Volleyball Trip



I volunteered to chaperone the volleyball trip this weekend.  We traveled to Kivalina, the closest village which is right on the ocean.  We had to take a plane because there are no roads connecting any of the villages.  There are 13 volleyball players (co-ed), but only 7 get to travel.  The school charters a plane to bring them to the game.  There were 9 seats-7 players, a coach, and me. It was a super clear day, so I got a pretty sweet picture of Up-town and the school....It's not very good because my camera wasn't exactly ready :)

We got to the school and the principal handed me a key and
 asked me how you pronounce my name so she can announce before...apparently I had been promoted to assistant coach somewhere along the way.  Later she came running and asked if I knew how to keep score--no one in Kivalina knows how, so I ended up doing the scorebook for all of the games.  


We had a few hours before the games started, so the kids were messing around in the gym and were doing some traditional Eskimo dances--it was pretty sweet to see.  Midway through the first match, they stopped the game to warn about bears.  An elder got up and warned everyone to keep their kids inside--a mama and 2 cubs were just seen near the airstrip, by the dump.




Selawik was also in Kivilina, and another 1st year teacher, Christina, was the chaperone.  I met her before in Kotzebue, so it was fun to visit her again.  We checked out the sunrise (at 10:30) and then later we went and felt the ocean.  The farthest north ocean we have ever been to! 
 

There are 3 camera crews in Kivalina shooting 3 different movies/programs about Kivalina and the community there.  It's getting alot of attention for "falling into the ocean" and something about climate change. It's a small island that is eroding very badly.  Look next year about this time on PBS and you may see my smiling face :)  

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