Well it has been a great couple of weeks here in bush Alaska. The temperatures have been easing up to the -teens and that has been really nice for walking to and from school in the morning. Each morning I have a little over 1/4 of a mile walk up to school, it's only up hill one way but I am sure by the time I tell the story in a few years it will have changed to up hill both ways. We did have s few chilly mornings around -30 which made me walk a bit faster! Thank God I had my fur hat and face mask for those chilly walks.
Classes have been going great. Part of the reason is because basketball season is starting and to these kids basketball IS life. So the discipline problems have diminished in fear of not being able to play ball. In wood shop we are re-tying a sled for and elder in our community. Providing a service for the elders is part of the Inupiat ilitqusiat (ill-T-K-sate) which are the values that the community and region live by. The students have been doing a great job on this project.
In Inupiaq crafts and cultures class we have been working on our beading and skin sewing. The students have been making some great mittens and beading! i hzve included a picture of a student showing off her mittens. I have become a reliable resource now for the studnets since I have made two pairs of mittens and made the beading for them. Whenever the kids look at my mittens they usually say "amazing" or "bad dude" which is their way of expressing they like something. Yes I said two pairs of mittens I have just completed my mittens. They tuned out great! Wolf on inside, leather on outside, a beaver trim and of course custom bead work. They should be very warm for the winter to come and be the envy of all who see them!
Power technology has turned into a decent class. We have projects to do finally! There was a school owned snow go that was put into connex about four years ago and no one knew what was wrong with it. So we dug it out of the connex and brought it into the shop. After a lot of clean up we decided the undercarriage needed some work. We got a new idler wheel and bearings, new slide rails, and found some bolts to attach the undercarriage to the sled with since it was not attached when we pulled it out. Now we do have a store that would have sold all this stuff to us for a premium price but we couldn't afford it. So we went to "the free store" aka the dump! We found almost everything we needed in 15 minutes. We then installed our gently used parts on the machine. Next order of business, get this thing running. We cleaned out the engine bay and tested the machine for compression, we had good compression! Ok so next we got our spark tester, we have spark! Ok, fuel? We pulled the tank and seat, which are one unit, and cleaned the gas tank with air. We then checked all fluids and determined it was ready to go. We put the tank back on put some fuel in and put a fire in the hole. Now because this machine does not have a battery it's pull start only. Luckily I had 5 strong kids to take turns pulling it until it finally fired. It started up and ran well. Since it was running I took it for a test ride around the school, then let the students take it for a ride as well. It was great fun and a rewarding experience. Once we finished that projects I had a student bring in their own snowmachine (orange) that needs some TLC. That is our next project that will finish out the semester with.
Unfortunately wrestling did not finish very well. The wrestlers did not win matches they should have and it was a poor showing for Kiana, but there is always next year. I have been doing a lot of fishing lately! Setting lines under the ice is a lot of fun. I haven't been catching a lot but I pulled up a line a couple days ago with three fish, two Monster! I know they get bigger but one was over 3 feet long! Pretty good eating. I like to boil them in sugar and garlic then dip them butter! That's some good eating. Thank you for reading my blog. I can't wait to go to the Pacific NorthWest for Christmas and see my friends and family. Take care and happy holidays.
Classes have been going great. Part of the reason is because basketball season is starting and to these kids basketball IS life. So the discipline problems have diminished in fear of not being able to play ball. In wood shop we are re-tying a sled for and elder in our community. Providing a service for the elders is part of the Inupiat ilitqusiat (ill-T-K-sate) which are the values that the community and region live by. The students have been doing a great job on this project.
In Inupiaq crafts and cultures class we have been working on our beading and skin sewing. The students have been making some great mittens and beading! i hzve included a picture of a student showing off her mittens. I have become a reliable resource now for the studnets since I have made two pairs of mittens and made the beading for them. Whenever the kids look at my mittens they usually say "amazing" or "bad dude" which is their way of expressing they like something. Yes I said two pairs of mittens I have just completed my mittens. They tuned out great! Wolf on inside, leather on outside, a beaver trim and of course custom bead work. They should be very warm for the winter to come and be the envy of all who see them!
Power technology has turned into a decent class. We have projects to do finally! There was a school owned snow go that was put into connex about four years ago and no one knew what was wrong with it. So we dug it out of the connex and brought it into the shop. After a lot of clean up we decided the undercarriage needed some work. We got a new idler wheel and bearings, new slide rails, and found some bolts to attach the undercarriage to the sled with since it was not attached when we pulled it out. Now we do have a store that would have sold all this stuff to us for a premium price but we couldn't afford it. So we went to "the free store" aka the dump! We found almost everything we needed in 15 minutes. We then installed our gently used parts on the machine. Next order of business, get this thing running. We cleaned out the engine bay and tested the machine for compression, we had good compression! Ok so next we got our spark tester, we have spark! Ok, fuel? We pulled the tank and seat, which are one unit, and cleaned the gas tank with air. We then checked all fluids and determined it was ready to go. We put the tank back on put some fuel in and put a fire in the hole. Now because this machine does not have a battery it's pull start only. Luckily I had 5 strong kids to take turns pulling it until it finally fired. It started up and ran well. Since it was running I took it for a test ride around the school, then let the students take it for a ride as well. It was great fun and a rewarding experience. Once we finished that projects I had a student bring in their own snowmachine (orange) that needs some TLC. That is our next project that will finish out the semester with.
Unfortunately wrestling did not finish very well. The wrestlers did not win matches they should have and it was a poor showing for Kiana, but there is always next year. I have been doing a lot of fishing lately! Setting lines under the ice is a lot of fun. I haven't been catching a lot but I pulled up a line a couple days ago with three fish, two Monster! I know they get bigger but one was over 3 feet long! Pretty good eating. I like to boil them in sugar and garlic then dip them butter! That's some good eating. Thank you for reading my blog. I can't wait to go to the Pacific NorthWest for Christmas and see my friends and family. Take care and happy holidays.
