New Sunshine

Hello Boley in the Bush followers! Wow! Has it really been two months since my last blog entry? Definitely a lot has happened. I’m so thankful for your encouragement and support with my blog and for the fact that I was able to visit a lot of friends and family while I was home in Atlanta. If we weren’t able to connect over my Christmas break, then next time I’m home coffee is on me.

Up until now the arctic weather had been cold (duh) but it had yet to reach these ridiculous temperatures of -40 that had been promised to me. For the first half of the year, it had been dipping down to negative 10, but hey, I’m a veteran to cold now. Give me a challenge, right? Arriving back in Kotzebue Alaska, I encountered -20 degree temperatures. Kotzebue is also located on the coast so the wind is also a problem. Let’s just say my little Northface beanie wasn’t cutting it. It just so happened during my brief visit the Kotzebue retirement home had a cultural art event. There were vendors selling paintings, baskets, beads, jewelry, photographs, and hand-crafted Winter gear like hats and gloves. I met a woman named Nina Hannah who sold me one of her leather and otter fur hats. This is the warmest thing to ever grace my head and was worth every penny. Upon hearing it was made from otter I thought “aw man, they’re pretty cute”. But before you start calling me an otter killer, hear me out. Arctic weather is no joke and even natives will tell you that there is an intrinsic quality about furs that make them superior to anything Northface can design. I was able to snag a photo with Nina and thanked her so much for her time, patience, and skill in creating this hat.

Coming back to Shungnak was eventful. I was delayed two days due to weather and showed up to school in the middle of the week. Thankfully, lesson plans were already completed before I left so I just picked up and ran with it. The attitude of the students was noticeable when I returned. Some teachers do not return after the holiday break and returning to the village engenders a certain earned respect. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t get to enjoy this new attitude for very long as that Friday night I was smacked with the stomach flu again. I’ve never had the stomach flu in my life before coming to Shungnak and now I’ve had it twice. If you’ve never experienced it, I pray you never do. The first night I spent hours rolling around my bed listening to my intestines dance and try to explode out of my body. After 5 days of bedridden agony, I was good to go.

Thankfully, I came back to school just in time for another cultural event. Annually, Shungnak school will be delivered caribou in order for students to experience and learn traditional practices of cutting and collecting meat. Most students could already do this with their eyes closed, but this was still new for me. Let me tell you, it was a mixture of amazement and terror as I watched students as young as third grade carve up dead animal carcasses with knives in the school gymnasium. What an awesome opportunity for students to practice cultural traditions. Students had fun trying to freak me out by taking the animal guts and forcing them into my hands hoping I’d scream and run. However, this Georgia boy was standing his ground. Sure, the sight of blood, guts, and caribou brains made me a bit queasy, but this white boy wasn’t giving them the satisfaction of seeing me uncomfortable. I smiled and happily accepted the body parts. Blood-spattered shirt and all there were definitely bonus points for this teacher. Booya! The only downside was students coming back to class covered in caribou hair and blood. I had to clean my desks of all the bloody handprints. One of the adult caribou was actually an expectant cow and students in the science room were able to dissect the caribou fetus. Along with the recently captured fox, the students had a blast getting some hands-onexperience in the biology classroom.

It’s been a real blessing to start seeing more of the sun! Every day we get about 7 minutes more of its yellow presence. This past week has been record setting (at least for me). The record low was -47 degrees last week with wind-chill “realfeel” calculated in the temperature was a whopping -72 degrees. Let me tell you, it is mind-blowing how cold this is. It hurts to breathe when you first walk outside as the cold air goes down your windpipe. The inside of your nose freezes and your eyeballs dry up. During weather like this, if your bare skin is exposed to the elements for just two minutes you could receive frostbite damage that would last a life time. I have been so thankful for my otter hat. The school, though heated, is always freezing as the poor heater races to catch up. I’m currently at the school wearing my snow boots to keep my toes warm.

I’m looking forward to a lot this semester. Paperwork aside, I’m enjoying building and strengthening relationships with my students. Basketball season has started and soon we’ll be having a home game. There are not enough players to make a HS basketball team from Shungnak alone, so the schools from Ambler, Kobuk, and Shungnak will be combining to be the “Upriver” team. In April, there is a middle school trip to a local hot spring. Students and chaperones will snow machine for half-a-day, live in a tent, practice survival skills, and take in the sights. One of our district cultural leaders came and asked me this week if I’d be willing to chaperone. I said YES and already can’t wait for the experience.

The month of January is called Siqinaasrugruk in Inupiaq meaning “New Sunshine”. I find this name fitting. The sunshine is returning and with it comes a new year, a fresh start, and hope for the future. I hope your year is starting out with some new sunshine too.