The Last Supper

It is very hard to believe that this is our last night in Barrow. Where did the time go? It is really amazing to recall all that we have experienced during our trip; polar bear searching, pulling in a whale, caribou hunting, sewing atikluks, sledding down HUGE hills, visiting people's homes, butchering a seal, eating muktuk, eating eskimo doughnuts, going to the malt shop, and so much more.

Most importantly, we have had the privilege of working with an amazing group of students, staff, and community members. The students helped us all learn that "kids are kids." Yes, these kids have different backgrounds, different expectations, and different learning styles, but inside, they are kids! The staff at Ipalook were nothing but welcoming to all five of us. The community here was amazing to us the entire time. If I had to describe Barrow in one word, it would be selfless. I know that I am walking away with a more selfless heart.

This experience was amazing. I would really love to return here in the future and teach!

Now.... it is time for Anchorage!!!

P.S. The last supper was pizza.... I've been waiting for pizza the entire trip!! :)

Tuesday News... Last day of school!

Well folks this journey is close to the end for us.. Today was our last day of school. Most classes had parties today and watched movies. My (Kayla) launched rockets. I believe the common movie theme for today was frozen. The students basically sing right along with the movie, lets be real I would to! My class launched rockets today outside and it was pretty amazing.

 We started off the day with a great dodge-ball tournament! The staff won it once again!  

I believe everyone last day was a great one! Now most of us are exhausted and started to pack things up because we leave on Thursday am! We are getting excited about being home soon! 

At the end of the day all the staff lined up by the entrance and cheered the 5th graders because they move buildings next year. My ct said we cheer them on because it is a big achievement and now they move buildings which is also an excitement for them!

Here is a picture of all of us student teachers and our CTs.

 Some of us are wearing our atigluk in this picture!  Thats all for now but on Thursday we will be in Anchorage for a few days so we will blog about our adventures there!

I got 99 problems but a polar bear ain't one...

Alright, so I was trying to think of a fun title and all I could think of was how WE ARE YET TO SEE A POLAR BEAR!!!! and that is the only thing that came to my mind, so I wanna send a thanks to Jay-Z (who I believe is an avid reader) for the inspiration to my title today. Anyways, we also don't really have 99 problems. Really at this point our main problem is simply missing trees, and family... but mostly trees. Luckily both of these things will be fixed shortly when we return to the tree filled land we fondly refer to as good ole Minny. Alright, its time for you weekend update.

This weekend was pretty relaxed, in fact most of the time was spent in our common room either playing variations of badminton and lacrosse or sewing an atigluk, which is a traditional shirt that is worn up here. I think everyone has finished theirs except me... because well I am me... But, I can say that they all look pretty sweet and we cannot wait to show them off at home. I also forgot, there was a strange amount of karaoke and just dance on the xbox. Anyways, thats all I really got for the weekend.

Today was our final full day of school as well. Tuesday is an early release and Wednesday is a teacher workday, so the end is rapidly approaching. Anyways, school is good and most of our classes are just playing games, wrapping up some activities, and I think 75% of the classrooms are watching some move called Frozen, which I find fitting for Barrow. Anyways, I'm gonna go and do some more sewing, so here are some pictures for you, simply because I care.

 Here is some sitting badminton, I wont pretend it makes sense... because it doesn't...

 Check out that action shot. Also, please direct your attention to the tiny couch for our pins. I have learned that sewing pins live the good life in Barrow.

 Sagan just getting all sorts of funky with it.

OH MY GOSH! PRETEND BEAR ATTACK!!!

Tuesday News:)

Hello Everyone! 
Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope everyone has had a great day! Today everyone came to school even Bethany who has been very sick for two weeks came a half day! 
On Sunday Michele arrived here in Barrow! We were all very excited to see her. She helps support us in the classroom and it is nice to see a new face that is familiar to all of us! 
Today we all taught full time in the classroom and Michele bounced around observing us and checking out our classrooms. After school we went to go get milkshakes since Michele has not experienced this yet. She loved them as do the rest of us! Sagen (Kiersten's son) I believe loves them the most! After getting milkshakes a few of us decided to walk to the Arctic Grocery Store which was a half a mile down the road. After the grocery store we came back to the college to enjoy a delicious steak and baked potato dinner! It was yummy! 
Tonight everyone has been laying low as the tiredness is setting in due to the amount of sunlight and the sunlight is getting brighter. Aluminum Foil has been a great purchase for majority of us throughout this trip. It started with Mark then Bethany and myself (Kayla) did one out of the two windows. Then today Bethany and myself did half of the second window. Now Sasha and Sam are putting it up on there windows. 

 One more thing: There is a book fair going on at school and it everything is 50% off and well lets just say the teachers didn't go light on it. 

SNOW DAY WE GOT A SNOW DAY!!!! and some other goodness.

