Fifth Blog

Monday was a good day, as we have finalized our class lists and students are showing up regularly to their respective classes. I was amazed how well they all responded to the task at hand and how enthused they were about learning newer materials. As for the weather, it was grey day. It rained for most of the day and that creates such mess due to sticky mud. After work I went for a bit of fishing hoping to continue Sunday's good fortune. But unfortunately things turned quite the opposite. First of all it was raining when I headed out. Secondly as I walked down the the slope to the river bank, I noticed a young man of either late teens or early twenties was sniffing some substance from a plastic bag. I had to walk right by him to the water. I said hi, but he was too dazed to respond. He looked right through me. I started casting, and he kept gazing at me bewildered and confused. He then started running back and forth while throwing punches in the air. Blues Eyes, the dog with me, reacted very defensively charging within a feet of him while barking and growling. I had never seen her so angry, serious and scared at the same time. I tried to calm her down but it wasn't working. Realizing a possible fish was not worth risking a conflict I returned home. A very long evening!

Tuesday was even a better day of teaching. Not only the exchange of ideas were abundant they were also helping each other which is my ultimate goal. I hope I can continue like this for most of the year. It is a pleasure to see them so seriously at work, and enjoying it. I didn't have to do much but to run around and answer their questions once in a while.The best part was that they sometimes would go to the board and do the problems voluntarily. After school a few of them stayed in my class finishing off assignments, playing video games, and watching movie on the computer. Today was truly a great day to be a teacher! I have a photo of them in the class which I hope to upload here soon.

After school liaison

I headed to the river for a bit of fresh air and to fish of course. It was a cold day but at least it wasn't raining as much. It wasnt a productive day in terms of catch; I only caught a medium size Northern Pike which i released back to the river. There were a few kids hanging out there and would get so excited every time they would hear the geese flying overhead migrating south. I guess winter cant be far off as there were thousands of geese flying very high overhead with surprisingly loud calls. Kids would imitate their elders by calling back at geese in hope of luring them to lower heights so they could shoot them (toy guns of course).

Kids trying to shoot down geese migrating south

 

Fourth Blog

We have officially finished our first full week of school. It was a very busy week for me, as we were missing two teachers and just two of us were keeping kids busy with Math and language Art for the entire week! I know one of the two missing teachers has arrived but the other one is not here yet, and I may have to teach 5 hours and 20 minute days until he/she arrives. Something that I am not looking forward to at all!

On Thursday I headed for a long bike ride with my fishing rod and a couple of containers in hope of catching fish and picking berries. I was thinking of fishing first and picking berries on the way back. After an hour of riding I arrived at the fishing spot and started casting. Unfortunately it didnt last, as there was a truck stuck in the mud further on the river bank. I went over to give them a hand, but it was too late, the truck was already deep in the mud. After 30 minutes of trying I decided to head back to town and get them help. It was just about to get dark by the time I arrived back. I called the driver's father and told him about his son's situation. I saw the driver the next day, he was very grateful for my help.

My fishing buddies with Blue Eyes and catches of the day(Sunday)

Friday was beautiful day, sunny and warm. After work I was walking home when I came across Husky, our large male pack leader from last year. He looked so scruffy with big scar under his right eye. I think either the old age is catching up with him or the fight for dominance with so many other dogs in the village taking its toll. We were both so happy to see each other. He would not stop licking my face, which I am sure is his way of welcoming me back to his neighborhood. I am looking forward to having him for my walks, runs and bike rides as he is the only dog that I can rely on his experience and awareness when it comes to dealing with bears or wolves. Also waking up to his barks followed by howls in the middle of night at the sight or sound of slightest movement in front of my place. I cooked him some oatmeal mixed with tuna followed by some dog food which coincidentally had arrived that very same day.

Blue Eyes staring at the fish(Sunday)

Saturday was another beautiful day. I started the day with a walk for berries at 10:00 am with another teacher. We walked for an hour, picked berries for an hour and walked back for another hour. I then had to go to the airport to get the remaining groceries which I had ordered a few days earlier. I usually place an order for vegetables and fruits once a month from a Safeway in Thompson which is an hour flight away. By the time I made it to the airport I was disappointed to see only half of my cargo had arrived, the non-essential half! I'll have to do the same again on Sunday. After that I decided to take three new teachers for a water run and show them where the spring in. We did that and on the way back we stopped by the dump to show them the bears. We saw the same family of three plus a large male. I tried fishing two more times later that day, no luck what so ever.

Mama bear and her two cubs at the dump

Low bush cranberries

Sunday started as a very grey and gloomy day. It was raining for most of the day so I decided to stay indoor and do a few more lesson plans. At about 1:30pm I went to the airport (its not really an airport, a gravel runway and a trailer as the station, pictures to follow soon) again and was very happy to see the final load arrive. You would be surprised how happy a bag of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and vegetables can make someone! I stayed indoor and decided to bake my first bread of the season. Weather improved slightly so I decided to go for some fresh air and another try at fishing while the dough was rising. This time Gods of the God's River smiled at me and I managed to catch two Trouts and a relatively large Norther Pike. It ended up being a great afternoon/evening with the shining sun and the neighborhood kids company. The bread ended up being a success, and along with oven roasted fresh trout and some salad, it was a fantastic dinner!

