Moose and Goose Break

I have a week off of school this week - "Goose Break" for Kashechewanians. Entire families are on the Bay fishing and hunting = no school = a much needed break for teachers.

I thought really hard about going home for the holiday, weighed the pros and cons. Initially, before coming to Kash, I assumed I would be staying here to save money - "and besides," I thought, "I will have only been on the reserve for a month and a bit." Can't lie - more than anything I'd love to be with those I love and miss right now. In true-blue Geni fashion, I changed my mind too late and couldn't get a cheap flight out and back. Its for the best, I'm telling myself - I'll save quite a bit of money and get my long range plans done, which will put me in a better position come November and December. Perhaps I won't be up so late with planning on a nightly basis as I was in September. Sigh.

So here I am for a quiet week in Kashechewan. Four of us teachers and a nurse went for a really nice 5km walk around the dike on Friday night as the sun was setting. About 15 minutes in, we were beckoned off the dike by some kids. We poked our heads into a shack in someone's backyard - and there layed two huge piles of... umm... moose. In the back of a pickup parked in the driveway, legs and hooves stuck straight up from the back of the truck, three or four kids climbed over 2 other dead moose. I've seen dead animals in Ghana, but nothing compares to the sheer size of these HUMONGOUS animals. While it wasn't the prettiest sight, I'd much rather see these animals dead than alive! I won't be eating moose meat for a while - not while that memory remains fresh in my mind. I wasn't going to post the bloody photos that Olena was able to take (my camera cord is in the mail) as a favor to those with sensitive stomachs.... but what the hell.