It's a Dalmatian Mobile!

 

        Upon my return to Tok, Alaska (on the road system but still a 7 hour drive from Anchorage) from my first year teaching in the Alaskan bush in Wales, Alaska, I decided I needed a car...so after some time searching on craigslist I found a cheap deal and bought a white Dodge mini-van which as you can see from this picture, I immediately began turning into my Dalmatian mobile.  It will be the perfect vehicle to tow my pooches around in, now all I need is a Dalmatian to add to my crew of puparoos. 

 And voila, the finished product...well minus the flat tire which is the result of endless winters in Alaska.

 

So how do I get around on a flat tire you may be asking?  I don't.  I don't need to get around because the only place to go in Tok is the grocery store which is a short bike ride away and anything else is too far  away from Tok anyways to be bothered by.

Or in other words I call on my friend Chris to car pool with.

 

And YES to answer the question I know you're thinking.  I do walk out of the grocery store to find tourists taking pictures of my car.

 

Now I just need a Dalmatian to go with it.

 

 

Oh the Places You'll Go! All the Stoves you will Paint!

 

        It's summertime in Tok, Alaska and that means painting at Tok Welding, where the renowned Chris Marshall builds the all-time Alaskan favorite Marshall stoves.  Here I am dressed in a painting outfit with my hair covered of course to avoid any stray flicks of paint that might fly that way.  He also builds burner units which are far larger and take a lot longer to paint, not to mention involve balancing on a step ladder at great heights while painting the top areas.  I've been trying to convince him to weld wings onto the wood stove and paint them in the pattern of bumble bees (I'm sure they'll become a hit) but he has yet to do so.  Maybe one day I'll design my own wood stove to go in my little pink cottage I will one day call home and visitors will dance with delight at my bumble bee wood stove, courtesy of Tok Welding.

Just taking a break from painting.

 

I think I may have gotten a smidge of paint on my dress.  Can you tell?
 

You Really Can See Russia From Your Window

 

    Whether it be from my bedroom window in the school where I live or on the helicopter pad waving to cruise ships that stop to honk at us, you never really can deny that you really can see Russia from your window or as the case of those men in the picture, from your boat seat.  Diomede, Alaska is too small for a runway and as of 2021 it has been about 6-7 years since the last plane flew to Diomede during the winter months.  This is because global warming has weakened the ice and it no longer gets thick enough for planes to land on.  What does this mean?  This means that daily flights are no longer existent and passenger flights only come once a week on Monday, weather permitting, while mail comes Wednesday.  It is not uncommon for those of us in the village to go 2-3 weeks without mail or passenger flights and sometimes we go as long as 6 weeks although that hasn't happened for at least a few years.  While this cruise ship only honked at us from afar, another came a few days later where the passengers actually disembarked and visited our school where the villagers shared Eskimo dancing with them.  As a treat many of my students were taken aboard the cruise ship to go swimming and enjoy some nice Scandinavian meals.

Farewell Diomede, Alaska!

 
   The day is Tuesday, May 2, 2021 and I am to depart Diomede, Alaska along with the two other teachers, there being only 3 of us out there.  The chopper had cancelled the day before due to inclement weather and likely would have done the same this day as well had it not been for a bit of nudging by our principal Mr. G.  Only one teacher is returning next year and having spent two years living and teaching on this rock only leaving once to journey home for the summer and then return, it was quite challenging.  For a full 10 months of school it was just the principal and myself out here, myself teaching pre-k through 5th and he teaching 6th-11th as there were no 12th graders.  I survived weeks worth of freezing temperatures in the school when the heat sporadically went out, 2.5 weeks of melting snow to flush toilets and bath in a tote with only sparingly, and the daily question of would our one water tower last until summer thaw in July when the artesian well would thaw and start to flow again. None of the villagers had running water in their homes.  Instead their days were occupied by hauling 5 gallons of water to their homes up broken board walks or ice steps, cutting their own ice to melt for water, and carrying their honey buckets down to empty on the ice.  The children were charming although teaching so many grade levels in one class was not without its own challenges.  I wonder if one day I will return to Diomede, Alaska and while only time will tell I wish them the best in the upcoming years and the brave teachers who venture out to spend a year living on a rock.  You all ROCK!

 

         During our last week of school the students were able to paint a "Hope" sign in the gym to symbolize our strive for suicide awareness and prevention in the community of Diomede and as part of a suicide prevention course I was taking.  (Note: I only feel permitted to show the student's faces because this picture was posted publicly on the bssd.org school website).  My best wishes for Diomede to continue their suicide prevention and outreach program in conjunction with Norton Sound Health.