I didn't sleep a lot last night. 

Oh, again, by the way, we stay at the school.  Luckily for the IL's, Mountain has the "Hilton" for them to stay in, but there are too many teachers to stay there.  So whenever we travel in the district or with the kids, we usually stay in classrooms.  So we're sleeping on cots and air mattresses with our sleeping bags :).  It's fun.  Yes, mildly annoying, but fun.  We get to act like kids again.  And we get to see each other and the other villages.  All right, I think I'm going to take another nap:).

Keys, Sandwiches, and Church

Soo...Phoebe and I only have one set of keys to our house...we're trying to get it taken care of... But one day, I went to the house, thinking she was home but she wasn't-she was back at school with the keys.  So I called her and we were both too lazy to meet each other to give/get the keys.  So she decided to throw the keys to me from our room in the school, to me on the boardwalk...here's what happened...

Then, on Friday, we ordered a Bush order of Subway!!!!!  Yummy!!!!  I had them flown in from Bethel (they have a Subway).  The manager of Grant planes in Emmonak called a driver of Grant planes in Bethel to go pick up the sandwiches and put them on a plane to get to us.  The Subway manager couldn't drive them to the airport because he had that day off, and he's the only one who can drive at the Subway in Bethel...oh...the Bush.  Then, our fax machine wasn't working so we had to drive the order out to the airport so they could fax it to Subway for us...it was Bushed...

Laura and I went to the Catholic Church on Sunday.  It was great to see and experience.  They had four baptisms happen that day awesome.  It was great!  Such an experience!

On our way back from church, we had our first snow!  It was 30 degrees.  It hailed afterwards.  It's been staying in the 30's since then.  Ew.

Breaking Things...

So the construction workers have been busy the past few weeks.  They have been moving buildings around.  They are moving things so that they can start building the new high school where they used to be.  The new high school will be ready in two years.

Outside my classroom window today

They're moving a building...

This was the other week when they were moving the shed behind the school outside Laura's classroom...

This is why we don't send big boxes to Alaska...we send tubs...

Booboo likes to ruin his bone that is bigger than his head...

I bent my only house key while Bobby was moving the box springs from my house to Laura's and I was trying to open the door quickly... Oops...

....and I bent my only house key...

1st Eskimo Dance!

On Saturday, I went to my first Eskimo Dance!  It was to celebrate Suicide Awareness.  I had quite a few students that showed up to the dance.  I had one help play the drum, one take down names and pass out tickets as we came in, 3 dance, and quite a few come to watch and celebrate.  It was great to see the kids out of the classroom and to meet quite a few of the parents.  I took many pictures and videos. :)

Beautiful Dancing...She's wearing a Cuspik

This is a dance where the men also dance

I love this smile:)

Showing the men and women dancing

And the little kids:)

I was able to eat a deliciously fresh apple.  Yum!  It was scrumptious!

Ahhhh...fresh fruit...

10 Days...Whew!

I apologize...10 DAYS!  I've been busy...and sick again.  Last weekend I pretty much just spent in bed and on the couch.  I was tired and not feeling well.  It wasn't good for me to leave the house.  I did go to the staff potluck at the school Saturday night for dinner.  I didn't eat much, but I did try some of Laura's moose meat...ummm...not so good.  I don't know if it was the meat or the way it was prepared.  Nothing against her cooking!...well...Laura will be the first one to tell you she's not the best in the kitchen...I had to fix her mistake on making box rice last Friday night... However! It was made like a stew, and it's just not something I usually like, beef stew that is.  So, I guess I might try one more time to see if prepared a different way, I might like it.

My first bite of Moose Meat

Yummmmm...Fry Bread.

Last Friday night we had a girl's night out at Laura's house.  It was great.  We made tacos, rice, salad, and then played Xbox Kinect (for those of you who don't know...yes David, I know you know...it's basically that your voice and body are the remote control).  We played Dance Revolution, bowling, and boxing.  Dance Revolution definitely won out for the night.  We all looked completely silly dancing, but we had a great time.

Sara won! (She was the black man...), then Laura, then me, then Phoebe:(

Favorite dance move ever!

Yeah, Laura, Phoebe kicked your butt!

Monday I woke up with a huge ear ache and coughing, so I made an appointment at the clinic.  I was able to be seen Tuesday at 10:00am.  The physician's assistant said she didn't see an infection, but gave me some stuff to get the fluid out from behind my eardrum and help the coughing.  She also gave me an antibiotic in case it turned into an infection.

Wednesday I felt worse, and took the second half of the day off work.  There was a Candle Lighting at the Community Center for suicide prevention, so I thought it was important to go to that.  I was feeling good enough to go, I just coughed a lot.  It was done really well.  One of the elders spoke to us about how we need to help our youth, we sang church songs, and about 20 of my highschoolers were there to support the cause.  Great job guys!

The kids waiting for the Candle Lighting to Begin

Lala and her husband (I think) playing songs while we wait to begin

We each got "Love" on our wrists to remember we're loved.

The students at the Candle Lighting Ceremony.  I was so proud to see them there.

The elder talking to us about what we should do to help.  He's the one holding the candle up.

By Thursday and Friday I was starting to feel a bit better.  I am still coughing, and it sounds waaay worse than it did before, but I think it's just because the stuff is moving in my chest.  I'm coughing less often, which allows me to get some sleep.  One of the medicines actually makes me really sleepy, so I'm only taking it when I'm able to nap or go to bed.

I was wide awake at 6:00am this morning.  Again, my sleep schedule is off.  I just can't get it right out here.  I'm planning to stay at school and get some personal business done.  We're not allowed to be on the Internet for personal reasons during school hours.  And for some reason, sights are blocked an hour after school, too.  So, by the time I can get anything done and write a post here, I'm too tired and just want to go home.  And I don't have Internet at home.  Frustrating!  And my phone isn't the best so sometimes calls/texts don't come through, and most of the time my caller ID doesn't work.  SO, if I'm not staying in contact very well, don't think it's because I don't want to!  It's just harder up here.  I'm on Eskimo Time....

I did get a few packages from Amazon.com Thursday.  I got some candy I ordered as rewards for the kids, my coat, snowpants, and goggles!  I was told I'm a real Eskimo now! :) I look completely weird in my whole get-up.  I'm covered head to foot.  But I'm ready!

My warm new coat...:)

And my hott new goggles!

 Tonight there is an Eskimo Dance to celebrate Suicide Awareness.  I'm excited for my first one!