Journeying to Diomede, Alaska

 

So many of you are probably wondering how one gets to Diomede, Alaska.  Well first you must fly Alaska Air to Nome, Alaska and overnight in a hotel as the flight from Anchorage to Nome does not arrive early enough to be able to make it for the scheduled flight to Diomede.  Just a note, passenger flights are only once a week one Mondays and that's only if the weather is good.  My first year going out here we were stranded in Nome until Friday due to inclement weather with me wondering if I had enough cat food left.

I stayed at the lovely Nugget Inn.  It doesn't have the best reputation but they're pet friendly and allowed 3 cats so I can't complain.  Service was great and the welcoming desk was very helpful.  In fact on my stay departing my 2nd year in Diomede the inn keepers 6 year old daughter insisted on helping me with my kitties.

 

Gwendolyn prefers the solitude of the lone fridge but don't worry, she snuggled up come night time.

 Mushki has no complaints.  💭Ah...this is the life.💭  For those of you with pets you can also board your animals at the Nome Animal House as well.  I can't say Mushki would approve of such a choice as she prefers the comfort of kitty tested mattresses but as you wish.

Ready to depart.  Make sure you bring a warm jacket or coat even in the summer as it gets chilly up this way.  The principal was kind enough to lend me his.  

 Away we go!  The kitties are pack up tight...getting ready for lift off.

 

Did you know that Pathfinder encourages everyone to be prepared for an emergency landing?  Hmmm...I don't fancy overnighting here.

 This is it...almost there.

 

Nearing arrival.  As you can see Little Diomede is towards the right and Big Diomede is on the left where the Russian military base is located.

 

 After we departed the helicopter villagers mentioned a whale off in the distance.  I looked but didn't see it.  After 5 days of being delayed in Nome, Alaska where even the superintendent offered to treat us to a movie (only Rob and I weren't interested) we finally made it to Diomede and after this flight...NO FLIGHTS FOR 3+ WEEKS!!!  We made it out just in the knick of time.  Good thing I sent out 3 months of cat food earlier this summer.  What' the cause for the delay you ask?  Because something went wrong mechanically with the chopper and it took 3 weeks to get the part to Nome after all of the delays.  This meant that some of our students who were suppose to come the week after us (or considering we didn't arrive until Friday, 3 days later that following Monday) ended up missing 3 weeks of school.  Golly, like it isn't hard enough teaching pre-k through 5th grade in one class, now I have to catch up students in varying grade levels who missed an entire month of school. 

 

We're finally home.  Yes, it has been a loooonnng trip and the kitties are happy to be in their home for the next year even if it is a classroom.  The three musketeers are pooped.

My Crib in Diomede, Alaska

 

So you may be wondering what life is like for teaching living on Diomede, Alaska (note: I say "on" not "in" because Diomede is a rock that we live on).  Well here are pics of my crib.  Now this is my classroom I moved into for the start of my 2nd year teaching in Diomede now that the other teacher has left after 6 wonderful years on this marvelous rock.  Unlike my first classroom which was smaller, lacking in any sink or water access meaning I had to go downstairs to brush my teeth, and did not have any furniture, not even a couch, this classroom is the largest one in the school and has it's own private kitchen.💬Oh la la.  I rearranged the furniture to create a living room and dining room area.  And yes that is a closet in the background that while previously used to store supplies has now been cleaned out and fashioned with a hanging broom stick utilized as a clothing rod.

As you can see, Lorelei really digs this new couch alongside the leftover blanket and pillow left by the previous teacher.  💭This is a step up Mom from our last joint, Paws UP!💭

I use folding fans to divide my living space...well when Lorelei doesn't cause them to fall over by climbing on them...sigh.  I think she's just a little bored.  And for those of you wondering why I hang my clothes like this...this is before I found a way to transform my closet with a broomstick.  How else was I suppose to store my dresses?  In a drawer?  No way.

 When boredom strikes there is always the kitchen cabinet to rest in overlooking the ocean.  This is a huge improvement from the last year when I didn't even have a private kitchen and had to go outside of my living quarters, past the gym where all of the community members gathered nightly to play, just to get some water, brush my teeth, wash my face, or cook my food.

Despite being in the Arctic and it being below zero outdoors, the heat sensors in this part of the school stopped working years ago which often means it is around 90 degrees in our sleeping quarters even with the windows open.  Can you say pure misery?  This was a bit problematic when trying to fall asleep at night, often leaving me tossing and turning until 2 am, too hot to fall asleep.  I thought I was here to teach, not endure torture.  As you can see, Gwendolyn knows how to catch a breeze.

It's a two for one type of deal.  Evidently I need a new cat tree.

Here's Lorelei snoozing in my first classroom which conveniently connects to my new living quarters by an adjoining door.  Sometimes the previous tenant and I would let my cats meander in and out.  Those shelves really did come in handy without anywhere else to put my things.  I felt like I really moved up in life when it came for me to move into the larger classroom.  I don't think I could have done a 2nd year here in Diomede had I not been able to move up in classroom classroom size as my cats were going mad with boredom enough as it was.  

 

Lorelei is more than eager to help with laundry.  I would have to go down four flights of stairs and into another building connected to our side by a cold hallway in order to do my laundry.  Sometimes the laundry machine wouldn't work and the worst part was that it didn't use cold water, only boiling hot water.  I ruined a lot of clothes here this way as most clothing items aren't meant to endure boiling hot temperatures that scald the skin as I would find out when the drain wouldn't work and my clothes would be left soaking in a hot tub of water.