Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!  I am back in the arctic getting settled in after all of the commotion of Christmas in the Ryynanen house.  The kids were very excited to have school back in session here--they were excited because there was "finally something to do."  They were all telling me how their "hours got mixed up" over break.  When the sun doesn't rise until 1, many people end up staying up all night and sleeping all day.  When I told them of my engagement they were ecstatic.  It was so cute, and they had many questions.  Of course one of their questions was, "Does this mean you will make babies next year?"  ...oh dear!

The girls had home basketball games this weekend, so on Friday the preliminary game was the staff vs. community members. . . we lost by 1 :( The girls won both games against the Buckland Sisauni (Beluga Whales).  They won by playing man to man defense--I was so excited, because we usually only see zone around here.

This morning I went to the school to get some stuff done, but the sun came out and I got restless.  It rose above the mountains around 12:30 and by 1:45 I had to leave.  One thing here is that when the sun is out, you almost have to get out to enjoy it.  I took a walk on the trail along the river and it was beautiful.  Of course I forgot my camera, but the sun was shining brightly, and the landscape was breathtaking.  I walked down to a little clearing above the river and just stopped to enjoy it.  There is a small area of the river that the ice cleared on and there was a thin layer of mist above it.  The horizon above the mountains was painted pink and orange.  It was silent, except for the distant call of ravens and other animals, until the village sound of sno-gos approached.  Finally, like I said 18 times already, the SUN was shining:) It was perfect.  

I get to try my hand at cooking fish tonight.  The state was giving away fresh Silver Salmon to everyone in the village, so we will see how it goes :)

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