Sticker Shock?

Monday night we perused the local fare one last time to see how else we could spend the last few bits of cash that would weigh us down in the plane ride home. We headed to Morris Trading Post- one of two grocery stores in Noorvik, neither of which have any label or advertisement on the outside giving you any indication of what is inside. On our first visit we slowly cracked the front door and peered in hoping not to interrupt a family dinner.
I knew some folks at home - especially in Michigan- wouldn't believe me when I relayed the prices, so here's the proof:
Dasani Water (regular size) $3.89 Canned fruit: $3.79 Potatoes: 13.95$ a bagDiapers: $28.75 for Pampers, more for another brand

Dish soap: $5.19 for the cheapest, $7.02 for Dove brand dish soap

Big can o'coffee: $18.86

1/2 gallon of milk: $11.35!!!!

Cookies: $7.79

Cool whip: $5.85 -milk products seem the most inflated of the bunch

$8.39 for a large bag of popcorn kernels

$20.97 for a box of Tide detergent...this is starting to sound like those Visa commercials...

$ 4.35 for your typical boxed cake mix

Fructis shampoo: $7.33 a bottle and Dove: $9.51 a bottle

$11.69 is the special for a 5 pack of mac & cheeseCookie mix: $4.87 a bag

Starbucks coffee: $16.19 for 12oz

Fuel was pricey as well, I think it ran about 8$ or 9$ a gallon, but in areas like Noatak we heard, where the river is too shallow to drive a barge full of supplies and fuel in the summer, all fuel must be flown in and it can run $15.00/gallon. Yet trucks were still seen in Noorvik, able to drive to surrounding villages on the frozen river.

A Brand New Week!

We spent Monday at school observing in the high/middle school wing (pictured below)and trying to help out as best we could. Each room had a label in English, Braille, and Inupiat all throughout the school. This new school is only about 7 years old and is in the same spot as the old school.Classes went well; they were filled with your typical Monday morning tired and yawning students. The majority of students showed up before class started to grab some breakfast in the cafeteria or play with the Chinchillas in Amy's science class. Larry is pictured below; he was a ham, his girlfriend Mary was a bit shy and tended to bite.The majority of the senior class rolled in about half way through first period and began working on their graduation announcements and planning for their senior trip to Hawaii since most had completed their class requirements already.Seniors have been raising funds for their trip for the last few years in any way they could. One lucrative method was to sell pop and candy to other students from the Senior Store which was also a popular hangout for many of the seniors throughout the day. In interviews with various students we found that drinking 4-6 cans of pop a day was pretty typical.

Classes ran very similar to any other class back in Fairbanks; in math, students had 'bell work' as they entered class: problems on the board they started on right away without being told to do so. Math classes were highly differentiated. In the middle school math class they each had their own Saxon math book but they were all on different problem sets all the way from 3rd grade to the high school level. Each student worked by themselves to get their problem sets done then they would take the test and turn it into Amy to be graded. If they got most all correct they were able to go onto the next problem set. If they missed them any they had to correct them and try again. They had to get through 5 problem sets before Friday to get a free day which was actually just a day where the students could play math games instead of book work. Most students chose to work hard to get a 'free day' at the end of the week but some students procrastinated and would have to work that day. In science Amy handed the middle schoolers a new project today that they could work on while she travelled with the Seniors to Hawaii. Their project was titled: "Noorvik: How We Work' and listed a few different topics including electricity, sewer, trash, and water and gave students about 12 questions they had to answer concerning their topic and how it related to Noorvik. The students also have the challenge of teaching what they learned to a younger class and planning a field trip. In an attempt to help Amy (pictured above), who along with most every other teacher in the bush who has barely any time for themselves between their prepping for 6 different classes, coaching and volunteering with after school events (not to mention spend time with their families), I volunteered to help organize their monstrosity of a mineral and rock collection.

There were partially-full boxes of random unnamed and unorganized rocks everywhere, but eventually, at about 10:30pm, I was able to make some sense of it and had successfully created 5 very nice rock and mineral boxes as well as a few other miniature kits organized by rock type. ...I'm almost thinking of making this into a career...travel from bush school to bush school organizing, rock.....any takers?

Over the River and through the brush...

So what does it mean when the living conditions here are nicer than in Fairbanks?
Naomi is a brave young teacher fresh out of teacher school who, for some strange reason, finished her student teaching in an inner-city school near Chicago and decided to go (or got tricked) into teaching in bush Alaska. If that culture shock weren't enough for this young Midwesterner her stint as a high school English teacher was cut short when the 2nd grade teacher left for medical reasons and Naomi had to bite the bullet and take over. What a trooper!

She lives where many of the teachers do; in the old elementary school on the hill by the remains of the old village. The classrooms have been remodeled into one and two bedroom apartments that look out over the Kobuk River at the foothills of the Brooks Range. Her bathroom is also way bigger than mine. After a hearty Easter brunch courtesy of the Eakins family, Mollia and I decided to trek over the river and into the brush on a quest for semi-wildlife. I'm specific here because there was a polar bear in town not too long ago. There are actually photos in the classroom we're staying in that remind me everyday that there could be a massive well-camouflaged mammal stalking me every time I step outside the school. It's quite comforting actually.

