11/3/10
Dinner yesterday evening was very enjoyable. We had salmon pie, fresh cooked greens, and cheese cake. It was delicious….especially after eating boxed/canned/frozen food for a while. It was also nice to eat a meal with other people and socialize. All of the people who came in to do special education work and testing are very nice. It’s amazing how lonely you can get, and how much you can take a little thing like eating a meal together with people for granted. I will be thankful for homemade food and good company when I get home J.
Today was a much better day than yesterday. Things were still a little bit hectic due to the special education teachers being here and needing to take kids out, but in terms of meltdowns…they were minimal. The student who didn’t have any breakfast yesterday morning apparently ate a very large breakfast this morning and was in an incredibly good mood (even better than normal) and did very well with all of his morning work and lessons. I’ll have to make sure that he has whatever he had for breakfast this morning every morning for as long as I’m here J.
On the other hand, today was also TB shots day and there were definitely some meltdowns for that reason…but I think that’s probably fair. Most of the kids did very well while getting their shots, but there was one boy in particular who threw an absolute fit. His mom actually had to come in, chase him around the room until she caught him by the shirt, drag him to the gym where the shots were taking place, and then have 2 people hold him down while he got his shot. He survived though….but he did enjoy milking his “wound” for the rest of the day, complaining about how much it hurt. My solution was to give each of the kids a piece of candy after they had gotten their shot and congratulate them for being so brave. It might not be the best way to handle a crisis, but it worked for today.
The past couple of days while the special education teachers have been here we have been going on walks down the beach together. It has been nice to have other people to go with and chat with. It’s not that there aren’t the other two teachers here usually, but they are busy with their own schedules without keeping me entertained, and they tend to keep to themselves for the most part. The beach is very beautiful. I posted pictures of my first venture out alone, but I have to say again how gorgeous it really is. We were talking about it today while we were walking and it really just seems like a picture out of a magazine or a backdrop from a movie…somehow it doesn’t seem real because it’s just too beautiful. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to see this place, because it’s not something I would have had the chance to do otherwise. Apparently there are all kinds of places around Perryville that I could explore or places near Perryville that are equally as beautiful, but I only have so much time here, and my first priority is to teach. I’ll have to see if one of the other teachers can’t take me out to see some more of the sights or experience more of the village life, but even if I don’t get the chance, I have seen places that most people will never see in their lives. That’s pretty cool.
What I was going to say about the beach though is that walking for long distances in sand is not an easy task, especially not for my short little legs. Needless to say, I have been rather sore the past couple of days after walking along the beach in the sand. This might sound kind of pathetic, but have you ever tried walking on sand for miles? It’s nice, yes, but it’s definitely not flat, firm ground. I suppose that I’m getting my exercise though…and at least I get to do it while admiring the beautiful mountains and scenery.
Speaking of sights that I have seen…apparently I have some corrections to make to a couple of my previous posts. I thought that the volcano near the village was Mt. Katmai, but I was wrong. Mt. Katmai is near the village of King Salmon. This volcano is actually Veniaminof....oops (I haven't a clue how you say that, by the way). At least it sounded like I knew what I was talking about when I told you it was Mt. Katmai, right? J That was something we also talked quite a bit about on our walk today. I guess that the volcano is pretty active. There are lots of active volcanoes in Alaska, but most of them aren’t where they can hurt people. This one, however, is literally right behind the village. I guess a few years ago it was spitting fire and spewing ash so bad that all the people in the village had to walk around with masks on their face so they wouldn’t breathe it in. I asked Linda, the head teacher, what would happen if it actually erupted, and she said that there wouldn’t be much anyone could do. If someone had a boat handy they might be able to make it out, but planes wouldn’t be able to fly in because of the ash and there’s not any other way to get out of the village. It’s kind of a scary thing to think about, but it’s also kind of cool to live right next to a volcano. I guess I’m just glad that I don’t have to live next to it permanently.
The other correction that I have to make has to do with tsunamis, so I’ll have to explain. This afternoon after we had finished with buddy reading, I heard this weird musical note tone coming from somewhere. It sounded like something you might hear on an airplane or a cruise ship when the captain is about to speak. After the musical notes there were sirens and a voice that said, “Move to higher ground! Move to higher ground!” As it turns out, it was actually a tsunami warning test. I thought it was kind of funny because those musical notes did not sound very urgent or serious…I suppose it’s meant to keep people calm, but the voice sure sounded like it was an emergency. I think there were quite a few other sounds and words, but I stopped paying much attention after I knew it was a test, and I didn’t hear all of them. I guess they do these tests once a month to make sure that the village is prepared. It’s a real concern too, because the ocean (as you can see from my pictures) is not far away from the village at all. If there was a big earthquake, a tsunami would definitely be an issue in this place. Anyways, so I was thinking about it and I asked my students where was this higher ground that everyone was supposed to move to. The oldest girl told me that there was a tsunami shelter up on the hill. Remember the picture I took of the green “house” up on the hill?
Yeah…not a house. It’s definitely the tsunami shelter. I told my students that I thought it was a house and they all laughed at me. Apparently this is something that I should know. Well, I guess I do now.
So basically I have learned that Perryville is a very dangerous place. There is an active volcano right behind the village. There are bears that will apparently stay out all winter if they are hungry enough, and I don’t think it’s a surprise that this would make for a very grumpy and more dangerous than usual bear. In the event of an earthquake, tsunamis are a serious concern for the village, which could easily be swept under water due to the proximity of the ocean. So this place is pretty much a ticking time bomb. At any moment I could be consumed by lava or ash, come across a grouchy bear, or be swallowed up by a giant tsunami wave. These people either did not think this through when they decided to start a village here, or they just really liked being far away from everything and decided it was worth the risk. In all seriousness though, this really is a beautiful place, and even though there are some real dangers – dangers that most people don’t experience or have to worry about – I can understand why people might want to live here.
Anyhow, I just thought that I should make sure I was giving everyone the right information about Perryville. Wouldn’t want to mislead anyone J Now that you know the correct facts you can all rest easy…because I’m sure you were quite distraught over the misinformation….he he. Maybe next time I’ll just stick with whatever story I tell you first, even if I do find out that it was wrong. How would you know any different?
Anyways, well it’s about my bed time. I have a short school day tomorrow, but I will have parent teacher conferences in the afternoon. I hope everything goes well.
By the way, I know that this will be posted on Thursday, November 4th, but I’m writing it on Wednesday, November 3rd. So don’t be confused by me saying today instead of yesterday, because when you read this today will be yesterday. That may be more confusing than if I hadn’t said anything, but oh well. In short, these events that I have just written about are from Wednesday, November 3rd.
I’ll post again soon!
Oh P.S. While I do have access to facebook now, I have found that I actually kind of enjoyed being cut off from social network overload for a while. I do still intend to post status updates, check up on how people are doing occasionally, and keep people updated from time to time, but I may be on facebook less than usual. It’s kind of nice to separate myself from the outside world for a bit. I will be happy to return to it when the time comes, but since I’m out here cut off from everything else…it seems appropriate to be cut off (or at least limited in my use) from facebook too. I hope everyone understands. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment