FUN!!!

Having the greatest time out on the river!!!

Okay, we had 2 professional development days.  But outside of work, it has been awesome.  I went out with Mock and Rile twice.  The first time I went to the Bering Sea for the first time (actually on it!!!) and we saw 2 whales.  Well, the spouts of them.  They never surfaced close enough for me to see them exactly, but it was awesome!!!!

Mock's Camp

Mock and Me

I was trying to get a picture of the whales' spouts

Beautiful sun on the Bering Sea

Then we went out again Friday.  I say 3 moose swimming in the river.  How awesome?! It brings my total moose count to...8 I believe that I have seen...?

How cool?!

It gets onto the land

And climbs up the hill

On our way home...East side

West Side...They are literally ( ;) Jess) taken seconds apart

On Saturday, I went to Stella's camp.  OMG So Fun!!!  We made dry fish and strips.  It was a blast.  It was nice to get out of the village, hang out with Stella and her family, and do some work that was Native work.  I can't explain how wonderful of a feeling it was to be there.  I'm feeling so blessed that I'm being welcomed into the village so much.  Thank you Eskimos!!!

Riding in the boat to camp

The scenery on the way to camp

We brought Stella's brother, Happy's, dog with us

The main house at camp

The view from the house.  To the right is where we cut up the fish and the smoke house

Stella making the brine.  She was a witch with a caldron!

K hanging up dry fish

Stella's mom is an elder...and is awesome at making the dry fish and strips.  It seemed like she didn't even try...it was so natural for her.

Smoke house

Stella's sons, Brandon and Stephen, and nephew, Justin, cleaning and gutting the fish.  They would do it in the water so they could then drive the guts out into the water to dump them so that the moose and bears wouldn't come to eat them at camp; and because it smells on land when they rot.

Cutting and filleting fish

What we began with.  170 fish.  We did 122 that day.  Dry fish and strips.

Stella filleting...she got fired.  She switched with her mom because she was making the fillets too thick :)

I was able to do one dry fish.  It was an honor.  Most of the time I got the fish out of the buckets, cut out the bellies, got the fins ready, gave them to Stella's mom, she filleted, I took them to Stella, Stella made it into dry fish, then I salted and hung the fish.  It was an awesome and hard process!!! :)