Good evening! The school week has finally come to an end and we can all breathe a sigh of relief that we survived. It was a great transition period for all of us to become acclimated with the school, teachers and students. The Barrow people have been nothing short of amazing this past week. The cooks at Ilisagvik College have been gracious enough to open the kitchen early to ensure that we can eat before we head off to teach in the morning, since it does not technically open until we are already gone. Without the van drivers transporting us from point A to point B, we would have been polar bear supper by now. They have all been very welcoming and it has made the adjustment period that much easier. It is safe to say that they want us to have the best experience we can while we are here and for all the readers, we are in safe hands.
Today, Friday the 9th, was the official beginning of Barrow's Spring Festival. There are numerous events that one can partake in. Everything from scavenger hunts, hockey tournaments, snow machine races, harpoon throwing contests, and an arts and crafts sale just to name a few. This is something we are fortunate enough to experience and we would be missing out on a great chance to emerge ourselves in their day to day culture if we did not go. As a group, we are planning on going to the pancake breakfast, the arts and crafts sale, and hopefully the festival parade. A lot of our students will either be attending or even entering many of the contests and activities going on this weekend. It will be a great chance for us to see Barrow life, and not just see the microcosm that is their school life.
Otherwise, everything has been going great. The five of us, along with Steve Culbertson, had a chance to tele-conference with Michele Koomen and Eric Koser back in Minnesota. Michele and Eric are two of the three supervisors that will be making the trek to Barrow this coming Wednesday to stay for a week. It was nice to hear familiar voices and fill them in on all of our ups and downs of the week. It is never easy to be away from your comfort zone for this long, but we have a strong support system in the people of Barrow, our supervisors and teachers back home, as well as family and friends. I really can't believe a week has already flown by, it seems like just yesterday we were stepping off the plane into the frozen tundra.
On a final note, I think my favorite part so far has been sharing with the kids my culture and where I have come from, as well as learning about their culture and where they are from. They cannot believe all of the things we have readily available in Minnesota, and it really makes you begin to think about what we take for granted. Most of everything they own seems to come from Anchorage, or Fairbanks. Those are the two main destinations families travel to if they need mostly anything, and it is not a skip and a hop away for those geography majors out there. You should have heard the kids get jealous when I told them I have a McDonalds 5 minutes away from my house. They still do not believe me that the Mall of America has over 500 some stores. For all they know, I live in a fairly tale land. Take a second to think about your daily routine. Imagine if you had to fly 2 hours away to go new clothes shopping, or hop on a plane to cure that fast food craving you have. It would be hard for any of us to switch from our current lifestyle to those who live here, but you don't see them complaining. They know what is out there, but they do not wish they were somewhere else, or get upset because they do not have things that people do elsewhere. The simple fact of appreciating what you have and making the most of what you are given is something I feel all 5 of us will take away and hopefully share with those back home.
I hope you all had a good week and enjoy your weekend.
Best,
Travis
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