Wow this week went by fast! Hello Weekend!

This past week has flown by so fast that I really somewhat don't remember it.  Over the week which was week 2 for the first summercise session, I worked my first of two weeks summer lunch. Now I fully understand why the lunch ladies in grade school were not very happy.  Some kids are rude others are picky and a few have these so called "allergies" that changed up every day's plan. Everyday we had to prepare enough food for about 85 kids and I really didn't mind all the preparations but some of these picky kids are just horrible.  There is one kid that comes to summer lunch that has 19 allergies... but I really and honestly don't think that this kid really is allergic to all those things (aka...chicken and peas, but not green beans).  So planning all the meals and then going straight into summercise was really tiring but I was able to keep myself going.  I also forgot to mention that I got a job while I'm up here... I'm a water aerobics instructor and every class that I've taught I have walked away sore.  I began to realize that I must walk alone over 10 miles a day! Not to mention any time I play soccer or play with the kids. On Friday, while some of the interns went to Teller, and the remainder of us went to the place not too far from Nome called Camp Dexter, there we were able to talk with some kids about nutrition.  While we were there we got to try some Eskimo Ice-cream. It was very berry delicious! So this weekend came around and I saw some of the prettiest places in Alaska so far.  On Friday the other interns and I were at a cabin by the lake and in the background was the mountains with the sky that was painted all these wonderful colors of purple, pink, yellow and blue.  It was one of the prettiest views that I have ever seen in my life.  On Saturday, we went hiking at this place called Dorthy Falls.  That was one of the longest hikes but it was so worth all the falls, scrapes, and mosquito bites! I've got some really neat pics so I hope you enjoy!

This is the Eskimo Ice cream it was pretty interesting... there are some graham crackers with the ice cream

This is a dollar that I wrote my name on that this place is filled with from people all over the world!

Outside of the cabin about 20 miles from Nome. Also it was about 2:30 am when I took this pic

On the way to the hike. Beautiful mountains!

Out on the hike! Still representing Texas A&M all the way in AK

The view from the half way point

Yes that is still snow by the waterfall

The river that I crossed barefoot to keep the hike going!

Me at the waterfall! Half way!

 So this has really been an exciting time and I am so thankful to be in this amazing experience! My birthday is this next week so hopefully I will have some great stories to tell next time!

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1Cor. 13:13

Peace & Love
Megan
 

It's going to become legendary!

So this week has been one of the hardest weeks by far! All the planning and preparations that we have done finally happened and though it was really hectic it went over really smooth.  All the kids really enjoyed summercise this past week and all the other interns and myself could not have been more excited that the weekend was coming! My gardening class went well um... good until some little girl that was probably about eight said that my class was really boring, which kinda hurt but then at the same time I realized that I like gardening but it is a little slow and boring when your dealing with seeds.  After gardening I was teaching boys basketball, which up here in Nome this sport is the most prided sport and everybody plays.  So when we first started drills some of the boys really didn't like what we were doing because they were already good at it, so instead we just let them play a game called knockout which is really fun if your good at shooting.  I also taught softball right after and many of those kids love softball because they get to play outside.  I thought them how to pitch and catch and we did some drills of running around the bases (which they loved)! All in all the first day went well but it was very exhausting.  On Tuesday, it was swimming day, I know that back in Texas swimming is great outside, but up here no one swims outside.  Instead there is a heated pool and all the kids love splashing around.  All the kids are more well mannered and respectful because they don't want to lose free time for getting in trouble.  So after doing this same routine again on Wednesday and Thursday, I was really glad to not have to see any kids on Friday! Then the weekend came and this weekend was going to be the best because it was the Midnight Sun Festival.  So here is a little brief on the background.  On June 21 every year many people know it as the summer solstice.  But here in Nome, it is the longest day of the year, which in turns also means celebration! So on Friday the festival starts with a performance from a guest band which this year it was a band named Pumpya.  They are an Inuit folk band that sound incredible! It was such a great concert! Then on Saturday there is a full day of events that happens, it starts with the Gold Dust Dash which is a four mile run that the CAMP department puts on (so my participation was required) at 9am.  The first place male and female both receive a gold nugget! After the race the town transformed into the early 1800s in time for the parade and bank robbery! The parade was great though nothing like Fiesta it was still fun.  The bank robbery was an interesting way to share the local history of some of the first people of Nome and a fun engaging activity for the kids! Then after the bank robbery was the polar bear swim! Yes that is right it was a swim in the frigid cold Bearing Sea! Many people did jump in but the water was so cold that I chickened out at around my knees! I know but I still have pictures! After the Polar Bear swim I headed over to the open mic and craft fair at the elementary school, which I got to try some Beluga Whale and Mutuck (I might have misspelled that).   I also bought some really neat seaglass earrings and I worked a smoking cessation booth to help people quit.  Then today was the raft race down the snake river which teams needed to build a raft and then hopefully it would float down the 5 miles to the finish line.  All though the weekend is almost over it was still such an exciting time! Here are just some of my pics that can post but I have plenty more. Just in case you wanted more details about what all I do during my exciting days during summercise, I have another blog that my prof is grading but your more then welcome to check out! it's http://blogs.tamu.edu/mboswell06/  and I also got a new cell phone for just up here so if you want the number then just post a comment to let me know and I can text or call you!

