On December 8th, I embarked on a trip that really made me question whether New Stuyahok was my best option for village life. While I have a ton of reasons to love New Stu, I was met by majestic snow-capped mountains, greeted by a frozen bay, and fell in love with the produce selection at the local AC-all pretty amazing features for a village in bush Alaska. But the best part of the visit was the quality time I was able to spend with my little sister.
Togiak's school, located three miles outside of town, had a beautiful view and nice students and staff. I was able to observe the high school sped program to gain insight and ideas I could implement at New Stuyahok. After three days of discussion, comparison and contrast of the two programs, I ended the week feeling very confident about the program we've implemented in New Stu. It was nice to come back feeling good about what I do, instead of looking for ways to change.
Backtracking a little, the flight out was probably the most amazing flight I've taken in my entire life. I flew out of New Stu with Grant Air Taxi, and landed in Koliganek for the first time. It wasn't much to look at from the landing strip, but the passengers that climbed aboard were pleasant. From there, we landed in Dillingham, where I was able to catch a ride into town and do some shopping until my next flight came in. After checking out both grocery stores, and finding out the espresso shop was closed for the holidays, AIA called and gave me a heads up that we'd be flying out momentarily. So, I loaded up my things and headed out to the airport with their shuttle.
I was greeted by Matt, a pilot I had heard about before. I was able to introduce myself with reference to our mutual connection, and he seemed to take me under his wing. I sat in the co-pilot's seat of the plane, wore the head gear, and was able to talk with him the entire flight out. He flew us between the mountains instead of over them, what seemed to be about three to five-hundred feet up. We saw a number of dark figures below, which he identified as moose. He showed me where they landed their summer float plane and where they did summer hunt trips. As we flew amidst the beauty, Matt played some of Mobey's more ambient music through his Ipod and the headgear, making me feel like I was a part of a National Geographic special, in the midst of discovering another planet. During these moments, I was so frustrated with myself that I couldn't find the camera in the minutes before I left New Stu.
My time in Togiak was well spent. Beyond the previous comments about the sped program and the school, I was impressed with my little sister and her abilities to transform a classroom of hoodlums into some straight-laced, motivated kids. She has a way to connect with her students, her athletes and her coworkers, and I was beyond proud to call her my little sister. Spending the week/weekend with Claire was fun. We painted our nails, cooked and vegged together. Some of our highlights were our cooking sessions of vegetable pizza and homemade coleslaw, and our 3 mile trek through the tundra into town and back. We even got to color my hair, although it barely tinted it. Finley was adorable and seemed to know Huxley lived with me because he was crazy over me when I first showed up. I'll be excited to see how the two of them get along over Christmas. I'm crossing my fingers that Claire brings him home, despite the costs from the airlines.
Anyway, we're currently watching the finale of "The Biggest Loser". Brandon, Dani, Ron and I have decided that we're going to begin our own version when we come back from break. Wish us luck!
See you all in 10 days or a few thereafter. We're so flippin' excited!
Love you,
Brie
