When I tell people we moved to Alaska to teach in a small, bush village I usually receive the same response…”How exciting” or “What an adventure”. While I agree that it is an adventure and the move itself is very exciting, after the first month, well it can get kind of boring. When you are in a small village where the most exciting news is a plane coming in with mail then you have to start being creative.
Ben and I always try to take walks on the weekends when the weather is nice. By nice we mean not pouring rain. We’ll walk in wind, sun, clouds, and drizzle (usually you will experience all of these on the 2 mile walk around our loop). I have also tried my hand at Crochet. I’m not sure if I have the patience to crochet as much as I would like but it passes time on some nights.
One thing that Ben and I have also decided to start doing is experimenting more with cooking. We usually have the same usuals from week to week. You know when it ain’t broke, don’t fix it goes along with the same measures as if it tastes good, keep eating it. haha A few things I have decided to start mastering is healthy eating while being on a creative grocery list. It’s hard to experience new recipes when you can’t just run to the local grocery store and pick up everything you need. Even though I will say, our store received a huge shipment this week, so we’re super excited about that! While fresh isn’t really an option up here, we do have plenty of frozen or canned options. All I have to say is thank goodness for Pinterest!
We’ve also started to coach our school’s volleyball team. By team I mean the 2 people that will be able to play and the 3 other students that are coming to practice for fun. (See even the students are dying for any activities) I know you’re probably thinking “how do you have a team with only 2 kids?” Well in Bush Alaska they will create teams between a couple small schools. We have teams of 3 or 6 and it’s a mix gender team. Our two boys will be put with students from another school to make a complete team. Now I’ll admit I’ve never actually played volleyball besides for fun like beach or mud volleyball. Youtube is pretty much my best friend for this and I’m learning along right long with him! It’s actually been super fun!You
One great thing with volleyball practice is it’s got me off the couch and getting me active again. I will completely admit that laziness is super easy to fall into when your in a village, and it has defiantly put it’s claws deep in me! My new goal with cooking healthier is also to get my butt moving! If I’m going to try to get creative with fighting off the boredom, I might as well get in shape as well!
So if you’re thinking about making the big move to working in Bush Alaska then start getting creative now! Also, if you have any creative, healthy recipes or work-outs that don’t require a gym send them this way!
Follette's Footsteps 