The Day before D – Day

Much has happened since my last entry. I returned to Atmautluak the evening of the 10th of August; to late to see if my boxes from home had arrived. First thing Saturday morning I was at the Post Office waiting for the Postmaster to open the door. I felt like a little kid waiting for mom and dad to get out of bed on Christmas morning.
I followed her inside and she said “I can’t remember; what’s your name?” I thought, is she pulling my leg or does she really not remember? There are only three new people in the village. How hard can it be to remember the only white guy in town? Anyhow, I told her and she began looking.
She started handing out box after box after box and one large envelope. There were so many boxes that I had to go to the school and get a hand cart to move them all; even then it too three trips. It was like Christmas morning. I never thought that getting boxes of your own stuff that you packed could be so much fun.
As I opened each box and put each item away, I wondered what I was thinking when I packed this stuff. For example, the box of blankets and books held no joy for me after it was emptied.
I was surprised by the envelope that I received, however. My daughter in law, Brooke, wrote me a nice letter and made some cards with photographs for me to hang in my home. I would like to go now public record, here and now, and proclaim to the world and everyone in it that I love Brooke. I failed to make that clear before I left home and if I should die in a fiery plane crash tomorrow Brooke can now rest assured that she is loved by me. Thank you Brooke, for the nice letter and the pictures; I have hanging on my refrigerator like a good grandpa should.
I left home a week early so I could move all of my books and furniture into my new classroom before I went off for training. My plan was to be settled in so I could focus on writing lesson plans and then be ready to teach on the 20th. That plan was flawed from the start. When I arrived, no one on site knew which classrooms were assigned to whom. I couldn’t move anything. My boss arrived the evening of the 14th and we had district level training all day on the 15th. You guessed it, nothing got moved. Finally on Thursday, the 16th, we started moving everything for all four classrooms all at once. What a nightmare that was! At the same time, two ladies from the district office arrived to provide the new teacher with some help on the education system that we use. What they did mostly was help me unpack and start setting up my classroom. We worked until 10:30 that night. I was back at it at around 8:15 a.m. unpacking boxes and trying to figure out what I had.
This was also the first day of our two day carnival. It was nice to see all of the people from the village and some from other villages coming for the party. There were games for the kids, food vendors, junk vendors, and they raffled off a four wheeler. They had been planning a basketball tournament but not enough teams entered so they had a dance instead.
The two stores in the village both got shipments of supplies on that Friday. I did a little shopping and was surprised at how varied the prices are. Eggs were just under $3.00 per dozen but milk was over $3.00 per quart (yes, I said quart). Bread was 2 loaves for just under $6.00. So prices were not as bad as I thought they would be over all.
Since then I have been eating hamburgers and hotdogs and Chili Cheese Fritos. Before this shopping trip, then fresh food I had in the house was a bag of onions. I learned that when I like the food I’m eating, I tend to want to over eat. I guess I’ll go back to sardines and wheat crackers.
I woke up Sunday morning to no water in the house. Luckily, I keep water in the refrigerator so I was able to brush my teeth. My boss told me that it would be at least two more days before we get water. They have to fly the part in from Anchorage, install the part, fill the holding tank and administer the chemical dose. Then the chemicals have to settle before they can allow the people to consume the water. Great! No shower for the first day of class. At least I’m not alone.
By the way, I know what you’re thinking; “quit bitchin’ Jerry, you’re the one how wanted to go there.” You’re right, and a crummy day in Alaska is better than any day in Indiana. On that note, I will say good night.