It is Sunday, and it is the one day that I miss home the most. Sunday is my favorite day of the week because it is the one day I get to spend the most time with my family, as well as Daniel and his family. Everyone is in one place compared to the rest of the week, which keeps us all going in opposite directions most of the time. However, I have been spending Sundays here with a new family.
Since I have been here, a few of the other teachers, as well as myself, have started the tradition of meeting for breakfast every Sunday morning. Last week was particularly fun because the night before our weekly breakfast, some of us stayed up to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. They usually do not appear here until about 1 or 2 a.m. We passed the time with games, and then, to ward off the drowsiness, I embarrassingly admit that us ladies decided to crank the Spice Girls station on Pandora radio, and I even more embarrassingly admit that I remembered almost every word to their songs (if only I could remember my professor's lectures the way I remember song lyrics....I would be a genius, just saying). Once 1 a.m. finally rolled around, we all put on our snow gear and headed outside only to be disappointed. The Lights were a "no show"....at least for the time being. I headed back to my apartment and thought to give the forecast one more look. We had been watching a website that gave updates on the forecast for the aurora borealis every two minutes. The website said that the aurora would be at "storm level," the strongest point of activity, about 2 a.m. So, I got a shower, and then passed the time by reading my latest Kindle download, The Help. The forecast got moved up another 50 minutes, and not wanting to miss something I may never see again, I read for another hour. Finally, around 3 a.m., I grabbed my camera, threw on my coat, and headed for the back door of the school. As I stepped out into the -20 something Alaskan night, I held my breath as I looked up, fearing I would be disappointed again...but there it was.
It was faint, not like the brilliance most are familiar with in pictures, but it was awesome nonetheless. It is hard to describe, but it looked like a green paint splotch on a black canvas. The colors faded in and out in the same way bands of rain do as they move across the horizon. They were eerily beautiful! In fact, they reminded me of the scene from the old 1956 film, The Ten Commandments, the one with Charles Heston, when the green smoke comes out of the sky representing the Angel of Death coming to take the first born. Despite the frigid cold, I stood there as long as I could stand it just to watch because I was so awestruck with excitement. I wanted to wake everyone up that waited till one in the morning to see what I was seeing, but not wanting to make any enemies, I thought I better not. How I wanted to share that moment with someone! I tried numerous times to get a picture of it, but every time I reviewed it on my camera, the screen came up blurry or dark. However, thanks to the miracle of editing, I discovered later on that I actually DID capture the Northern Lights. I just had to enhance the image and take away some shadows. Then, they appeared into focus. I had something to remember that moment by and share with everyone else.
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| The Northern Lights (the object in the left corner is the corner of the school's roof) |
I was outside for about fifteen minutes until the cold got the best of me. I could not even begin to imagine what -20 and below would feel like before coming here, but honestly, if dressed appropriately, it is not that bad. Dressing for the cold also depends how long you plan to stay out in it. Saturday afternoon, during a break from our meetings (we had inservice meetings Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) the first grade teacher, Meg, and I went for a walk on the frozen Bering Sea. She has two dogs, one from home and an adopted puppy from the village, that needed some time to run. We were outside for almost an hour. I was comfortable the whole time, but to stay comfortable, I had to put on the following: heavy Under Armor leggings and top, jeans, a sweater, my snow pants, my jacket, heavy socks, snow boots, face mask, toboggan, gloves, and goggles...it is quite the process. Walking on the ice was fun, but a little scary when you really stop to think about it. They only walk out on the ice on days when the snow machines and four wheelers go out on it too. Many natives travel the ice by snow machine to Nome, which takes about three hours. Again, as I said, the cold is not bad when well prepared, but I was not prepared for the dryness. It is so dry up here that I can hardly stand it. Before my humidifier arrived (thanks Grandmom and Granddad...it was a life saver!) I would boil pots of water on the stove just to get an ounce of humidity in the air. I think that is one of the reasons I got sick with a nasty cold/flu shortly after starting work. The air is so dry like that of an airplane and illness spreads fast up here. The aids were sick the same week that I was ill as well.
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| My walk on the ice |
Besides the cold, I have also been asked about the amount of darkness up here. When I first arrived, the sun came up about 11 a.m. and went down about 4 p.m. Since I got here, I was told that we would begin gaining a little bit of sunlight each day until it is light almost 24/7. I did not notice it at first, but now I am noticing the difference. The sun now rises about 10 a.m. and sets close to 6 p.m. It was not hard to get adjusted to, but I would prefer it to be light all the time. The long periods of darkness in the morning makes me sleepy the first half of the day.
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| The frozen Bering Sea |
While I am thankful for those who have included me in their "family" unit up here, I will be thankful to reunite with my own. I know it will not be much longer, but I am getting so anxious I can hardly stand it. Some days feel like they will never end, while other days, it feels like Dad just left to return home while I stayed behind to begin my adventure. Dad leaving was a harder moment than I thought it would be, but that story is for a later post.
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