By the time Jori made it up to our house I was in serious pain! I mean I was in tears and was a little scared because I'm on an island that doesn't have a doctor and if this is serious, well, not good. Of course Sandra had heart-burn meds, so I took it, drank some water and then ended up throwing up again. By this point it was not heart-burn, it was something else. On top of it all the pain wasn't staying in one spot and I was throwing up more and more. So Jori called Sandra and told her I was sick and we didn't know what it was and she told Jori that it sounded like I had a gas bubble in my body and the island flu on top of it. Well, I was in hell! I thought I was going to die, even wished for it because I was SO much pain!
After about two hours, at least I think it was; no clue of time because of the pain. Well, later Jori was on her computer to get on WebMD.com because we both had the thought that my appendix burst. Oh my God that was a scary thought! Also to see what we could do to treat the pain. The only way to treat a gas bubble is to keep moving and if it's painful to move you're doing it right. Yeah, it said that right on WebMD. So I got into a routine to do the exercises Jori told me to do, throw up and then lay down for a bit. I was so tired, but it hurt to lay still for a long time. So I would do the movements, then throw up, drink some water, then lay back down. That's how it was for the whole night until about 8 or 9 the next morning.
But Jori was the BEST! She stayed calm and with me the whole night! She made sure I had water and was just a great support system. She even asked me if she should call Gina, because I was in so much pain I was asking Jori to shoot me. Through my pain I told her NO! Oh my if she would have called her, Gina would have been on the next plane her with Mom riding shot-gun. I didn't want to worry them, and that would have. Heck this girl even slept outside the bathroom door with me because I'll admit it I was scared and didn't want to be alone. She stayed with me the whole night even though she had to teach the next morning. I don't think I've ever had anyone that was not family do something like that for me in my life! Jori finds that hard to believe, but she hasn't met some of the people I've come across.
I stayed home the next day, obviously. I hope I never had to go through that again, but boy was I wrong because about a month later I had that damn flu all over again and had to miss another day of school! I was like are you kidding me!? But I'm grateful that the gas bubble was not bad, especially since I had gas relief meds now thanks to my wonderful sister!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. So the same night that I was "dying" Sandra's mother had a stroke. So Joe and Sandra that Wednesday, since we didn't have an ice runway yet were leaving for a long time to take care of her mom. Joe was gone for three long weeks and Sandra was gone for a very long month!
The day I come back to school I hear all about this and I'm still trying to get back to 100 percent and then hearing we're going to be short a principal and an upper elementary teacher, oh and let's not forget that my aide, Becky was leave Wednesday as well. I was just about to faint. But I held it together that day even though I was punched in the face by Marcus and his sister wasn't that much better either. That Tuesday and Wednesday were just a previews of how bad things were going to get after Joe and Sandra left. Thursday was the day from hell, well at least the morning was. Natalie threw chairs all over the place, had to get the kids out and it was just not good. I called her aunt, but her aunt couldn't come get her because she has a baby at home, so her cousin, Anna, was suppose to get her. Well, Anna looked like something the cat dragged in and was no help. Natalie's just laying on the floor stiff as a board and looking like a possessed child. So called her aunt again and she said to get her oppa (grandpa), which is Orville one of the custodians. So I got him and he got her out of the school and the rest of the day was alright.
So to sum up the time that Joe and Sandra were gone I had chairs thrown at aides/helpers, had to deal with kids getting kicked, hit, or other things. Of course it's my two students that need anger management. Thank God for Alan! He was a big help. He took the brunt of Natalie and Marcus's wrath. Marcus actually bit Alan because Alan was putting the toys away because it was lunch time. It was ridiculous! But by that time their Dad was back on the island and I think that's helped a little. Well, it's helped Natalie a lot, but Marcus is still working on his issues.
The next event that happened was I was somehow roped into being in charge of a dance for the community. On Valentine's Day we had a get together with the community, had parents/families come to share cookies and some good times at school for the last hour of the day. Sisqut, Etta, Michelle, and I were sitting around talking. Sisqut was saying how sad it was that Diomede hasn't had a dance in over 15 years. I said that you guys can just hook up an iPod and have the kids at the Rec Hall. Well, that was translated into "yeah I'll put on a dance for you" Long story short the Friday after Valentine's Day I was asked if I was still putting on the dance for the weekend. I was like ah what? I'm putting on a dance? Apparently Michelle called the school looking for me to ask when the dance would be. I decided to do it, but not put much effort into it because I did not volunteered I was basically pushed into it.
Well, when Joe came back I that was another story we had to tell him and I told him he had to come to support me, but that never happened; he's such an old fart. Haha, I say that with love. So the big day of the dance came and it actually turned out and went very well! I might do another dance, but with a lot more help. It was a good time and actually some of the parents showed up to check it out and actually did some dancing.
So when Joe and Sandra were both back, things got quite a bit better. The kids were still crazy, but at least our back up was back. About two weeks ago we had our Island Celebration party. It was a ton of fun! Minus Damion being a little jerk to me. I don't know what his problem is, but I seem to be his emotional punching bag. He's been moved to Joe's class, thank goodness because I didn't know how much more I could take of him calling me names and just being so verbally abusive to me. But any way back to happier times, the Island Celebration! The kids did some hula dancing, played some great games, and were able to watch the air swimmers, even control them. It was a great day!
Then about a week later, on a Friday night; we had quite the exciting evening. I was washing my face and all of a sudden I hear Jori screaming. I was like what the hell is going on!? Here a couple of her students came to tell her there was a polar bear sighting. Long story short, Odge ended up shooting the poor thing because it was coming toward the school. So I was able to see my first dead animal, it was so sad to see. What was even more sad was it was only three or four years old and this was probably its last season with its mother. So it was a little sad. But now that means bear meat and fur to sell.
I'll leave off on this note and let you know more about my trip to Nome for the Ididatrod and Neal the Geography Guy more in my next blog I hope to get done this weekend.
Beautiful sunset!
It set really fast! In 10 minutes it was under the horizon.
Valentine's Dance
Island Living Celebration
Do the hula!
