Snowed In

As I write this, I am currently snowed in at a different village. We are waiting for the call that our plane is coming to get us.

I went along on a volleyball trip at the last minute to see my team play. I was supposed to stay in Marshall to allow a student to travel, but one player cancelled the night before we left. Friday was a half-day, so I made it through the morning and then boarded a plane to Alakanuk with nine of our players. I was excited to see another village; I have friends here whom I met at the teacher training in Anchorage. Alakanuk is a coastal village downriver from us.

Just FYI: Alakanuk is pronounced [uh-luck-uh-nuck]. Hit the second syllable, but don't hit the -ck sound very hard; it's more of a guttural glaze. Do hit hard the last -ck sound. Try it. Good!

Leaving the village, we were ranked 3rd in our district. We played great Friday night, winning both of our games. We stayed in one of the classrooms and got up the next morning to play Scammon Bay, who is ranked 1st. We lost that match, but gave them their only competition of the weekend and proved we could hang with them. Our team played well and hard, and they knew it, so that is a good sign. We are now tied with another school for 2nd in the district, and Marshall hosts the regional tournament in a couple weeks. Guess who gets to be the Site Coordinator for that event? It will be a lot on my plate, but that's the way things are done around here. I will get a stipend about equal to a loan payment for doing that, so I said "sign me up!" Actually, it was sort of my turn anyway. The kindergarten and 1st/2nd grade teachers pretty much ran the last sports event.

After our match Saturday morning, we packed up and waited for the call to get on the plane. It never came. We knew by 3:00 pm that if no plane had made it to Alakanuk, then we were going to be staying the night. First, a blizzard in Marshall prevented us from leaving. Then, a second blizzard came through, hitting Alakanuk and grounding us here. At first I was a little peeved, because often it feels like our personal time as teachers gets robbed on the weekends; we are the ones running the games, planning and running the carnivals and dances, cleaning up after all these events, etc. Saying "no" doesn't feel like a reasonable option, because if we let these events fail, guess who hears about it? Parents don't often help, and students...well, some help and some do not.

OK, I am done venting now.

Being "weathered in" ended up being a bit of a blessing, because I got my lesson plans mapped out for next week, chatted with friends and family, caught up on some reading, and actually got more sleep than I would have had I been at our own village - the kids had a curfew, so I did too! The school fed us three square meals daily and put together a movie night, so we were well taken care of during our stay. Alakanuk's store is about three times the size of ours, so it was a fun trip to go see the variety they offer - dark chocolate at $7 a bar, all types of chips at $8.50 a bag, a decent amount of produce, and even some clothing. I bought some chocolate and - gasp - oranges! I haven't had a decent orange since, well, Anchorage in August. Needless to say, I'm super excited about that fresh fruit.

Another bonus of the trip was that the senior girls opened up to me. It's fun to get to know them outside the classroom, finding out what kind of music they like, which boys cause them trouble, and what they want to do in life. They are whip-smart, I tell you, but I only wish that they knew that fact and believed it more fully. Some of them do, but at the same time they are disheartened by what they see as a lack of freedom for them. To do well in school and leave the village for college is acceptable. However, to leave the village for college and not someday return to their own or another village is seen as desertion of their family and culture, which is an unfair burden to place on a teen. (I should insert here that this sentiment is not stated explicitly but definitely understood as an accepted social construct.) I was never anything but encouraged to go out and make my mark in the world, but these brilliant girls receive mixed messages. They work hard in school and are exposed to all kinds of ideas via the internet, so they truly are aware of various career paths. Even so, too many girls become pregnant shortly after high school; a pregnancy is a celebrated event, no matter the age at which it occurs.

To give you a better perspective, the 8th and 9th grade boys ask me why I don't have a "honey" or any kids at my age. "Don't you like kids?" they ask. "Of course I do; I'm a teacher," I tell them. "I just don't want them yet. What is wrong with that?" Generally, I get a confused look from them. The girls, however, give me a knowing one that says that they, too, would like to do other things with their lives, not necessarily instead of having kids, but in addition to it; doing so just doesn't seem like a viable option for them. That is not to say that the boys think of themselves as better than the girls; they just do not seem to be aware that girls also have goals in their lives besides having kids right away.

In this day and age, it both saddens and infuriates me that these girls still feel less valued and that they have less autonomy than their male counterparts in these the "great" United States of America, the land of opportunity. Yes, they do come from a different culture than the majority of Americans, but the looks on their faces say that they do not truly believe that kind of opportunity is available to them. It's a shame, and I'm thankful that my upbringing and community was devoid of it. If nothing else, I hope to teach these girls to be proud of themselves, to believe in their talents, and to go for their goals.

On a different note, some of the older kids have mentioned that they are frustrated with the lack of age-appropriate reading books that our library offers. Any chance y'all at TLC would be willing to donate some used books to our library? I'm not sure of any specific authors or titles right now, but I could ask. The girls have said that they are not that picky, but that they are a bit bored with the following themes: Aleutian, slavery, and "on the streets." As for the boys, right now I'm thinking science fiction, mystery, and/or some type of action would be safe genres; remember, these are outdoorsy types. Just to be clear, I'm not thinking along the lines of the Twilight series...the boys have definitely voiced their opinions on that one.

As you can see, I've had plenty of time to think this weekend. I don't have pictures for this post because I'm sure you all know what a blizzard looks like. We've been told that we will definitely fly today, which is good because I would like use my own shower and cook my own food again. I probably will not be fully ready for the week, but, eh, that's nothing new. Thanks for reading!