We passed by Anuk Lake (Inupiaq for 'poo pond': the lake in town where the village's sewage used to be dumped)- children were sledding down onto the frozen pit of poo. Nice place for a picnic eh? Anyways.......So off we went into the wild white yonder without telling anyone where we were headed, without a gun, without a GPS, without a map, without food stuffs, without matches...hmmm how many survival rules have we broken already? As we crossed the river leaving town towards the fish camps we were passed by young boys out for ptarmigan.
Consisting of smokehouses and drying racks, fish camps line the river bank across the way from the village. Elders told us last night they used to be on the same side as the town until the kids started messing with the gear- sounds like these kids need to be put to work.
A lonely basketball net looks a bit out of place on the banks of the river.
Mollia took the time to break in her new carharts in a roll down the riverbank, while I promised not to photograph her-psych!
Evinrudes pop their heads from the drifts along the river just waiting for break-up.

Strolling back through town we pass the only church in town-Friends Church-quite a crowd from the looks of the parking lot!

"In the Pines"

Sno-gos and wheelers lined the Noorvik main street outside the Community Center Saturday afternoon as folks gathered for the musher's awards banquet.

Built in 1978, according to an Elder we chatted with, the Community Center provides a place for the community to get together for special events as well as play bingo.

Noorvik residents watched as Streeper was handed his 1st place trophy from the three days of racing. In his 100 consecutive days of being in Alaska, this Canadian musher has won all but one of the races he has entered.

All the mushers were so appreciative as they thanked the town for their support and hospitality. Many offered Noorvik residents, who may travel in the future, a place to stay at their own homes to reciprocate the hospitality.

The ladies worked hard to create a huge spread which included turkey, mashed potatoes, ham, caribou stew, sheefish chowder, pastas and desserts.

Following tradition, Elders ate first followed by the mushers and their crews and then the rest of us. Mollia and I stayed after to help clean up and ended up doing the dishes from the banquet for the ladies who had worked so hard to make the great feast and were the ones that had invited us at the races to the dinner. Once the dishes and the kitchen were clean we left for prom. As we exited the hall full of Elders that were starting to gather for the live music, they thanked us in echoes of Taikkuu! which filled the room (sounds like: Te'Gu!). What a wonderful feeling.

We returned after a brief visit to the prom for the live music. Principal Doyle Horton even participated playing guitar with the band (white shirt above).

Mollia filmed many of the songs. 'In the Pines' was a crowd favorite sung by the drummer.

This young girl was the Belle of the Ball with her shockingly great vocals and lack of fear.

Gospel songs as well as old country western tunes were the songs of choice for the night. When I complimented the lady on her gorgeous voice (pictured below) she simply stated "lots of practice".

The band played throughout the night while people from the audience took turns in a sort of open-mic forum. Edith (pictured below) and her husband Paul of 50 years in May, chatted with us for much of the night and filled us in on the singers, many of which were their children, grandchildren, or adopted children & grandchildren.

At one point in the night an Elder in the audience (not pictured) stood up and asked the crowd to join her standing and singing a traditional song. The band played as the crowd sang. Mollia glanced back with an excited look; we both felt pretty fortunate to be a part of this.

The closing singer (at least for us, we left yawning at 1:00am) was awesome and the crowd went wild. He started each song by saying the title of the song he was covering and then would add the phrase: 'in Indian style'. He would crouch down for many songs and then would leap up in parts of the song. What an entertainer!

Oh yeah.... and the Prom went well. The girls did a great job decorating, but as with most high school dances the dancing itself was limited as the wallflowers hung out by the pie and punch.

Dogs, Dogs, & more Dogs!

Noorvik is a community rich with sno-gos and dogs, but this week especially; LOTS of dogs. Residents open their homes to traveling mushers and yelping dogs excited to show their stuff in the three days of racing.
Between the teacher inservice day and multiple goes at stimulating the local economy, we made it down to the river for the last day of the dog sled races. Folks and their machines lined the channel's edge as the mushers assembled their teams on the river. Fur hats were everywhere, as were little kiddies trying to take you out with their make-shift sleds.
The Stephen Sampson Memorial Sled Dog Race was holding its final of three 16 mile races. Mushers were from all around the northwest and were running between 13 and 18 dogs. I recognized Buddy Streeper(#2), a Canadian musher, from races held in Fairbanks.
The dogs are so excited as they approach the line other people and sometimes snowmachines have to help the musher hold onto the sled to keep the dogs from pulling it away from him.
Spectators cheered on the mushers at the start with muffled clapping from thick mittens.

We gathered once again on the beach about an hour later to welcome the racers to the finish line.

As we retreated from the beach a rare traffic jam materialized in the arctic as the race fans headed towards the community hall to start preparing for tonight's turkey feast in celebration of the race.We'll find out later tonight at the awards banquet who had the combined fastest time. More to come.....