photo documentarian

Here are some shots from teaching this Thursday.


Dave getting ready to play camouflage with the kids
The grizzly's!!!

Made the kids do a 3.5 mile round trip hike up to a waterfall. Complained most of the way, but were stoked when they got there. Totally worth it.

Check out these MUSHROOMS!!!!!!!


This was a really good group of friends, but it made me question the quality of our public school system. If you want to hear more, drop an email, or give me a call.

Kids!!!

I was a nocturnal instructor on Monday & Tuesday this week, and we got to hang out, sing songs and check out skulls with the ranger. Here's a photo of the kids pre-skull identification.



That night, we were graced with the presence of Clint & Nick who sang "Country Road" while playing the guitar and accordion. This duo has prompted my desire to acquire a banjo so i can join them during the spring mountain school session.



Then on Wednesday I went back to teaching during the day time and to say i have had my hands full the past few days is a fun understatement. Here's a photo of the boys munching on pretzels during a peaceful and stationary moment. Trust me, this was very very very very rare.



I"ll post more on my adventures with these guys tomorrow.

our new house

Tons of new places & things going on in my life lately. One of those new things includes my new house with my not quite new anymore boyfriend. Granted, i dont really live there full time, but it's still something i'm really excited about, and we have a guest room to share! So, here are a few shots from the new place... and more to come soon. So, consider this your invitation to come visit (if i know you) and spend some time with us up in Bellingham.

View looking down the hallway through the window to our front yard.

the kitchen where many cookies will be baked.

hallway with the bedrooms to the right and the storage to the left.

The living room.

Directions

So, once you get off I-5, you drive through Sedro Wooley via Cook rd.

Then about an hour later you'll go through the bustling streets of Rockport

Then you come to Marblemount. Last stop for gas for the next 63 miles.

Keep following the signs to the N. Cascades

Turn left at this sign

Go over the bridge that looks like it's from Harry Potter.

and then you're here!!! next time i make the drive and it's actually nice out and you can see the mountains, i'll do this again :)

exhausted

i am exhausted.

i have absolutely no photos.

I was supposed to team teach with Nick this week, since we had combined our groups... but, Nick got sick, and i had to teach both of our groups. However, i successfully wore the kids out. They were so tired they gave up game/play time with the other groups and went back to their dorms to take a nap before dinner. I guess that makes it a successful day... right?

I sure hope so.

Today

So, this morning was pretty rough. I came to the realization of how broke I really am, and was really trying to come to terms with why I am here. Broke really isn't the correct term I am looking for. Completely unable to pay some important bills (i.e. tuition) and unable to buy food would be a better description of where I was at this morning. Thankfully the bus full of kids that I was supposed to teach today was about an hour late, leaving me time to come to terms with my current financial situation and make some decisions which included pulling all of my "savings" and look at finding additional work while living up here. I'm not looking for pity. But there is a point to this.

On the way to the bus, i was in a pretty bad spot... I never really thought of teaching kids as a future career and really hadn't made a true connection with it yet so was really having difficulties justifying being here. That, and i'm pretty sure if i did leave, I wouldn't have a job to go back to anyway, but that's something totally different.

Anyway, the bus of kids finally arrived and 11 kids hopped off the bus, and I was in charge of them for the next 4.5 hours. No pressure. What made this all a tad more difficult was that a few of the children required special needs, and I have ZERO training on how to do this. Wait, did I mention that I just learned how to do any of this three weeks ago? But here's the thing. It all worked. The kids were amazing. Some that started out shy in the beginning were singing and dancing with me by the end. A few of the kids that knew all the answers, were encouraging the younger and smaller kids to raise their hands and providing them with useful hints. And one of the children who is hearing impaired finally got out of his cocoon and would hear a bird or animal and correctly identify it without anyone else. We got to build mountains in the sand, run screaming through wood chips, sang about evaporation and I felt a level of trust from these 10 year olds I have never even felt from an adult. To say that it was magical only devalues the experience. I wasn't able to take as many photos as normal, but here are some photos from the day:

The running and screaming game.

the kids, their teachers & chaperones

teaching the kids about watersheds & how the slightest bit of pollution can effect everything

Nick giving instructions to the kids before releasing them to construct their mountains

So, to return to my original thoughts from the day. This is worth it. Seeing a child interact with the place around him and have it provide him with a sense of self is worth all of the money in the world.

Chuck Norris will beat Rock & Scissors

Today was a great day. We were greeted with mildly chilly skies this morning and this bizarre glowing sphere (i.e. sun). The kids were in great spirits, and everyone was in the mood to learn. Snow was also visible on the nearby peaks, which got some adults pretty darn excited as well. Here are some photos from the day.

Took a hike up to the waterfall, and the kids had a "who can keep their hand in the freezing water long enough" contest. here they are still smiling. I do not have a picture of them testing the length of time it took to get feeling back into their hands.

The kids collected various objects we had found this morning and got to look at them under a microscope.

Snow on Pyramid
Snow on Colonial (7700 ft)

Erika & Emma playing "meet a tree." The kids are blindfolded and walked to a plant where they must feel it and smell it and then identify it later once the blindfold is removed.

What better way to wake up at 8am, then to go play tag with 50+ kids.