Third Blog

Well on Tuesday I finally received my new phone number(land line) so I now feel a little more connected to the outside world than before. I however surprisingly don't miss carrying a mobile device with me any more and find it refreshing not to worry about answering calls while out of the house. On Tuesday we also got the chance to meet the Chief and councils of the Shamattawa. It was pretty nice, they treated us to dinner and an informal meet and greet. I was planning to head out for some fishing but the heavy wind combined with rain stopped me from venturing out. Stayed in all night long!

Wednesday was another strange day as I needed sunglasses one minute and umbrella the next. I am still trying to register kids in their respective classes while doing a math/science refresher at the same time. It has been my busiest week of teaching by far. After work I ventured out for another try at fishing at a near by spot which is not known for fishing. At last I did manage to catch the first Brooks trout of the season, it is being fried as I write this blog. And if the internet cooperates I might even be able to post its pictures soon!

Second Blog

The weekend was very strange in terms of weather; Saturday scorching hot about 28 degrees and Sunday cold and windy.

On Saturday I took a couple of new teachers and a returning colleague for a very long hike to pick berries and fish. The hike was about 12km one way. We did however stop on numerous occasions to pick blueberries and low bush cranberries. There are just so much of many varieties of berries up here. I dont know why on Earth I didnt hear about them last fall. All I had to do was wander off any trails and would have stepped on hundreds of berries! So we did make it to our destination after about three hours. It seemed that it was a bit of a stretch for some as it was too hot and too long of a hike. I volunteered to run back the distance after fishing and bring back the truck to drive the gang back to our compound. I kind of regret the suggestion as it was pretty hot and I struggled to make the distance non-stop. I cheated and walked a few times before I finally made it back to the school. On the drive back we decided to go by the dump and see if there were any bears. Sure enough there was mam bear with her two almost grown-up cubs. Took a few close shots from the truck and called it the day. No fish by the way. I think I will go hungry this winter!

Sunday was pretty cold and I only headed out a couple of times to try my luck with the river around the village, once again no luck. I did however lose three or four very expensive lures! I could have bought an expensive wild sockeye in Vancouver and still it would have been cheaper than those lures!

Monday September 12th. Our first official day of school. It was filled with excitement and I was so happy to see the new and old faces of the grade 9 class. predictably the new faces were happy to see me, and the returning students, well lets just say that they werent overly excited with the prospect of seeing me for another 10 months. We did spend most of the day registering them in their classes and groups and I am hoping they will respect our full day's work and come to their proper sessions tomorrow. After school I decided to go and get my bike back from a local friend's house who was nice enough to store it in their garage. I then headed out to pick berries with two other teachers who brought bikes with them. It was a very chilly day and by the time I made it back home my hands were almost frozen. I thought I was being a softy, but then when I checked at the forecast, it showed a mere 2 degrees for today's low.

First Blog

Well I have finally arrived here at Shamattawa and am quite happy to see many of the familiar faces from last year. It seems like everyone is surprised to see me back as they all commented: Oh you are back? I am definitely going to take it as a compliment, they were genuinely happy to see me, and I was delighted to see them.

Wednesday after work I ventured out with two other teachers for a hike and some fishing. We walked East along the river(which I will mention its name on my next blog) for about 45 minutes through thick bushes. There were two kinds of berries, the common red berries, and some high bush cranberries. None of us were sure of the high bush cranberries, so I decided to pick some and show it the locals and see whether it is ok to consume. As for the fishing; only Maryann caught two Northern Pikes, Rayan and I, the two supposedly seasoned fishermen caught nothing! I took the berries to the store and asked a couple of elders and they ate the berries and told me its ok to eat them now! I wasnt convinced, so showed them to a local colleague at school, and they confirmed its an edible berry called sour berries. So I guess I will be going back and picking those more regularly, that is if i can find others who would go with me in the bear infested trails!

After the hike I stopped by to buy some eggs and milk when I noticed a dog is staring at me. I looked closely and recognized Cookie. Neither her nor i could quite believe our eyes. I called her name and she jumped right at me. She lay on the ground on her back motionlessly while I patted her.

On Thursday I decided to go for a long walk on the main dirt road in town which goes along Northwest direction ending at a fishing spot called the Whiskey Point. Cookie followed me. We walked about halfway out when I found some blueberries and low bush cranberries. They are quite small but very delicious. I guess all good things come in small packages! On our way back we were startled by a very large black bear crossing the road 50 meters in front of us. I immediately turned around and hushed Cookie asking her to follow me. We were both extremely nervous as we almost walked backwards looking at the bear to see if it would follow us, it didnt and just stopped in the middle of the road staring at us moving away. Luckily for us two trucks appeared from the other side. One of them was an RCMP truck. they noticed the bear and stopped the truck sounding their siren and horn to scare the bear off. We waited about 5 minutes and continued our way back. We saw the bear come out of the woods about 150 meters from the last place and crossed the road behind us. We then went to a fishing spot very close to town and I managed to catch a Northern Pike, my first real meal!

Friday was a low key day as we finished reorganizing the classrooms and devising a comprehensive schedule for the high school. It was raining and dark after work, and I decided to stay inside finishing the clean up of the apartment. I did manage to take some photos but am not sure how to post them up here. I'll do that as soon as I master the art of blogging!

Cheers for now.

11:53pm Friday September 9 2011