Columbus Day? not here that's for sure.

                                                                                                      

Hi Lower 48,
I'm incredibly tired and I feel like I've done nothing but yield to exhaustion all weekend. I can hear the sound of four wheelers outside my room zooming by on the boardwalks. It's funny how the sounds of the village are so different from the sounds of the city. Four wheelers cruise by at all hours of the night and they are so loud with their lights shining into the window. In the winter it apparently shifts to the sound of snow-go's - aka snowmobiles).

Another week is about to begin and once again I have spent hours and hours preparing for the week and I find myself wishing for one more day. I would gladly accept Columbus Day as a day off simply as an excuse to catch up in the classroom. I had no idea life out here was going to be so much work. I have no idea how I'm going to start, much less finish, my capstone, but it has to happen. I will not be a graduate student any longer come May.

I finally sat down and looked at my kids benchmark scores for the beginning of the year. They were depressing to say the least. Our school district wants all kids to be in the 75 percentile - meaning they can read 113 words on their assessments with no errors. The 50 percentile should be reading 83. I have one child reading 83 - everyone else is lower. Way lower. I have two that refused to read even one word and multiple children reading below 10 with errors. My administration is behind me 100 percent, but they and the district office keep pushing new things on me - they don't know regular math facts (1 + 5 = 6), so I need to add math facts, they don't know sight words, so that's something else to add and the list goes on and on and on. Since third grade starts testing, my class is being watched very closely. I'm okay with this because it means I can get a lot of help when I need it (like begging for an aid even though they only have to give up to second grade teachers aid's), but I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment. Seriously. I am not super teacher... but I'm trying. I know that by May I'll have this all figured out (as much as possible at least) and I'll be closing my door for the summer. Never fails, right? But I'm going to try my hardest until then I guess. And I'll come home exhausted and anxious and I'll need the entire summer to recover from this year...

We watched Brothers and Sisters tonight and once again I felt the rush of homesickness. I love it out here, I really do, but sometimes not being able to do the simplest things - sit around a table, gather, sip wine and laugh with my family and friends makes me so homesick I want to cry. I know I'm doing what's right for me right now, but that doesn't mean that I hate missing out on moments that everyone's experiencing without me. Needless to say, the holiday season is going to filled with lots of hugs, laughter, and wine.

A quick story and then I'm off to dream...  Jenny wanted to play Bingo with her kids, so she created the boards and everything. Well they played one game and a kid got mad at her because they didn't win. Apparently the child was so mad that they threw their card down, jumped on their chair and started yelling "Stinky Pink! Stinky Pink! I hate you Stinky Pink!" (She goes by Ms. Pink at school). And then of course more children in her room started calling her that. Seriously! How funny is that?! I would have laughed out loud if that would have happened to me. Well Jenny had been trying to teach rhyming words, so she turned this into a teachable moment and talked to them about how stink and pink rhyme. Got to love those 'teachable moments' that are definitely not found in the curriculum. And you best believe that Jenny now has a new nickname here at the apt. Good times. Good times.

Speaking of which - how cool is this? We only have PO Boxes here, there is no mailman or anything... so there are no streets. It's so small here (village of 900) that it doesn't really matter, but lots of times you need a street address along with your PO Box for things - so we get to make them up! So far I've lived on 11 Boardwalk Drive and 4 Polar Bear Express. I change it everytime it's required. The Boardwalk Dr. one I got so excited when the dude asked that my mind went blank and it's all I could think of, so I was prepared for the Polar Bear express one. There most definitely are no polar bears in these parts, but I was definitely amused. Oh, so if you ever want to send something, my address is simply: PO Box 224 Selawik, AK 99770 If you want to make up your own street for me, go for it.. just make sure the PO Box is on there. Also, you basically have to send stuff in the flat rate boxes or else I will never, ever see it. It takes regular parcel post at least three weeks, sometimes a few months to get out here.... Oh I have a phone number too! It's 907-484-2568. Feel free to call anytime - we don't have an answering machine yet, so call until you get Jenny or me, and please remember that we are four hours behind you!

And with that said, goodnight Lower 48. I'll see you in December. Until then, I'll keep posting and looking up - there's word of Northern Lights here in next few weeks.

Cristina

Here's a few pictures of Stinky Pink at her finest:

ummm... so who says we don't know how to have fun out here in the arctic? yes, this is Jenny putting on a fashion show for all to see in her newest fashion attire from the one and only Cabela's.... the snowsuit. bring it on mother nature - she is ready to snow-go it up!

Sending hugs and love from the place that's warmer than out west in the lower 48.....

Cristina