Welcome to Monday's blog one and all!! I'm probably gonna use a ridiculous amount of exclamation points because I am in a pretty good mood. As teachers, we enjoy going to school. However, we are also a lot like elementary school students who have grown up, so when we get a snow day we get excited! Anyways, I think I speak for us all when I say that a nice day of rest is very welcome, so Monday will be spent sleeping in, watching Game of Thrones for some of us, getting ready for our final 6 days of school, and simply resting.

Once again we were able to have some pretty exciting adventures over the weekend. If you are an avid reader you know that last week we were lucky enough to get to see a whale be caught and butchered, which was incredible. So, now that there are whale parts laying around we are really on the lookout for polar bears. Sadly our bear count is still at zero, but I can feel it in my bones. One is coming... I promise...

Also this weekend we were able to go and get a tour of the Barrow search and rescue. It was incredible! Our friends Myron and Erik, who are pilots their were kind enough to give us a tour of their office, helicopters, and planes. Sadly no rides... yet... Anyways, they were also able to impart wisdom on us such as Myron saying: "To fly is great, but to hover is divine." Erik also had a great line of his own when explaining his love of flying by saying: "If I had the choice between a hot date or a hot airplane, you can bet I would be flying." They were both incredibly kind men who both were pilots in the army. They were really some of the nicest funniest people I have ever meet.

Finally, Friday we were able to just relax with our friend Rob who is a teacher at the college we are staying at. With Rob we were able to watch some movies that his students made this year then watch a movie about a Canadian cowboy. I can't remember the name, but it was pretty good. Alright, I think thats all I got. Oh yeah, Bethany has climbed out of her sickness hibernation and is looking forward to being able to get back to teaching her class. Alright, here come some pictures...

This is just a random picture of a tug boat that is out of commission... Pretty neat though eh? Eh? 

 This is some baleen from one of the whales that were butchered. This will now go to the local artists to make art out off.

This picture is part of our polar bear hunt. Word spread that there was a polar bear in this area and many people went over to start looking. Word on the street is that there is a bear somewhere out there in this picture. We were unable to find it, but if you see it let us know. 

At the church we went to on Sunday they read the scripture in english,  inupiaq, and hawaiian... because... you know... it's Barrow.

So, yes, this is a picture of a picture, but in the pilot in that helicopter is none other than our tour guide Myron. He said the blades of the helicopter were around 1 foot off the ice and he was at a 42 degree angle. Crazy right?? 

One of the helicopters at search and rescue. 

Here is Kayla ruining what would have been a GREAT PICTURE!!! But still pretty awesome nonetheless.

There will be blood

There will be blood in this blog post, don't say I didn't warn you. 

This week in Barrow whaling crews caught a total of 3 whales!  What we got to experience following the catches was incredible.  The sea ice has retreated so much this spring the crews dragged in whales on ropes by motorboat to get help hoisting them onto the ice instead of cutting up the whale themselves on ice miles off the mainland.  Locals said that they have never seen whales being butchered so close to shore in the springtime, which was really sad to hear.  Someone told us that Barrow may not even exist in 100 years if the sea levels keep rising at the rate they have been.  Try telling someone who lives in Barrow that global warming doesn't exist....

Helping pull the whale out!

Success!!!

Local children had a chance to climb atop the whale carcass before the whaling crew took their knives to it.  The whole whale was cut up and divided within a matter of hours.

Mmmm yum.

With a frozen layer of ice still under the road, it's pointless to start patching up potholes that currently sprinkle the streets. It usually takes 5 minutes for us to get to school; it's been taking at least 15 minutes to get there with the potholes... being in a car is like riding a horse.  An airport taxi hit a pothole last week and destroyed its front end.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Grass is visible!

Picture from a walk I took Friday night.  Barrow is so peaceful.

Whaling Wednesday!!

Usually my Wednesday blog post is really boring, but yesterday was so exciting, I couldn't blog until tonight! Barrow caught three whales yesterday! I will take you through our adventure with pictures. :)

After walking a ways onto the Arctic ice, we found the whale! Whalers put a flag up on their boats when they get a whale. They were waiting to pull it onto the ice.

Pulling the whale to straighten it out. We didn't get many pictures of the actual pulling, because we were all pulling and couldn't take pictures! You can, however, trust me. It was amazing. 

The whale is on the ice! The kiddos had to test out the blubber! 

The mouth of the whale. That is baleen, the whale's "teeth." This what filters the food into its mouth. Yes, we touched the inside of the mouth!

Whale belly! 

The men started butchering the whale as soon as it was on the ice. Lots of blood.

After cutting, they stabbed hooks into the blubber and pulled it down, away from the whale. Seriously, lots of blood.

Here we are (well some of us), after our hard work! We are so honored to have had the opportunity to join the Native community in pulling in the first whale!