March 17, 2011 – Day Four

Today, I don’t feel like I can express our day any better than the statements below made at our group meeting ; so there’s no narrative, just the statements and visuals to go with some of them.

I liked the tumbleweed the best.  (Alex)       

The Mass was a blessing.  The first graders were so cute, Father’s homily was great, and the songs were so meaningful.  I liked how they appreciated us.  Even Father expressed appreciation for us at the end.  (Nigel)      

Our lunch wasn’t ready at noon.  Then they said come back at 1:00 p.m.  If I’d been the one, I would have been nervous and made everyone nervous.  We went back at 1:00.  It still wasn’t ready, but all was calm and peaceful.  We have an expression about “Indian Time”.  What would happen if we would just take off our watches?  What is the meaning of time anyway? (Sr. Adelangela)          

Waiting for Navajo Tacos and a slide show of the school Mass we attended. Nigel having fun with Adrienne’s Indian jewelry on “Indian Time”.

Like everyone has said, I’m impressed by the time they took with us.  They made the slide show just for us, and then included a note of thanks to us at the end.  (Adrienne) 

When we were flying the kite two little girls, three and five, watched us from their porch.  They came over and ran and played, enjoying their time.  I feel like in other parts of America children don’t do that as much.  I feel like these children are more community socialized.  Families here aren’t so over protective as other families.  It’s like the community is a whole, big family.  (Adrienne)

I liked when we finished our tacos, and how they all sat around and talked with us about their culture - the matriarchal society, and how their clans work.  (Erin)

I think we should be thankful that the man came with the jewelry and took all that time with us, explaining the meaning of the designs even though his family was waiting in the car.  (Erin)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!  Everyone has been working with me and helping me, and I thank y’all for that.  I appreciate that.  (Philip)        

March 16, 2011 – Day Three

DISTRIBUTION and DEMOLITION

At 8 a.m. we began helping with the set up for the distribution of the bags we packed yesterday.  The people began lining up well before the 10 a.m. start time.  A young woman dressed in traditional Navajo clothing worked hard all morning making fried bread to sell for only $1 apiece.  As the morning wore on, she allowed any of our group who wanted to try their hand at making their own from start to finish.  Not only did they enjoy the process and the fruit of their labor, they also learned about Navajo tradition and beliefs.  They purposely leave holes in the flattened, pancake-shaped dough for two reasons:

-          The happiness can shine through.

-          Nothing in life is perfect, so there’s no need for competition.  No one can have the most perfect fried bread.

The students were also impressed that Nicole (the young girl making the fried bread with the help of an older woman) was giving her time in this way on her birthday.  After the food distribution was over at around noon we sang “Happy Birthday” to her and shared more fried bread and fudge cake in her honor.

Several of us stood behind a table to distribute the bags.  People coming would first sign their names, and Erin had the job of making sure they signed before moving on.  Some of the old people didn’t know how to write, so Todd Lowsayatee, our coordinator, spoke to them in Navajo so they would understand.  Erin learned from Todd that he speaks Navajo even though he himself is Zuni.  He sometimes surprises some of the Navajo with this, because, if they know he is Zuni, they might assume he doesn’t understand if they are saying unkind things about the Zuni people.  Then he speaks to them in Navajo, and they are embarrassed.

Todd also shared with us that he also earns money by doing carving.  He said we could see his work at the Zuni Mountain Trading Post in Thoreau (pronounced Thoroo).  I assumed he meant wood carving, but everything we saw was very intricately carved deer antlers.  The smaller pieces were bald eagles in flight with finely detailed feathers on their wings.  His most valuable piece was a set of antlers still attached the crown of the deer’s skull.  He had carved about two thirds of the way up each antler a miniature pueblo village, and all along the rest of each antler were toe to toe and beak to beak eagles in flight.  The price tag was $1,000, and even though it was too rich for our blood, it was clearly well worth it. 

We also learned more about how tenacious some of the old traditions are.  I saw what looked like a cradle board hanging on a wall, but it looked to small to hold a baby.  I asked one of the proprietors what it was.  He said that it was, indeed, a cradle board but one just for show because it is too small.  He shard that he gets customers who complain that he doesn’t have any regular-sized cradle boards and that there are many who still use them to carry their infant children.

