Marisa's Alaskan Adventure : New village, new school, new class, new addition to my family. :)

I can officially say I survived my first week of teaching. I can also say that I absolutely love my job. It is the most chaotic, stressful, time consuming, sometimes down right crazy job but it is also the most rewarding and I can say there is nothing else I would want to do. I'm very, very thankful for my class of 14 energetic, outgoing, silly 5th and 6th grade kids because they keep me on my toes and smiling - most of the time. ;) Let me just add that 10 of those 14 are boys.... so let's just think about that for a second! But I honestly wouldn't want it any other way!

My first week in Manokotak has been great. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better week. I'm exhausted, ready for a few days of not setting my alarm and have some free time but it really was a great week. My class is awesome and so much fun... makes me very excited to see what this school year has in store. Everyone in this school, well even this village, has been nothing but welcoming and the staff has been so much fun to work with.

I do have to update you all that my desk that was so nice and organized and uncovered is now, after only one week, covered with papers, book orders, post its, etc. All neatly labeled but covered none the less. Post its have become my best friend... if I do not write it down right when I'm thinking of it or right when a kid asks me to check on something or right when I need to remember something after school - forget it, it's gone and I won't remember. By the end of each day, I have about 15 post its on my desk to help me remember things and I'm perfectly fine with that! And lucky for me, my kids, like most kids do not forget anything... they'll remind me if it benefits them. ;)

I've had quite a few visitors this week... the students like to come visit me. I haven't let them past my doorway in fear that if I do, I won't ever get my space back again! So for now, my apartment remains my apartment and they can visit me at school or in my doorway. Not that I don't love them but I need some me time of course!

Yesterday after school was a day to just relax... I did cut my hair short. Time for a change and I figured, it's just hair, it'll grow back and I'm in a village so it's okay, haha. Then I heard a large amount of students outside my door and reluctantly I opened it to find at least 12 kids standing there holding a puppy up to my face. My kids knew I wanted a puppy so a few of them found one down in the village (which is 5 miles away keep in mind) and brought it to me! They're all sweethearts, I'll tell ya.

Today started with an early morning wake up call from my new roommate :) But she's completely worth it and then we went back to bed for a few hours. A bunch of us teachers took a five mile drive down to the post office, store and to see the village for the first time - at least for me and two of the other teachers it was the first time. We spent some time down there and then made our way back up here... Macy and I then went on a walk with Kelli the opposite way of town where there are some houses... I'm not sure how far it was but it felt pretty far and it was hot out!

I still haven't unpacked all my totes but I'm working on it today, as well as laundry and cleaning. Miss Macy has been napping all day --- what a rough life. ;)

Macy Nunaniq :) Nunaniq is the name of the school and in Yupik it means merry, joyous and it's often used to describe a beautiful day. She stole my heart from the beginning!