What a month!

Sorry it's been so long! I received an e-mail "reminding" me that it has been a month since I last posted. It has been quite a month, that is for sure.

I have proof that I have been accepted by my community. One of my students offered to get me and some co-workers a caribou. Keep in mind that the caribou come very close to Eek. In fact, my predecessor saw some from his/my classroom window. So, as any good Alaskan will do, he took the rest of the day off, strapped on cross country skis, went out, and got one. He then strapped the caribou to the skis and walked back to town. The students are fairly certain I won't do that.


A few days later, there was a knock at my door. I go out into the (literally) -25 weather to see a caribou head on my porch. That's right, just the head. I heard a few snickers and saw my student "Billy" (who we now call the Arctic Godfather) come around the corner of my house with his snow machine. In the sled he was pulling was the rest of the caribou. It was field dressed and ready to be cut. So, we carried it into my Arctic Porch for storage.

The next morning, I was talking to one of the other teachers about what we would do. He had never cut up an animal like this, and I had all the experience with doing it one other time. So, I told him the basic premise: skin, cut, and cut some more. Then, I informed him to bring some good knives and wear clothes he didn't mind getting bloody. As I said this, one of our students walked around the corner looking amused and a bit horrified.

That night, the other teachers came over to cut it. We brought it into my kitchen and started to work. We quickly discovered that when it's -25 out and you put a caribou in a room with no heat, it freezes. So, we couldn't do anything that night. We then moved all four quarters, ribs, and neck into my laundry room to let it thaw overnight. Finally, the next morning, we got to work. Eventually, we got the whole thing cut, cleaned, and divided up.

There are some great pictures floating around of this fiasco. I have none since my camera was stolen. But, I will post them as soon as I can!

I will post more later about my Thanksgiving in Anchorage. But, until then (which I promise will be less than a month!), goodbye from Eek!