Avoid the dark spots....

Well ladies and gentlemen I had success today on a couple of fronts. Academically I seem to have gotten a couple of kids fired up about the spending of the Corporations money in Kipnuk and how nothing is really coming of it. Millions of dollars are getting dropped here and there and certain structures like a washeteria have been sitting half built for years now. 4.5 Million dollars for a new airport, lights on the runway and such, still nothing, no change. My students seemed to have gotten a little miffed and we sent some business letters to the corporation inquiring as to what was going on with the funding. I was tempted to use the kids original letters without improvements in language and punctuation because you could hear their voice very clearly through their words. However I was slightly torn between trying to get the Corporation to respond and having them mock my students out right. So we improved language a little bit, made it sound more professional and I will see if the COrporation chooses to respond. They might not or they may I honestly have no idea, however they way things are kind of run out here it seems like it may be able to put Tammany Hall to shame. Ignorance is bliss, and without any accountability the Native Corporation can run roughshod over these people. The first step is becoming aware of it. I feel that maybe some of my most important instruction has come in this last week. We have worked on how to fill out a job application and what goes into each box, how to officially request information, and how to increase our local awareness for events. I am pretty proud of my students, a lot of the times I feel this education out here is almost a sham in preparing the students for any kind of realistic job outside of the Bush or Bethel. If you cant work your way around the application itself how can you hope to even get considered for employment. There are huge gaps in the education out here and I am going through the first throes of trying to figure out of how not to just get by, but how can I get these kids honestly ready for life after highschool. This summer I am going to have to do some serious evaluating of what practices to ditch and what to fight for. But once again I am jumping ahead.

I had an incredible trip on the tundra today. ALtough it began with me stepping/sinking about two feet into a river I learned some valuable lessons, "Always avoid the dark spots." I spent the remainder of the trip squishing about until we ran into another villager on a snowmachine and he noticed my wet pant legs. He said he would be right back with something that would help. My student and myself continued onward and when he returned he had in his mitts lots of grass. he told me to remove my socks and boots and wrap my feet in the grasses. I tried it out and then put my socks on over the grasses and into my mudboots. Although it was initially very scratchy as the grasses got a little worn it was actually quite comfortable and dry. I stayed out on the tundra for a good number of hours after school and I was amazed at how the tundra smells. It has quite a pleasent aroma as I was getting low as possible while my student took aim at the geese flying overhead. It was wet and raining while we were out but man I felt Like I could walk through anything in those mudboots. (Just as long as it wasn't a river) We walked about two/three miles outside of the village and after running into many of my students who werent in school that day I eventually got a little too chilled and decided to call it a day around 8:30 PM. It just so happened that I was able to hitch a ride on a passing snowmachine and went Qatuq for the first time. Qatuq is when you go across water on a snowmachine, and it seemed likle we were almost stuck for a little while, but with a little rocking and shaking we were able to get free and continue on homeward bound. It was a fun little adventure and I got to spend some quality time out in the tundra, it is so soft, I felt like I could just go to sleep out there. Inhaling those pleasant fragrances of labrador, mosses, and lichens. We landed only one goose but I got to see some dead cranes, live cranes, owls, ptarmigans, all types of birds, as my student patiently allowed me to point out everything that seemed to be flying. He drew the line when I pointed out an airplane however, apparently Mr Broz can be a little dense at times. It was kind of an action packed Wednesday and hopefully I coast this week from here on out. Til next time ladies and gentlemen, and remember, "Avoid the dark spots"