Monday, December 1, 2014

Halloween & Thanksgiving in Napakiak

Halloween in Napakiak was so fun! We got to carve two pumpkins and I roasted the seeds to share with my students. 


So cute! On Halloween I let my students "change" their names to something new! Most of them wanted to be the character they were dressed as, but it was hard to remember new names for the day! I dressed as a witch and I made all of my students call me Miss Witch. It was funny! We also played pumpkin, pumpkin, witch instead of duck, duck, goose.

Nik and I made homemade candy corn! It turned out tasting kinda like vanilla flavored taffy...but it was fun!



We got 18 new books from the book fair thanks to our principal! One morning we took time to pass them around and get a peek at some new pages! The kids really seemed to enjoy it. 



Two weeks ago I went with the wrestling team to Kwethluk, another village about 20 minutes away. Girls can wrestle on the same team as boys, so I was the female chaperone. It was really fun! Of course, we traveled to the tournament by plane. :) We also all get to the airport by sitting in the back of the truck.


This is the view from my kitchen window. Some kids tried to visit me last week and were on my back porch. 

Thanksgiving here was fun. Only 4 out of the 7 teachers were here, but we all had a nice meal together. Black Friday shopping....nothing. This year was actually the first year the Corp Store in Napakiak had a Black Friday Sale. At 8 a.m. everything was 40% off and as the hours passed the percentage off decreased. We decided not to make the trek to the store. However, Nik and I went to the post office every single day of our break. I was waiting for a frozen cooler from my dad that contained our Thanksgiving meal! Unfortunately, it got here 2 days after Thanksgiving and arrived 8 days after the estimated arrival date. It was so sad opening the box and finding some food spoiled and broken open. If you know my dad, you know that he called the Post Office and complained. He says he's going to get a refund. One thing that lasted in the box were homemade pierogies! So delicious and something I definitely miss from home.  


There it is!



The sunsets here are so beautiful. They look like this almost every day. The darkness is coming. Today's sunrise was 10:32 a.m and sunset was 4:41 p.m. It's so weird! The weather has been fairly warm, however. Right now it's only 36 degrees...but it feels warm! We went outside today for a little recess break and the kids were making snowmen because we got a bunch of snow yesterday!






A cute dog followed me home a few days ago. We also have a few foxes running around the village. I saw one the other night..a little scary!

Time is going so fast! I can't believe it's already December 1st! I will be home for Christmas on December 21st...I can't wait! I already have a list of places I want to go while I'm home. When I arrive in Philadelphia my Dad and I are going to get cheesesteaks and then visit my cousin who lives in Philly. Only 14 more school days!! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and be around a real Christmas tree!

Christmas shopping in rural Alaska is just a little different from home. I can't go to the closest mall unless I travel 400 miles and take two planes. However, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping thanks to Amazon. My prime membership really pays off because I get free shipping...even if I have to wait a little longer to get my orders. 

20 days until I'm in the state of Pennsylvania again!!

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