Well, what should I expect...I do live in Alaska.

It's cold here.  Really, really cold.  And has been since a week before Christmas.  Currently, twenty-six below zero.  But only a light wind, so that's nice.  The consequences of the weather can be quite frightening.  I'll start at the less so, and see where it takes us.

• Upon returning after Christmas break, we in the BIA discovered that the pipes were quite frozen.  Not all pipes, but the drain pipes.  Interesting side note - when the drains are plugged, but not the supply lines, interesting fundamental lessons are learned.  For example, waste pools at the lowest point.  In this case - two teachers at the other side of the BIA - in their bathroom.  Quite disturbing to see human waste returning through the drain in a bathtub to nearly fill the basin.  No fear, the bucket brigade was put to work and overflow was kept to a minimum.  And after only a week, the plumbing was working again fine. 
• School is difficult to have when the weather/wind/snow is so fierce.  Since returning we have had a handful of late starts (I think last count was four) and one day cancelled completely.  We nearly had school cancelled yesterday as all water lines at the school were frozen.  They did thaw, however, and school went as planned - kind of.
• Why kind of?  Well, the thing is, we are running a high school at the moment with only 2/3 of our class.  The remaining third - they've been stuck out of the village...since Saturday.  They left for basketball tournaments (both the boys team and the girls) last Friday, and here I sit, the following Friday, and they still aren't back.  So it's been a slow, quiet week.
• The BIA suffered its latest injury yesterday.  A pipe burst in the vacant apartment down the hall.  This came immediately following a warning from our maintenance guy about keeping my apartment at a warm enough temperature (so much for saving the world(okay, in his defense, he probably had a point - there was a layer of ice in my shower and the water line was frozen...so...).
• The final point is the most serious.  Living in rural Alaska one becomes familiar with how dangerous life out here really is.  In the past week, two people have died traveling over the tundra.  Both became lost or disoriented and ended up freezing to death before search and rescue could find them.  There are stories in Yup'ik lore that say that when the weather is bad, and refuses to let up, that the weather is hunting.  It only lets up after getting its fill.  I am not a spiritual or superstitious person.  But chills run down my spine as I write this.

And with that I end this post on a brighter note.  The weather is supposed to turn beginning tomorrow.  We are expecting a fifty(!) degree change in temperature over the next thirty-six hours.  Maybe the next post will be of me sledding or climbing the hills.  I am feeling all cooped up and to be able to spend some time outside without worrying about frostbite would be amazing.  Check back soon.