NYO, things we like, and cold

Last weekend our school hosted an NYO competition, and two other villages sent students to compete. NYO is Native Youth Olympics, a series of very challenging physical events. We didn’t see all of the events, but we were able to see a few and get some pictures. We’re not 100% sure about the origins of all the NYO events but it seems that at least some of them developed from hunting traditions. For example, the “Two Foot” involves a student standing with her feet together. She jumps and, keeping her feet together, kicks as high as she can, then lands on both feet. Apparently this and the “One Foot” (same type of thing, the obvious difference being you use one foot instead of two) were both ways that returning hunters could signal to the village whether or not the hunt had been successful. Some of the older boys can kick well above 6 feet, which is truly amazing to see. Other events simply test strength and endurance. The “Wrist Carry” seems to test your limits of tolerating pain: two students hold a dowel a little thicker than a broom handle, at about waist height. The competitor sits underneath it and wraps one arm around it so that he hangs by his wrist, then lifts himself off the ground. The two carriers walk slowly while the competitor hangs for as long as he can stand it. I think the winner came in at just under 30 seconds. It looks incredibly painful. On the other hand, the “One-Arm Reach” and the “One-Leg Reach” are more about strength and flexibility. In these events, you kind of get into a crow pose, like a squat where you then shift your weight to your arms and lift your body off the ground. Then you either reach up with one arm or one leg as high as you can. In all these reaching and kicking events there’s a ball dangling overhead to measure how high you’re going. When you miss the ball three times in a row, you’re out.

Similar to the dancing, NYO was very laid-back. In fact when we first entered the gym it was hard to even tell that there was a competition going on. The only clapping occurs when someone gets out – which is kind of nice, actually. Our team placed first in both the junior high and high school categories, and it was really nice to get to see the kids out of the usual context of the classroom. For me, seeing them achieve in other ways always helps me have more patience and more affection for them than when I insist on only knowing them as “my” students. This was especially true this time, as this competition involved several of my junior-high age students. I think I’ve said before that I was a little caught off guard when I volunteered to teach the 5th-grade level math class and ended up with 13 and 14 year old kids. It’s an age group I don’t really love and don’t feel super comfortable with, so it was particularly nice to be able to see some of these kids, who often frustrate me in class, perform with seriousness and skill in a different area.

Okay, onto something a little lighter. Mail continues to be a high point of our week, and there are definitely things that are particularly wonderful to get. If you’re thinking of sending up some mail, here are some ideas:


• puzzles or games
• photos
• cans of soup/chili/other instant stuff (we obviously never go out to eat and it’s nice every once in a while to not have to cook a meal. We wouldn’t want to be living off of instant stuff but you know, now and then…)
• books (especially books you don’t necessarily want back)
• sweets (anyone who knows us knows we have both have a terrible sweet tooth. Don’t indulge us too much, but maybe a little bar of dark chocolate?)
• letters (as opposed to emails – nothing wrong with emails and phone calls, it’s just also nice to get a real letter now and then)
• interesting or unusual spices or sauces (virtually all our meals are grain + vegetable + bean or tofu or seitan. It’s nice to be able to vary the flavors.)

I think that’s it! I’m pretty sure we’ve said this already but just in case you were thinking about it, do not send alcohol of any kind – we’re in a dry village, it’s illegal in any case to mail it in Alaska, and we’d be immediately fired, no questions asked, if we got caught with it. I felt nervous eating a chocolate with an orange liquor filling the other day.

One final thing. It is starting to get cold in a serious way. The days are down in the 30s and the wind is fierce at times. This past Saturday B and I took the school’s Honda to the post office and on the way back the wind was in our faces. I just had to put my face against B’s back and close my eyes. I don’t really know how B’s face didn’t just freeze and fall off. It made me kind of nervous about the winter. I don’t think we have any idea what kind of cold we’re in for.

Oh, and - I'll try to get some pictures and videos up of NYO stuff soon. We do finally have Internet at our house but it's incredibly slow, so uploading stuff is a major task. But we'll get around to it this weekend maybe.