Frozen Fabulousness

Snow in my front yard

Today marks the first “big” snow of the season!  Pretty exciting!  And it warmed up today too!  It’s been right around 0˚F for the last week.  Today it was above 30!  Whoa!

My "back yard"

Last week, Rick and I took the high school kids out to the dump to talk to them about waste and how it relates to their community and where it goes.  Then we took them to the stream, where the dump water run-off leads to.  The stream was completely frozen.  Of course, the kids immediately started skating on it.  I wish I had my camera!  Then we took them closer to the river, where the stream leads, trying to make the connection between trash and water.  However, playing on the ice was much more fun!  The next day, we took the kids back out, and watched one of them set a trap.  It was pretty interesting.  We found a wolverine skull on our way.  Also cool.  One of the students picked up the skull, looked at me, and said, “Do you need any souvenirs for you friends or family back in Colorado?”

Side Note:  They bet on when the rivers freeze up here.  Depending on what river, depends on how much you can win.  The Nushagak River (the river I live by) usually has a winning pool of more than I make in a year apparently!  Crazy!

Dillingham

Last weekend, I flew to Dillingham to take the Praxis I.  That was the first time I have left the village since I got here in August.  We left on Friday and came back on Saturday.  It was the longest test ever!  It was actually 3 tests:  Reading, Writing, and Math.  Just to stay licensed in the state of Alaska.

One of my classes is Current Issues in Science, and they decided they wanted to learn about mining, due to the Pebble Mine Project.  Pebble Mine is potentially the world’s largest producing gold mine in the world (nation...world...I don’t remember.  It’s big!).  The problem is that it is located at the headwaters of the Nushagak River, as well as 2 other rivers, and right next to Lake Iliamna.  The Nushagak has the world’s largest salmon runs, which is important for the subsistence lifestyle up here, as well as commercial fisheries and business.  Anyway, that class wrote letters to local state representatives about their opinions on Pebble Mine.  We got a letter back from the governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell.  That was pretty cool.  It’s actually a raised-seal, and self-signed (we analyzed it).  I’m going to frame the letter for them, because I think it’s a pretty big deal for kids here.

Freezing Rivers and Tundra

Local Religions...

There's two churches in Koliganek.  A Russian Orthodox church and another Christian-like church (sorry for whoever's reading this, but I'm not quite sure what Christian sect the church is affiliated with, nor will I probably find out).  Most of the Natives in the village attend the Russian Orthodox church.  The other church is run by a former, retired teacher.  From what I understand, not many people attend his church.

This last weekend I got invited to a wedding! She's the mother of one of my high school students. The wedding was held at the Russian Orthodox church, with a big reception afterwards.  The service was interesting.  First off, please note, I really dislike churches, due to my own past experiences.  So going to this was a big deal for me.  When you walk in, men stand to the right, women on the left.  There are only a few chairs, for the elders.  The Russian Orthodox church smells very strongly of incense.  There's pictures of religious icons everywhere.  As the church leaders come in, they all kiss the icons that are on the main podiums and make the sign of the cross with their hand.  The service is given through song and chant.  Everything is said in threes.  Crowns are placed on the bride's and groom's head at one point, as a symbolic gesture.  It's quite a long ceremony (over an hour, I believe).  At the end, everyone lines up to kiss the cross the priest is holding and congratulate the bride and groom.  If you're not a member of the church, you just shake hands and continue on your way.  (Now...on a personal note:  This was definitely a very religious ceremony for me.  In terms of my comfort zone, it was definitely not where I normally feel "okay."  So, all in all, I survived, didn't burst into flames, and walked out without crying.  That's HUGE for me!)

After the wedding, there was a reception at the school.  I'm pretty sure our whole village came, as well as most of New Stuyahok (the village just south of us, which is where the groom is from).  There was a buffet feast, completely with salmon, turkey, ham, chicken, beaver, mashed potatoes, potato salad, agutak, pie, etc.  Everything was very tasty (beaver tastes like roast, for future reference).  Afterwards, there was a dance, but I headed home for the evening.  It was a Sunday, and wanted to avoid any trouble (which was apparently a smart idea).

I don't know much about the other church.  Honestly, I'm not interested in finding out more (if you know me, you understand why).  Besides, the man who runs it is gone for the winter, so I'm not sure there's a lot to learn right now anyway...