Reflections on the Weekend

On Saturday I went walking with several other teachers out on the south beach (against St. Michael Bay).  We had fun enjoying the sun and letting Jodi's dog, Ootagoo, run around and wear himself out.  We talked, laughed, collected sea glass, and took pictures.

Ootagoo (Oo -Chi- Goo) loves playing with Juliet and Romeo.  Juliet enjoys it too.  Romeo still freaks out though.   

From left: Ootagoo, Jodi, Jill, Julie, Me, Bonnie, and Jessie.

Jodi, Julie, Jessie, Ootagoo, and Me. There are a lot of rusted bins, gears, chains, etc left on the beach on St. Michael Bay from the Gold Rush.  St. Michael used to be the home of 10,000 people.  Now there are 500 people living here.

Jessie, Jill, puppy, Bonnie, Jodi, Ootagoo, Julie, and me.

After our walk we went back to Jodi and Bonnie's house (mine too), made popcorn, and watched a movie.  By the time I walked across the hall to my apartment, it was dark outside.  This was the first time I had stayed up until the sun went down.  It was 11:45pm when I went to bed, and it was dark.  When we came to Alaska, Ellen and I did some calculations using hours of daylight vs darkness and discovered that everyday we will lose 10 minutes of daylight.  The sun will rise five minutes later and set five minutes sooner.  Try to wrap your head around that.

On Sunday I attended church in St. Michael.  Katie, one of the teachers at the big school, came over to my house and walked with me to the church.  It was a blessing.  There were teachers and natives all worshipping together.  The most memorable part of the service was listening to the testimony of a young man who accepted Jesus in April.  He was able to be a witness for Christ's amazing grace to the people in that church by telling them, "You knew me.  I was bad, I was messed up.  You knew what I was like."  His interactions with the people in the village are now completely different because God has "wiped his slate clean."  What an amazing introduction to God's work in St. Michael.