Broomball!

Nearly every morning after rowing formal each year, friends of mine would wake up at a ridiculous hour (getting up alone is ridiculous hung over after rowing formal) and play broomball. I thought they were crazy, and quite contently slept in on those cold mornings in February. I was invited to play the game for the first time at the arena here in Kash, and it's awesome! We're able to borrow all equiptment we need, including helmets, sticks, jerseys, knee pads and foam shoes (that allow both sprinting and sliding!). This weekend was a broomball tournement - our team consisting of elementary and high school staff is called "Creenglish", and so far we've lost one game, tied two, and headed to the arena once more this evening for the quarter finals. Wish us luck! It's been so nice to have something to do, to be apart of something outside of the school yard, and to be (very) physically active and competitive. Sometimes, a yoga mat just doesn't cut it.

In other news: 4.5 days until I fly home! Excited beyond words to see fiancee, family and friends. The plan? Flying to Timmins (fingers crossed!) and driving through the night to Toronto with 5 other teachers. After a short visit in Peterborough Scott and I will head to Lanark to celebrate Scott's sister's birthday and an early Christmas. On Christmas Eve Day, Scott and I will take the train to London to spend 4 or 5 wonderful days with my family (and Ozzy!). We'll head back up to Peterborough for New Years. Throughout I plan on eating out, seeing many movies, getting a massage or two (health coverage rules!) shopping for myself and for my kids - and hopefully relaxing as much as possible (although with all the faces I want to see, I doubt that will happen!)

Christmas season in Kash

Its nearly December and I'm noticing drastic changes in student behavior. Maybe its all the snow we've gotten. Perhaps my kids are actually listening to something I say (but probably not). Maybe I'm not as easily shocked anymore (probably so). Whatever the reason, my job has been getting somewhat easier over the past few weeks. Students are again easing into routines after the week off in October (yes, its taken THIS long to relearn them). I look forward to our mornings together. I make sure I have a smile on my face when students come in. A "special student of the day" writes out the morning message while I read with a student or ask about their weekend. Some students brush their teeth. After announcements, we've been doing daily morning exercise (just 30 seconds of push ups or jumping jacks or crunches), it gets a smile on their face and wakes a few of 'em up. I'm hoping to eventually make this more of our day, the kids really enjoy it and I think its worth the time spent. After we regain our breathe, groups of students race to the carpet and the morning message is read and edited, all led by the special student. We do a "morning boogie" in a circle as a class, and then the special person leads the whole class in reading our words of the week, and students orally put them into sentences. By this time, breakfast has usually arrived and the special person washes their hands, and hands out the snack. Students eat apples with peanut butter or banana muffins while I tell them where they will begin their center activities. If its Monday, we brainstorm and then vote on a "Fun Friday" activity that they earn with good behavior and good work over the week.

Being consistent has not only really helped the kids, its helping me TONS with my planning. In September and October I'd be up late, writing and rewriting every lesson - most of which I wouldn't get through because I didn't have consistent routines and expectations in place, and well, because sometimes my kids are .... "hyper." While they certainly aren't angels yet, things are on an upswing as of late. Aunt Barb, if you're reading this, you gave me the best advice on an earlier blog when you told me to stick to routines. I was originally afraid to bore the kids, but they really are thriving on structure.

The other best piece of advice I've gotten is from a high school teacher up here, a friend and mentor of mine. He said, "Love and forgive. Love and forgive. Over. And over. And over." I've caught myself saying this sometimes once a day, sometimes every 5 minutes. It really is the best advice that has really saved my sanity, not to mention my voice box.

As the Christmas season approaches I look forward not only to my 2 weeks off (yea!) but my class is singing a song and doing some drama for the St. Andrew's Christmas Concert. We begin practicing tomorrow! I'll be playing the guitar for the first time in a few years. I've chosen "Nutt'n for Christmas"... because it suits my kids ;)

Movember

Its been a few weeks since I've last posted - a lot happens everyday (every minute in the classroom) but its getting harder to think of things to write about. My theory is that the peculiar of Kash is now becoming the everyday and its taking more and more to shock me these days - a good thing for my classroom management, a bad thing for writer's block.

Scott visited last weekend for six amazing days! We didn't get up to too much - there isn't much to do in Kash with the Northern Store as the lone destination point, and not many sights to see (its so flat you scan the horizon and see it all in one go) however we watched many movies, made pancakes and omlettes, played scrabble, walked around the dike and the town every day, began to plan an all inclusive vacation with Jill and Zach for April (eeee!), relaxed, and even began to sort out some "wedding stuff." He met my class, helped out with some language work and centers, played tag with them during recess. As predicted they fell instantly in love with him (as I did). They've been asking about him ever since.

Since he's left I've been more homesick than ever - November is proving to be an extra stressful month - on top of regular nightly planning, students' Individual Education Plans (IEPs) were due, first report cards go out in two weeks and parent-teacher interviews are scheduled for the end of the month. And, oh yeah, I'm turning 26. Yikes. However with 5 weeks until Christmas break and my plane tickets booked, I know I'll be south and home again soon.

The school year continues and I'm still learning more and more every day. My students continue to keep me on my toes, continue to challenge me in countless ways. While my students drive me absolutely crazy some days, I'm falling in love with each one of them. Getting to know these kids will I think be one of the more invaluable experiences I will take away from Kash - they are each uniquley absoluetly brilliant.


The greatest grafetti written on my portable door - hard to read since someone's attempted to wipe it off, but it still faintly reads:
"A+ for Scott loves Geni."
Like I said, brilliant!

