Egegik

Our lady lynx getting ready to head to Egegik for our first game as a team! We only took 7 out of 12 girls.

                     Love the difference between these two photos even though they are of the same spot.

   

       I was able to be the co-pilot again! I wore the headset and talked to the pilot (a dad of one of my girls).



        Here is some information about Egegik. In 2012 the population was 110, with 79 females and 31 males. It is located on the Egegik Bay which is considered the beach to the people that live there. The occupations in this are town is fishing, hunting, and logging. The town flourishes in the summer because of the fishing opportunities. All the girls from each team stayed in the Fisherman's Hall which was recently built to house fishermen.

This overlooked the Egegik Bay.

This is some housing right across from the school.

The playground for all 10 of the students.

This is the school building. Inside are a few classroom and the living quarters of Levi one of my friends tutoring here in Egegik. 

There is only student in this classroom who is 3 years old. He was such a cute kid.

I really enjoyed that their three point line was strips of colorful duck tape! 

The students play native games while they are at tournaments. This one particular game requires a lot of your strength. Two students hold onto a circular carved piece of wood and try to get it from the other person. Since they are using a lot of their strength, 6 other people push their feet on either side of the people in the middle to keep them from flying or falling very hard. 

In these two pictures you can see that each person starts by sitting on the ground holding one their feet. They are then required to use their other foot that is planted on the ground, and kick it up to hit the ball on the string into the net. On the bottom is my friend Tim trying to do it. He succeeded and hit the ball. 

We had a three legged race and each person had a ball. They then had to work together as a team dribbling down the court and back. One person dribbled left handed and the other dribbled right handed. My partner was Tim and we decided instead of walking we would hop all the way down and back. We took 3rd place and two of my girls took 1st place beating us. 

I was able to referee quite a few games while I was there. Tim and I really got into it and made sure our calls were legit. I was laughing a lot of time because we tried to be so serious. 

This was such a rarity because you do not always get such fresh fruit and vegetables. We also were served homemade turkey sausage, taco salads, fresh greens, yogurt, and homemade granola. I was surprised because not every village provides such desirable food. We packed a lot food that was not even touched because we were so full on the food that was provided. 

This was the kitchen in which all the meals were made.

Taco night!!! My favorite of course.

Coffee, fruit, yogurt, granola (homemade) parfait, and a turkey sausage (homemade) breakfast burrito!

Above the mantel of the fireplace were faces carved out of out animal bones.

The chairs were comfortable and we were able to watch some television and movies while we were there.

The picture below is how I slept the first night. I shared it with one of players. The second night we put three together and my feet were propped up on a table. Needless to say I am paying for it today and yesterday with the positions I slept in. 

I was able to get in some alone time in the morning. However, it was 6 am that I was up and reading. I really needed this time and it was wonderful to find a quiet spot. The Lord was really calling me to just hang with Him before I started each of my days. 

Meet Levi! Him and I were reunited after 2 months of not seeing each other. We student taught here in Alaska and then came back to teach more. It was awesome to catch up!

His living quarters. He has a lot less clothing and stuff than I have :p

This is the hat Levi is making out of Beaver fur. He told me he had to look up how to braid. 

I wanted to get a chance to make my own bowl but unfortunately that did not happen. This is something I would love to do in the future. The students had a wonderful time learning about pottery making. The teachers were art students from Mansfield University. There were 7 of them and 1 professor. They will be traveling to other villages and happened to be at this one when I was there. 

All the students work they took their time making.

One of my students made this and let me take it home with me!!

The next set of pictures are from just walking around the village. 

I was able to play with Mr. Johnson in the coaches verses all-star game. He is the coach for Egegik as well as a teacher. It was awesome to play with another point guard. We played the exact same way and had some great plays together. I was able to get to know him and his family a little bit more and found out that they were from Binghamton, New York. I was told that his daughter played for a homeschooling team while in New York. Come to find out....she played on the Binghamton Homeschooling team called Binghamton Blaze. In high school, I played for North Rome Christian School and we played the Blaze every year. Mr. Johnson's daughter and I missed each other by a years time. I graduated and she came that following year. I think it is amazing to be meeting people in Alaska who are so close to my home town in Pennsylvania. God is truly amazing how He works and connects His people. Mr. Johnson is the pastor of the church in Egegik. 

I had a blast playing some basketball with Tim. It was crazy we have been friends for over 2 years, same classes at Kutztown, and some of the same friends. We had an awesome time hanging out with each other and our dynamic personalities just added to the fun we had.

If any of you know me, I absolutely love this sport and I am so blessed to be playing and coaching! This is something I would have never thought would have happen. It is awesome to see how God has really worked in me to change me from how I used to play to how I play and coach now. 

Our new shirts we were provided with for this tournament!! The next picture was me fixing my hair but it just cracked me up with how my facial expression turned out. Looks as if I was stressed out. :D

Our lovely ladies who traveled to play in this tournament. We took 2nd overall I do believe.

Tim and I were able to catch up and hang out for a few days!!

Delicious homemade cookies just for the occasion.

Kasie and Me

Alecia (left) teaching in Nondalton, Tim (middle) teaching in Kokhanok, Me (right) teaching in Port Alsworth. We are all graduates from Kutztown University. 

All of us our Pennsylvania.It was pretty awesome because we had about 20 people in one village from Pennsylvania. There college graduates, student teachers, teachers, tutors, superintendents, and students.

A few pictures of inside the church where Mr. Johnson preaches. 

These pictures are from hiking around with a few girls from my team along with Tim. My one girl used to live in the village. She was really excited for this opportunity.

The student who showed us around took us to where her father was buried before she moved here to Port Alsworth. It was very nice to bond with my girls and share this moment. 

The store here in Egegik. Apparently it is open for short hours for just a couple times during the week.

The beach which had abandoned houses and junk along it. It was a very interesting view. Tim and I were completely taken back by everything we were able to see.  

Heading home, as you can see my girls pack for about a month or two. 

The view home was pretty cloudy but yet I think it was still beautiful. It never gets old to me and the views I see. I love flying, even more now than I ever have. 

Overall it was a great few days. I learned about myself and about my girls. We will be traveling to Newhalen this coming Friday for some more games. Excited for some more adventure!