The moment most of us have been waiting for has arrived… the
first snow of the winter! Halloween ended up being a somewhat sunny but cold
day and the rain/snow held off for the trick or treaters! The next day was a
sunny, very cold day and so we knew it was only a matter of time until the snow
started falling. Friday after school the snow started coming down and it was a
beautiful sight. It continued through the night so this morning we woke up to a
very windy, but snowy day! Throughout today, the rain has started and so the
snow is slowly disappearing and turning to slush…. Not as pretty.
The past few weeks have been pretty normal – the kids have
been a little crazier and having some more trouble listening than usual but
they’re still not bad. I’ve had some crazy moments during school but nothing I
couldn’t handle. This first year of teaching sure has a load of experience for
me. Experience that I am, usually after the fact, very grateful for.
My first Halloween as a teacher was fun… knowing the day was
going to be a little crazy, I planned a fun day. We did a science project and
made slime, wrote some Halloween poems,
made pasta skeletons and wrote a story using adjectives about our slime,
etc. It sure was crazy, as I imagined but it was a fun day and we had a good
time. After school they kids started trick or treating. There’s no set time
here so the kids start when they want and go until whenever they feel like it.
I had my first trick or treaters around 4 and ran out of candy at around 7:30
but I was told that some teachers still had kids coming around 9:30….. with
that being said, the kids up super late and full of candy made for a not ideal
Friday. Lucky for me, we’re talking about the Ice age in Social Studies so
guess what movie we got to watch and then compared to our textbook? Yup, Ice
Age Continental Drift – perfect!
Today has been a day of cleaning, playing outside in the
snow with Macy and some kids and being lazy with a four wheeler ride thrown in
there. Later is our weekly Saturday dinner with friends. A pretty good
Saturday, I’d say. : )
Macy and her new friends (Jason and Crystal's dogs), Tessa and Attica.
Otter... I can't remember if I posted this before or not so if so, sorry!
A cuddly Macy is my favorite!
Not so green anymore!
Aurora showing off her new baby Aurora doll and her high heels.
Macy and I say thanks for the package, Aunt Donna, Uncle Joe, Pam, Susie, John and Jared. :)
Love my Christmas lights up! And Macy loves her new blanket!
Treats for my kids!
Happy Halloween - LeEsia and I!
Making slime!
M.A.... my aid and some kids making slime!
My finished product ... love this stuff!
A break from the rain and before the snow!
What I get when a 1st grader takes our pictures!
She was loving this!
Four wheeling in the snow/rain with LeEsia!
I decided to add a little Yupik to this post because I
finally remembered to bring my notes home with me. But, before I go into all of
that, I thought I’d say that I was given a Yupik name. All the natives,
including my kids, have a Yupik name. They were given these names when they
were young by their elders; usually in honor of someone who has past or someone
else in their family. The Yupik names have meanings and I was given one that
means pretty and beautiful. My aid in my classroom who is a native from the
village gave me the name Kenegaar. That doesn’t sound at all how it looks –
it’s more like ‘gu-nika-naq’. I’m still learning to say it but I was really,
really excited and even honored to have her give me a name. That’s some special
to me.
Here are the months:
Iralull’er – January, which means bitter or ugly moon.
Kanruyauciq – February, which means frosty moon – everything
is covered in frost.
Kepnerciq – March, the breaking of winter’s hardships, some
longer and warmer days.
Tengmiirvik – April, meaning the melting snow that forms
lakes and rivers again as well as birds arriving and bears awake.
Kayangut Annutiit – May, time to start hunting for the wild
bird eggs.
Kaugun – June, which means the fish arrive in the streams.
Ingun – July, birds gather in the grassy marshes to molt,
eat and rest.
Tengun – August, which means the molting and resting are
done and the feathers grow back on the birds so they can fly again.
Amirairvik – September, which happens to mean that the moose
begin to shed the velvet off their antlers.
Qaariitaarvik – October, spirits are reflected by the
present day trick or treaters.
Cauyarvik – November, meaning there are native gatherings
and dances that use the native drums. Families have their own dances that
celebrate the families food they hunted.
Uivik (wee-vick) – December, the turning point.
A few other random words that I’ve learned are:
Kemek – meat
Nutek – gun
Tuntuvak (dun-to-vak) – moose
Circunrek – antlers
Nuussiq – knife
Just a few things for now…. I can always post more later.
Sorry it took me so long. : )
Macy and I start venturing home in about 48 days… woo hoo! Miss
you all <3
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