Teach Alaska: I know, I know, It's been a while...

Hello friends & family-

So, it's been a long time since my last post. I'm hoping to do a couple more posts by the end of the year. Things have been going great here in Elim. I had a rough month in February feeling down and depressed but as the sun continued to climb back into my life I now feel back to normal. Speaking of the sun, it not comes up around 8 in the morning and doesn't go down until nearly 11:00. I suppose by next month we will have midnight sun as well. It's very odd to look out the window and 10:30 and see that it's still light out. But, kind of nice at the same time.

Let's see, I'm trying to think of things that have happened the in the past month or so. We will start with the Iditarod. First of all, I think it was the single most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. It was so exciting to track all the teams and see when they would pass through our village. When the first musher was 5 miles out people really started to gather at our village fire station. The first one to come through here was Mitch Seavey.( he won the race this year) He looked exhausted and crabby but stayed for a while with this dogs. The first thing they do is take care of all of their dogs. The vets come over and look at each dog and try to determine if any of them need to be dropped. The mushers NEED 6 dogs to finish the race, so even if they drop a couple, they can still race. I believe mushers are allowed to have a maximum of 16 dogs on their team. The musher then takes care of his dogs by bedding them with straw (if they are going to stay a while) so that the dogs can sleep, he/she feeds them, (multiple times because the dogs are burning around 10,000 calories a day) then he/she takes off their dog booties if they're wearing any, puts new ointment on their paws to protect them from cuts and scrapes and such and then finally takes care of themselves. I have seen the mushers feed their dogs very odd combinations of things. Meat on bones, kibble/water mix, stuff boiled in their pots that are on their sleds. It's very interesting to watch them do their routine. After all is done outside with the dogs, and if the musher plans on resting at the checkpoint for a bit, the dogs will sleep and the musher will go inside, warm up, get a bite to eat and take a catnap. The lead mushers never really stay too long, they want to get back out there and finish the race.

After the mushers leave Elim, they head out onto the sea ice past Golovin, and into White Mountain where they have a mandatory 8 hour layover. From there they make the final stretch to Nome where they finish. I witnessed 4 mushers come in on the first night, 9 nights after they began their journey. Most traveled for 9-11 hours on their journey from Koyuk to Elim. I can see how they would be exhausted at each checkpoint. Most men had frozen beards and mustaches, and most dogs had some very frozen paws, legs. They immediately start licking the ice off as soon as they get somewhere to rest.

I got to see some pretty amazing people and meet some of the mushers as well. Jeff King who arrived 2nd here in Elim and finished third in the race was really funny when he got here. The first words he said when he got off the sled and tossed his jacket aside were "Well, that was a son-of-a-bitch!" We all had to laugh. He was still in good spirits. On Tuesday during the day I took my kiddos on a field trip to the fire station. We were able to see 3 more mushers come in while we were there. Most of the kids were really interested, some just wanted to play outside in the snow banks lol They were so cute and funny going up to the mushers and asking them "what are you doing". They aren't shy at all of course.
That same morning while I was walking to work in the blackness .. I was stopped in the middle of the road by a musher who was coming across to go onto the sea ice. Was one of the best memories for me, watching them go across the sea ice in the pitch black with just their head lamp on guiding them. It was beautiful to see. I felt very blessed to see all that I did. I don't know that anyone I have ever met has been able to see the Iditarod, and in an Alaskan Bush village too.

We had a few days of really warm weather which teased us. It was in the high 30's at some point in the beginning of March. I was really sure that spring had arrived. However, I was very wrong. We got another 12 inches of snow during the little dribblers tournament and the last two weeks here it had been -15 to -20 every single morning when I walk to work. It's amazing how your body gets used to something like that, let me tell you. Today it was 30 out and it is suppose to just keep warming up from here on out. I'm sure we'll have some cold as well, but I think 30 feels like 80. Anything above 0 at this point is a blessing.

I only have 7 more weeks until I leave this village for good. A part of me is very sad. I don't like to think about it because I will miss the people here. They have been so kind and wonderful to me. I have made some great friendships here as well and of course I will miss the kids. I will miss their smiles and adventurous spirits. I know though, I have to leave. There are a number of reasons, but mostly my position may or may not be grant funded next year. We will not find out whether or not we will have funding for my position until July. Therefore, I have to leave. I can't wait around for 2 months wondering if I will have a job or not. I also can't just leave all my things up here in Elim and if i don't have a job... that would be a mess. Anyway, I am happy to start a new adventure in Florida where I plant to move and teach come August. Everyone needs to cross their fingers that I find a job :) My certification is currently in progress :) Either way, I finally have the money to support my dream of living by the ocean and walking a sandy beach... this in itself makes me happy.

Ok folks, thats all from me today. Lots of pictures to post.
XOXO Sammy