Manaqing, basketball, ski doo rides, melting snow.

Over the past 2 weeks, it seems that all remnants of winter have been sneaking away while summer is coming in full force... My last blog post was about manaqing up river a little ways. We went two Sundays in a row and I was was lucky enough to catch both times. Then, last Sunday, we went to Emo for groceries. We traveled over by Honda.... The river was starting to get pretty slushy with the warm temperatures we have been having. However, we made it safely, sliding all the way over and back. :) 

This past week at school seemed to go REALLY FAST!! As the site tech for our school, I was able to go to the new school Thursday afternoon and all day Friday to do some training on various systems including, intercom, key cards, fire systems (I didn't really need to be there for that, but since I was...) and I don't remember what else. I can say that I am SUPER excited for the new school... My fingers are super duper crossed that we'll move over the summer and start out the new year in the new building. I'm fairly optimistic that it will happen, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high...

Friday afternoon I traveled to Nunam to watch some friends play in a basketball tournament. I was scared to drive myself because a friend had told me that there was a lot of water Thursday night... So, I called around a bit and found someone who wanted to go but had to way to get there. I asked if he'd drive me over... 2 birds, 1 stone. It was a beautiful evening for a ride....

Saturday's plan was to grade papers and get caught up on housework and life in general... Well... I went back to Nunam instead. This time with another friend as a travelling partner (I let him drive too... Not because I was nervous this time, the river was great, more because he's SUPER tall and I was concerned if he'd fit on the seat behind me. Ha!) Donovan mentioned being a little scared a time or two and asked if I was scared. I wasn't, for the most part. The parts where there was lots of water for a long ways, I definitely held on tighter to him, but I didn't fear for my life. He said he just didn't want to sink my ski doo. Haha Thanks Don for not sinking the ski doo and getting us home safely. :) The weather wasn't as sunny, but still a super warm trip over and back. It was great to catch up with Clay and Monica, watch some friends play more basketball, play in a game myself (26 points.... I don't think I've ever scored that many in a game...), and enjoy a relaxing afternoon/evening away from work.

Sunday was a lazy morning, afternoon Easter activities at the TC, then dinner with Theresa, Paul and Melanie. 

Today the plan was to grade papers all day (we had a vacation day). However, I couldn't force myself to wake up... Then I walked to the store, Ayunerak's house, TC, and back home. Sat down and graded for less than an hour then got dressed up and went out manaqing at Tin Can. I caught my first chee (or maybe shee) fish. 

Here are some pictures from the past 10 or so days... Here's to a 4 day week, some sub plans, a night with my favorite pilots, a day of work, then a trip to Portland! Hard to believe we'll be in May before I blink again! AHH!!!!

It's funny the pictures the kids get when I don't
realize they've grabbed my phone... HA!

Max n Morris resetting some fire door at the new school. 

Friday night headed to Nunam.

Such a nice day to ride!

Freddie, Donovan, Butch warming up.

Go Rockstars!!

Apaulu waiting to go in.

Count it!

Pretty clear headed home Saturday night... This is about
9:30, I think...

When you're having a good hair day, you just gotta capture it.

Shane dancing at the TC on Easter.

Beautiful sunny day!!

There's my Ayunerak gang again... :)

Caught my first shee fish.

Manaqing at Tin Can. The sun came through briefly.

Gregory

Pius

Margaret

SO slushy!

Sassy boy.

Laura Mae... This is how we manaq...

Here's to a productive week! :) 

xoxo,

SJ

Manaqing

It was a weekend full of beautiful weather. We went back to Unuskuq (I should not even try to sound them out, but I did go through the Yupik alphabet 4 times in my head trying to spell it... I'm sorry!) on Sunday, just like we did last Sunday... Last week, I caught my first 2 pike. In Yupik culture, you give away your first catch. I gave my pike to my "mom and dad" here in Alakanuk. This Sunday I caught 3 pike... We got home around 9 last night, so I left it out and planned to cut it today after school.

Let's remember that I live in Alaska--the land of outside refrigeration. Apparently, it was colder last night than I thought because my fish were too frozen to cut at 4 today... About 9 tonight, Mom called and said to come over and she'd teach me how to cut the pike to dry.

