When in Kotlik...

     Here in Kotlik, custom dictates that if something wants to leave one’s body then one should endeavor to hasten its’ exit.  What I’m talking about is spit, nose nuggets, stomach and intestinal gas.  Yes, those habits I have grown up to consider reprehensible are perfectly acceptable here, and in fact encouraged in order to rid the body of foul substances.  I have witnessed on several occasions grown-ups and elderly folk out about town hock up a voluminous lunger and emphatically spit it out beside the walkway.  The phrase “I used to be disgusted but now I’m just amused” describes the situation in which I’ve seen the Yup’ik language teacher in my classroom delivering a lesson then halt and summon a lugy from the depths of her trachea and casually walk over to the trashcan to expectorate.  

     Then there are the gastrointestinal vapors.  There are probably more deep-belly belches occurring in class than I notice anymore because I’ve become so accustomed to hearing them from petite girls and older boys alike.  One thing I haven’t gotten used to is the flatulence that follows the morning dose of milk with breakfast.  Not only is it loud and from every direction in my classroom but the miasma I’m forced to endure in the aftermath is worthy of a union grievance.  I don’t say a thing and I suffer in silence but there have been occasions where the room’s atmosphere became so polluted that the children have banded together and forced the most offending individual to move to the hallway.