The King Island Dancers with Pumpya!

The Mascots at the Gold Dust Dash

Me, Renee, Charlotte and Kelly working the race!

A vintage car at the parade!

Chase, Jillian, Melanie and Me at the parade! They are the coolest Baptist Interns ever!

The volunteer cast of the bank robbery!

At the Polar Bear Plunge! Don't let the brightest fool you, the water was about 35 degrees!

Pickled Beluga Whale Soup with Mutuck (which is essentially the fat, but really good for you!) 

Oh yes that is the reaction eating the beluga! It was really hard to eat because it tasted like it hadn't been cooked!

Me helping out at the smoking cessation booth!

This is the sky at about 2:30am and because the sun never sets it looks like this for about two hours then the sun comes back up! But the sky is just painted all these beautiful colors!

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Thanks for checking in!
Megan

Crazy week of planning, activities, accidents, CPR and a trip to the ER!

So this week has been really crazy,but before you freak out nothing bad happened to me!  We have been able to meet with the assistants that are going to be helping us with summercise. Luckily this kids that are helping us already know some of the kids and have really great energy that would really help us stay pumped and match the energy of these kids during summercise.  So all this planning that's been happening is really interesting. We are trying to make plans for our classes but in reality we know that with kids you really shouldn't make plans because things always change.  We were able to enjoy some activities with our assistants and play games (but for adults they are considered leadership/team work activities) well whatever they are called they are really games that everyone can play.  We did play the trust game and carried two people across our arms which now that I think back was not probably safe at the time, but they really did trust us! So I'm going to skip Wednesday for now to talk about some of the other not so fun stuff because Wednesday was an out of the ordinary extremely interesting day.  So on Thursday it was a day full of CPR training! I have been through many CPR/ first aid training before but this time it really felt a little different.  I always have known why learning CPR would be beneficial, but after the choking incident with my nephew the week before I was to fly up here to AK, I knew that knowing how to save peoples lives really does matter.  So after becoming re-certified, it was almost a non-adventurous after that.  I know that at some point during the week I learned about disciplining children during the camp, but after that in the mid-afternoon area I usually just tend to zone out.  Friday was super exciting, everything that we have been planning, researching, prepping for is finally about to happen on Monday, so it was a full day of a dry run though with the assistants. So I can finally tell you about my exciting, strange, interesting Wednesday! So I volunteered take part in a planned cruise ship accident out on the Bearing Sea! So here is basically what happened... (enter background story)... So we are on a cruise ship that has had a random explosion, some people are hurt but  most people have soot and breathing problems, but for me, I was patient #9, which meant that I was laying on deck, unresponsive, wet with hypothermia, and possible spinal injury.  So the plan was that the harbormaster was going to call the fire dept to come rescue on scene lower people down the side of the ship (which was really a dock) onto the water platform then taken by boat around the harbor to another dock which EMS would respond and transport to the hospital.  So the whole town was prepping for this "practice accident".  So I started my prepping at the EMS office for getting makeup (aka soot) around my face.  Then all the volunteers moved to the dock (ship deck) then waited until the drill was about to happen.  So when it all started the volunteers really got into characters ( I was supposed to be unresponsive but it was slightly hard not to laugh at some people), when the firefighters first arrived on scene they were able to help rescue and move the people that were able to walk, then all the rest they went one by one to assess. When they got to me they first declared me dead/dying (how sad!!!) but they knew that I still needed to try to be saved so they attached me to a back board and then I got to wait my turn to be lowered down to the platform.  Once I was taken to the other side by boat the EMS took me to the hospital. That was the first EMS ride that I ever had, and hopefully ever again.  Once I got to the hospital, the EMT's were talking to the Dr.s about my critical condition and in a real situation I would have been inserted a left chest tube and then stabilized and awaiting for transport by plane to Anchorage, AK since my condition would have been too serious to treat here in Nome.  It was such an exciting drill, that helped all the emergency responders in the town understand what to do if a situation like that was to ever happen.... and you better believe that I took pictures of the WHOLE thing! So here are some really neat pics of all the accident

.