She did the first one while I watched and she explained where to place the uluaq etc. Then she set me to work, but with close supervision. It's always interesting to try something new... I remember my first salmon filleting experience. My first pike was much better. I felt like there was less meat wasted, and definitely more laughter.

I didn't take any pictures of cutting the pike. I'll try to get pictures of cutting pike up next time we catch and cut. But, here are a few pictures from the manaqing trip in general.

Thanks again Greg, Aggie, Pius, Gregory, Willie, and Donovan for the laughter,  good memories, and fun day of riding! :)

xoxo,
SJ

First catch... Last weekend.

In true Sammy fashion... Gotta kiss the first one...
You'll remember me kissing my first ptarmigan too?? 

Trying to fix my shotgun... 

Checking the otter hole.

"How many boys does it take...."

Bear tracks out there somewhere.

A little fun, everywhere we go!

Manaqing

Digging a new hole.

Sometimes you just need a nap...

Looking for Don. Beautiful evening.

Getting home around 9 PM... Sun going down on the river toward Nunam.

Little bit wind burn... 

Checking Net

I have been very lucky and blessed to be able to participate in many cultural activities. I have become good friends with many who are excited to share their traditions and culture with me. From my first fall here, I have gone on many boat rides with my brothers to look for moose, seal, and whale. I have followed people on snow machine to different villages for various events, to hunt ptarmigan, rabbits, and moose, or to go manaq (ice fishing).

This spring was the first time I've ever tagged along to check net. Here, many people put nets under the ice in the winter. Sunday afternoon, I got a text to go take a ride. The three of us dressed up, warmed up the ski doos, and headed out to the dock to meet Greg and Aggie and Donovan.

It turns out checking net is quite a bit of work. Greg and Donovan's nets hadn't been checked for quite some time so the ice was pretty thick. We all took turns ice picking and scooping the ice out. We had 3 nets to check, and started at the longest one.

I was so excited that Donovan was letting me help, and I even broke through the ice on the first hole. My feelings of being expert at ice picking was soon dashed as I was helping with our hole at the next net... Again, it was toward the bottom of the ice layer. Donovan was letting me have a turn. I broke through the ice and, OOPS, accidentally let go of the ice pick. Apparently my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders, because I just said, "OH NO!!" as I watched the pick fall through the hole and into the bottom of the river... Donovan was a second too late diving for the ice pick as well.

"You didn't come for nothing!"

Having a little fun on the river.

I wonder if this is when I dropped the pick... Or maybe the first hole when
I was excited to have hit water. 

It was pretty heavy.

Some old fish... Eeee.

The most important job is given to the most important person...
Counting fish!

Typical government worker. HA!

Cheese balls.

Such a beautiful day.

CHEESE!

Best buddies!

Scoop it Greg!

Love her.

Seriously Andrew.... 

Making the hole good so we can pull the net from the other side.

Everybody helps. :)

Checking net is HARD work, man! 

I think he's putting the net back in the water.

Break time for the bosses. :)

Break time for the workers.

Even Laura gave it a shot. 

And this would be when I dropped the ice pick... Oops!!!

The ONE fresh fish of the day.

Someone was a bit alapaa!

Made me a bit nervous to let Laura take my machine, but she did great!! 

 Later in the day... We went for a little ride to look for moose. Laura was really wanting to see one... Then we came back to the net... There we found Donovan, his mom Juanita, and his dad Willie... Attempting to get the ice pick out of the river.

 Tuesday afternoon... Back to the nets again... This time with magnets AND a fishing pole.

Shane, Christine, and I enjoying the sun. 

Just as Donovan showed up, they apparently had the pick on the hook...

Poor Don! The water is super cold. But thank goodness for his long arms... LOL.
Ice pick rescued!

Checking net. Caught a few fish on Tuesday!

I just love this picture. 

Ready to go for a ride!

Some of the best friends a girl could hope for... Thanks for
including me in your lives, teaching me your traditions, and
not getting mad when I drop things in the river. Kenkamken!

Looking forward to checking net again! :) This time, I'll tie a rope to the pick and put it around my waist. Or my neck. I won't go far into the hole, they're not big enough. HA!

Thanks again, my family and friends for the awesome afternoon out in the sunshine.

xoxo,
SJ