Happy Election Day

Today is Election Day.  I stole this picture from one of the JV's.  I didn't vote in Alaska, I sent in my absentee ballot about a month ago (or at least it feels like a month ago).  The Cultural Center is a polling place so lots of people have been coming in today.

Cucuklillruunga means "I voted", coming from the root "cucuke-" meaning to choose or to prefer.

I took the library's copy of the Yup'ik dictionary and checked out some picture books because I have decided that I'm going to learn Yup'ik and stop being whiny about it.  My friend Rachel made a good point, saying that I didn't know Spanish the first time I looked at it.  So I'm going to do what I did with Latin, which is to read a passage, write it out, and then translate it using the dictionary; while also listening to my Yup'ik phrase CD and learning a phrase or word per day.

The first book I am reading is about marine animals, so if I ever get to the Sea Life center in Seward I might be able to talk about the animals in Yup'ik :)

Wind Chill Factor

I wish this chart weren't necessary.  You can tell how cold it is by either how fast the mucous inside your nose freezes or how fast your cheeks start burning. 

The winds here are insane.  Last week they were around 20 MPH and gusting over 30 MPH.  Because of this, everything in town is very "dusty" from all the sand blowing around.

Pumpkin Chunkin

Today the 4H Club had a "Punkin Chunkin" at the skate park.  People brought their jack o'lanterns and pumpkins from Halloween.  It was fun to watch, but had to climb into someone's car because it was below zero with the wind chill!

The Weather Report

Today it is 15 degrees F and feels like -3 degrees F.  Winds at 23 MPH, gusting at 37 MPH.

Walk on the Tundra and Ice Skating

Last Saturday I spent a good portion of the day going for a walk on the tundra and then going ice skating for nearly two hours on a lake that is right across from the dorm.  The ice here is so interesting, there is so much of it!  The tundra is much nicer to walk on now that it is more solid.  In fact, instead of wearing boots I can now wear my sneakers! (with really thick socks).

The beaver's infinity pool is now frozen.  My friend Ruffian and I explored around it to check out the lodge a little closer and take pictures of some of the ice formations.

 

Diane took a picture of me taking a picture of the ice:

 

Alright, alright, I'll post something!

There have been multiple complaints about me not informing everyone of the very exciting things in my life.  So this is a snapshot of what my day is going to consist of (while I am currently on hold with someone in Fairbanks):

Today my task is to get a grant-writing class prepped and ready to run in December.  This involves:

-Getting a schedule established with the adjunct professor we are hiring who currently lives in Anchorage
-Making sure that schedule works with the target participants in Hooper Bay, Chevak and Scammon Bay
-Coordinating to find a space to hold the class
-Trying to get the adjunct professor approved which means she has to submit a resume and syllabus
-Getting a sample syllabus from the rural development department in Fairbanks
-Sending pre-registration forms to Hooper Bay, Chevak and Scammon Bay for participants to sign up with their contact information and interest/needs/experience for/with grant writing

And just in case you wanted to know exactly what course it was...:

RD F250 Grant Writing for Community Development
1-3 Credits Offered as Demand Warrants
Basic elements of grant proposals and processes of preparing proposals for governmental and private funding sources.  Emphasis on applied skills through preparation of actual grant proposals.  Graded Pass/Fail.
Prerequisite:  ENGL F111X or Permission of Instructor