Another great Week in AK

Hello =) I hope all y'all are having a great weekend so far. Things are continuing to be fantastic up here in Alaska. Yesterday was one of those days were everything just worked out great! The day started kinda strange however...my alarm clock never went off. I woke up in time...it was just strange that the alarm did not sound. The first thing that happened at school yesterday was a field trip. Randy Smith went to see the Yuval Ron Ensemble play...OH MY GOSH that was amazing! Yuval Ron is from Israel and plays music from all over the Middle East. He plays one of my all time favorite instruments...the oud! Click here to see a video of Yuval Ron on the oud and Jamie Papish (who played percussion yesterday.) Also, click here to see an upclose shot of the oud. At the performance, they also had a Whirlling Dervish...that was AMAZING!! (Here is a video.) This is a type of prayer that, instead of words to comunicate with the devine, uses movement. The Whirlling Dervish that we saw was spinning for more than 5 minutes straight. That evening, I was invited to a church where the Yuval Ron Ensemble was giving a lecture....and I was blown away. I had the oportunity to meet them all and talk with them about the music. Yuval Ron is a very powerful speaker who has spent his entire life spreading the word of peace. Asking all the religions of the world to join hands and forget about their wars...and become one with the music. Very moving!

Another groovy thing happened yesterday that I would like to share. In between the amazing concert in the morning and the amazing lecture/performance in the evening...I received the keys to my new living space! I am going to be spending the summer living in a dry cabin in the middle of the woods. What this means is that I will be spening the next three months (or more if I like it) in a 16 x 20 log cabin without running water. A lot of people in Fairbanks live without running water. Since everything is so spread out, connecting everyone to a water main in not efficient and due to the amount of time the ground is frozen up here...wells can be tricky to dig...therfore a lot of people haul water and use an outhouse. This will be my life for at least the summer. My cabin is about 5 miles away from town in moose infested forests =) I do go to the gym 3-5 days a week, so shower facilities will be available and I know a couple other teachers at Randy Smith who live without running water...so they can show me the ropes. I am very excited to spend the summer "roughing it." Just hanging out in the woods. I am pretty close to the next cabin over, but the trees are so thick that it is hard to see.

Here is a pictorial tour of my new home:
The Outside:


The Kitchen:


The Living Room:


The Bedroom:


The Hallway to the Bathroom:



Ok...well, I need to get going. I have a very busy day today. I am leaving for Anchorage on Sunday, so I have lesson plans to write for Monday and Tuesday. Take care everyone!

Rock on
~Mr, Lockwood