Kaitlyn and I are having the time of our lives. Spring time is absolutely beautiful in Alaska. We're coming off a wonderful high after visiting much of the state by RV last week. This week we've been furthering our education, and our Alaska teacher certification, by taking two classes: Alaska History and Alaska Culture and Communications. Both classes were taught by Father Michael Oleksa, a Russian Orthodox Priest. He first came to Alaska 30+ years ago to fill a church position in Old Bay, Ak (by Kodiak). He ended up falling in love native peoples and decided to officially move here after his term was up in Old Bay. He has a wonderful perspective on native people and their culture that is very much contagious. His classes meant a lot to Kaitlyn and I because of our unique situation of teaching out in a native village. A lot of the things he mentioned were very aligned with the things that we either experienced or saw. He gave us reasons for why natives are the way they are today. Alaska natives have had hundreds of years of cultural oppression by the United States and Russia. They are who they are today because of what they've had to deal with in their past and how to join that with the present. It gives a glimpse into the way they perceive their culture and history. I, for one, am glad to had been shown this side of Alaskan native history.
Our classes ran from Monday thru Friday. Each class entailed 2 days worth of lecture and 1/2 day of a field trip. For our culture class we ventured to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The Heritage Center had various native dances, games, and displays for us to look at and watch. Also, there was an outdoor exhibit of various houses that tribes stayed in traditionally. It was fun. Lewis, Kaitlyn's dad, took the class with us and got to go with us to the culture center. After being isolated in the village for several months, it was nice to see a familiar face. For our history class our field trip was to the Anchorage Museum. It was rather big, so I focused my energies on one exhibit. The Anchorage Museum had about 600 items on loan from the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. about Alaskan Natives. There were items from each tribe throughout Alaska and Siberia Russia. It was really interesting. The rest of the museum was just alright. :)
On Saturday, Kaitlyn and I were lucky enough to visit the Anchorage Temple. It was nice to sit and enjoy the spirit that resides there. After which, we went to the Anchorage Farmers Market downtown. It was fun, almost like walking through a county fair. There weren't any fruits and vegetables, at least not yet. We spent an hour walking up and down the isles looking at items that were so neat and hoping that one day we could afford them. :) To finish off the day, we went and did some shopping for Togiak next year. We bought a bunch of non-perishable items from Costco and Walmart. It's always exciting to think about what we'll need for an entire year. This, however, was a bit easier because we already have some food in Togiak. Once we were finished shopping we went and picked up our food bins from the Petersons, some members in our branch, and went to the Post Office. Luckily, the Post Office next to the airport is open from 6am to 12am. As we were packing, we realized that we didn't have enough space for all our items. We were 1 tote short. Surprisingly, Kaitlyn bartered with some guy in the post office some of our duck tape for his extra box. We thought it was a great save, however, the box was just a little too small and we ended up buying a bigger box instead. We finally shipped everything off to Togiak about 11:20, about two hours after arriving.
On Sunday, we wen to church at the branch building and met Bro. De St Jeor and Sis. Meyers for the first time, who were visiting from their villages. We were invited back to the Petersons for dinner and spent the rest of the day with them. They are such a great family, I'm glad we met them.
Our classes ran from Monday thru Friday. Each class entailed 2 days worth of lecture and 1/2 day of a field trip. For our culture class we ventured to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The Heritage Center had various native dances, games, and displays for us to look at and watch. Also, there was an outdoor exhibit of various houses that tribes stayed in traditionally. It was fun. Lewis, Kaitlyn's dad, took the class with us and got to go with us to the culture center. After being isolated in the village for several months, it was nice to see a familiar face. For our history class our field trip was to the Anchorage Museum. It was rather big, so I focused my energies on one exhibit. The Anchorage Museum had about 600 items on loan from the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. about Alaskan Natives. There were items from each tribe throughout Alaska and Siberia Russia. It was really interesting. The rest of the museum was just alright. :)
On Saturday, Kaitlyn and I were lucky enough to visit the Anchorage Temple. It was nice to sit and enjoy the spirit that resides there. After which, we went to the Anchorage Farmers Market downtown. It was fun, almost like walking through a county fair. There weren't any fruits and vegetables, at least not yet. We spent an hour walking up and down the isles looking at items that were so neat and hoping that one day we could afford them. :) To finish off the day, we went and did some shopping for Togiak next year. We bought a bunch of non-perishable items from Costco and Walmart. It's always exciting to think about what we'll need for an entire year. This, however, was a bit easier because we already have some food in Togiak. Once we were finished shopping we went and picked up our food bins from the Petersons, some members in our branch, and went to the Post Office. Luckily, the Post Office next to the airport is open from 6am to 12am. As we were packing, we realized that we didn't have enough space for all our items. We were 1 tote short. Surprisingly, Kaitlyn bartered with some guy in the post office some of our duck tape for his extra box. We thought it was a great save, however, the box was just a little too small and we ended up buying a bigger box instead. We finally shipped everything off to Togiak about 11:20, about two hours after arriving.
On Sunday, we wen to church at the branch building and met Bro. De St Jeor and Sis. Meyers for the first time, who were visiting from their villages. We were invited back to the Petersons for dinner and spent the rest of the day with them. They are such a great family, I'm glad we met them.