Me getting ready with make-up (aka soot) on my face

Renee, Me and Charlotte before the drill

   

Renee in character yelling for people to help me!

Right after they declared me dying/dead

Placing  me on the backboard to prep me to be lowered to the dock.

I like how if I'm dead/dying underneath it says minor. Clearly this is not minor!

And they delayed me from getting to the EMS right away...hmm

Me on the transport boat, I was just happy to finally be moving towards somewhere warm!

Getting ready to be lowered by the harness onto the dock.

I really enjoyed helping everyone in the town practice but I was told by my supervisor who is also an EMT that if that situation had happened for real, then the symptoms that I had I would have more then likely died before they would be able to preform emergency services on me.  So I'm really glad that this was just a drill and that I was saved!


"So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10 

Thanks for reading! I hope that I was able to provide you with some reading entertainment! 

Peace & Love 
Megan

I'm a Radio Celebrity!

So it really has been an interesting first week. I'm attempting to balance adjusting to the cold weather with the amount of work that I'm going to be doing all summer and all the while meeting new people from around the town and getting to know the other seven girls that I work with.  So I realized today that I didn't really tell anyone what I'm really doing up here and the reason that I titled this post the way I did. So for the next few hopefully not too many sentences I will try to explain what my job is and how I'm a radio celebrity!  So my job title is a Summercise Intern for the Norton Sound Health Corporation, CAMP Department (CAMP stands for Chronic care Active Management and Prevention).  So what Summercise is basically a summer camp for kids to get kids in motion; it has two sessions that last for 3 weeks each, and different classes are taught and the kids get to pick and sign up for them.  The classes I'm teaching is gardening, basketball, softball/kickball, swimming, cooking up culture, bite into it (vitamins with foods), flag football, great outdoors, and xtreme xpeditions! I know that it seems like a lot of classes but they are spread out and not all in the same session.  Aside from working Summercise this internship allows us to experience different things like working in Step by Step a program that helps people learn about diabetes prevention and get to check blood sugar and blood pressure.  Also, we partake in Summer Lunch for the kids, PMH (pre-maternal home) that lets us teach a class to soon to be mothers from surrounding villages about the benefits of breastfeeding and information about infant health.  We get the chance to make nutrition display boards to help bring education to the community; and write a newsletter article to be published and sent out to people in the community and villages.  We also get to work in community for a service project that we create, and the Diabetes Prevention Program, and Running/Walking Club. There is a few more things that I will get to do but I bet this is getting long already.  So far I already know that this is going to be a really busy summer! So by now your still probably wondering how I'm a radio celebrity, well okay.... I think I can tell you! So another project is to create a radio spot and I volunteered to try it out. I got to give a minute radio spot that airs all day about nutrition and the importance of being active, so here is the really neat thing is that about 30,000 people can here the broadcast all summer in Nome, the surrounding villages, most parts of Alaska, down to Seattle, And across in Russia and Japan! I think that its pretty cool! I will also get the chance to travel to surrounding villages to talk about nutrition.  So far I could not have asked for a more amazing chance to do what I love in such a unique place! 

So this is the radio station that you can tune into in the region to hear me talk about nutrition

This is Moose soup and in the back is the Salmon Jerky and pilot bread with blackberry jam (homemade).  A native Alaskan treat!

The Moose soup up close

A mountain from far away that still has some snow!

The snowy mountains on a cloudy morning.

A view from far away.

A view from the street leading out of town

More mountain views.

 Okay these pictures are from this morning when I decided to go bird watching at 7am, which it was under 40 degrees out! I did get the chance to see some birds that had migrated from Hawaii, and other birds that come from all over like southeast Asia and above the Arctic Circle. So here are just a few pics from that early morning adventure!

Maybe something from the older days before Iditaord!

 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see."
Hebrew 11:1 (NIV)

Thanks and hope to post more soon!
~Megan