Mom's request: I blog again

I've noticed time has been going by much quicker these past few weeks. September crawled, October has been flying by.

Two weeks ago was Goose Break as previously mentioned. My roommate and I mostly worked on our long range plans - wrapping my mind around the next year within a few days was difficult. We did however manage to get out a bit. A friend we've made offered to take us up to James Bay on a "Kash canoe" (motorized). Kashechewan sits just below the tree line, as we headed north east towards the Bay the trees became smaller and smaller, until nothing remained but the flat horizon. Can see a single large rock a mile away. A few had brought guns and took turns practicing their aim at small birds while I aimed my camera. (My camera cord is probably sitting idle at the post office in the Northern store... meanwhile, all of these photos are on loan from Olena.)

We were also invited last Saturday to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony. One of the spiritual leaders of the community invited us, so 4 teachers and 4 nurses and one reporter jumped into the back of a pickup with towels in hand. For those who aren't familiar, a sweat lodge (or, at least the one we used) is a small man made cove of sorts, a circular dome made of woven and entwined sticks, then covered with heavy black felt and dark blankets. The dome itself was in a small shack or cottage, protecting it from the elements so that it can be used in the winter. We helped clean out the shack, pulled fresh grasses to cover the floor with and watched as a large fire was built a dozen feet from the cottage door. Large rocks were placed in the middle of the fire, and as the fire died down the rocks were red hot, through and through. Our guide explained to us the significance of the prayers and stories and the origin of the sweat lodge ( I won't repeat here for fear of getting something wrong), then we stripped down to skirts and t-shirts, took off our rings and watches and crawled into the lodge. In the middle of the dome is a pit. The red rocks are placed in the middle, prayers and various ceremonial rituals take place, and then the felt is closed over the small opening that serves as a door.

I've never been in such darkness in my life. About 5 minutes into the ceremony I was forgetting whether my eyes were open or closed, and made myself blink to remember which. Every few minutes, a mixture of water and sweet grass "medicine water" was splashed onto the hot rocks in the center and the lodge would instantly fill with heat. Our leader told several stories and prayers in Cree, praying for the people (especially the children) of Kashechewan and also for us. Every so often sacred eagle feathers would be waved just above our heads - I kept jumping, thinking a bird had miraculously found its way into the dome and was dive bombing us. Usually a sweat lodge ceremony is broken down into four 15 minute periods, however we did two longer, "double" sessions. In between the door flap was opened and the steam escaped and we cooled down some. The second session was much hotter than the first, and I think I allowed myself to relax a little more and my eyes played tricks on me. While I don't think I experienced anything that might remotely resemble a vision, the beating drums, the songs and the heat defiantly put me into a zone I'd never been in before. We came out of the lodge feeling detoxed and relaxed - really neat, great experience I would have missed out on were I home for the holiday.

Any relaxation I experienced last weekend quickly disappeared come Monday. Just one week out of school and I'm back at the drawing board, reteaching routines and procedures, reminding students of what they were easing into so nicely before the break. Sigh. Students tired easily this week of work, meanwhile work has tired me out as well. I've heard that students typically bounce back more quickly in October than in September and I hope that is the case!

Some great news on the horizon: a high school teacher is going to be helping me out by bringing the students healthy breakfast in the mornings. I know that for atleast a half dozen of my kids this will be a great help (to me, too!) And of course, Scott comes in less than 2 weeks to visit!

It's begun to snow! We woke up 3 or 4 times this week to find a dusting of white covering the ground. I think Kashechewan will look great, all dressed up for winter, especially for sunsets and on clear nights when the starts are out.

A Great Website

A great website to learn about Cree culture:

www.fourdirectionsteachings.com

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.

Much Needed Hunt/Hike

I've had a... ahem... difficult past week. Monday was a rough day and my energy level never did recover, in addition I was on the Terry Fox Run committee, and that ran (smoothly and successfully) on Thursday despite some drizzle (I can't wait to find my camera cord, so many photos of cute kids to share!) Have never been so exhausted as I was this past Thursday and Friday, feeling pretty sluggish and down trodden to say the least. However, a new friend and coworker came to my aid - gave me some great advice and I was able to end the week on a high note. I am learning so much day-to-day about what it means to be a teacher, what type of teacher I want to be, how much of myself I have to give these kids while also learning my own limitations. Friday's school day really showed me the difference between being angry and being strict. I got a lot further on Friday with the latter.

This weekend has been really great, despite some terrible homesickness (I missed Head of the Trent, again!). Did some yoga and went for a nice run around the dike, started a new book (100 Shades of Grey) and watched a few movies (if you haven't seen ZombieLand, do it!) I just got back from what was supposed to be a hunt, but turned into more of a really really nice 4 hour hike with five of us girls. It must be one of the most beautiful days since coming here and it landed on a Sunday - couldn't be more perfect. We took a path - what will eventually be the "Winter Road" - upstream towards the Albany, cameras, guns and granola bars at the ready. Reminded me of the Otonabee and the Mill Pond in the fall. This is by far my most favorite time of year. The colours are beautiful, the air is cool, its not too cold or hot. I love wearing jeans and sweaters. The wind here is strong but smells so fresh.

I've never shot a real gun before! One of the girls brought along a few shot guns, and while we didn't come across too many animals to shoot - our laughing could probably be heard for miles - that didn't stop us from firing a few rounds into the sea and sky! The volume and kickback on the gun was insane - I'm sure there will be a few videos on facebook within the next few hours starring me, attempting to control the freaking firearm. So while we didn't hit much (err.. or anything...) we do look pretty badass, anyway.