Adrienne asked Cindy Howe, the Mission Office Manager, why they did this distribution on this particular day.  Was it a special day?  She told her they planned it because we were coming.  Clearly, our presence here this week mattered to these people.Irene was impressed by how much we accomplished.  “I didn’t get the final count, but we put together about 240 bags.”

Some of us took advantage of the bargains at the Mission Thrift Store during our lunch break.  This was Nigel’s second visit to St. Bonaventure Mission, and he shared, “I was impressed and touched that today the lady at the Thrift Shop remembered my name from last year and all I did was buy two items for $1 each.”

After lunch Todd took us over to a building in another trailer park.  (I don’t think I’ve mentioned that we’re staying in a trailer – actually two trailers, one for the five women and one for the four men.)  In one half of the building there was an apartment that needed some serious cleaning before a new occupant could move in.  The interior of the other half was in the process of being gutted for renovation into two more apartments.  Predictably, most of the ladies chose the cleaning option while most of the guys chose demolition.  However, Irene, not to be outdone, released some tension pounding with a hammer to break up some floor tile, and after the cleaning was finished Adrienne showed Philip that she knows how to use a Philip’s Head screwdriver gun. 

Philip said the demolition was the highlight of his day, and working with all the others on this common project touched him.  “Again, I see God in the people I see everyday,” he added.  Nigel learned that demolition work is not just mindless destruction.  “It takes intelligence to do it the right way,” he said.

“I so enjoyed the stories those guys were telling about growing up.  We come from such different worlds,” said Alex.  Armando told a hilarious story about how he and his friends tried parachuting off a cliff with their Mother’s sheets.  They tried it out on a sheep first.  This was fortunate for them but unfortunate for the sheep, because the sheep didn’t make it.  Alex added, “That would never happen in Alabama!”

March 15, 2011 - Day Two

Day Two of our experience began at 8:30 a.m. with Eric, a mission staffer, giving an orientation to our band of volunteers.  Philip was impressed with Eric’s happy and upbeat manner so early in the morning when he himself still felt groggy with sleep.

The task of the day was to bag items for a free distribution at the Mission Office on Wednesday.  The Food Pantry is housed at the St. Bonaventure Elementary School right next to the gym.  We heard the joyful sounds of children engaged in physical activity while we worked.

We very quickly developed an assembly line with Erin opening boxes of donated goods for Irene to bag: beef broth, chicken broth, chili, cream of mushroom soup, pickles, first aid kits, stain remover and napkins.  

 Grant, Nigel, Alex, and Philip began bagging dry beans and rice, which Adrienne added to Irene’s bags along with a roll of toilet tissue.  Daris  and Todd bagged flour until first Todd, then Daris had to leave to attend to other Mission tasks.  Yours truly opened plastic bags and doubled them for Irene to fill.

We worked straight through until 1:30 without stopping.  I think we were determined to finish before taking a lunch break, and we almost made it.  As Adrienne said, “I think we were all blessed today, because we worked so hard, and we got so much done.  We didn’t even want to take a break.”

Nigel pointed out that we filled, tied and loaded over 200 bags on the flatbed pulled behind the truck.  It had to make two trips.   Nigel also was impressed by everyone’s teamwork and flexibility in changing up jobs as needed.  Truly, our wonderful group of young adult college students expressed a great love of God and showed the love of Christ to all around them.

After our lunch break we made quick work of finishing up the morning’s project.  We are slated to help distribute the work of our hands and hearts tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

We finished our day’s work early enough for some sightseeing on the Eastern Navajo Reservation.  Those who are new to our group this year: Adrienne, Alex, and Grant, saw the traditional Navajo hogans for the first time.  We saw a variety of colors of earth: red, rose, ochre, tan, white, yellow.   

 We saw sheer rock cliff faces: Castle Rock, Pig Face, Church Rock and the very famous Red Mesa.  Ronnie told us how to spot the presence of bald eagle nests on the red cliffs by the presence of white running down from a cleft – from their feces.  Both Todd and Ronnie gave us more information than I could hold.  I suspect that between the nine of us, we will all remember different pieces of information.

From the reservation we went on to Gallup on the famous Route 66.  It’s a small town with a rich history from the days when the highway was the only east-west highway.  Ronnie pointed out the famous El Rancho Hotel and Restaurant where the movie stars of old often stopped.  On our way back we crossed the Continental Divide, and Ronnie pointed out the old Fort Wingate where the army once stored much of its ammunitions and fired off rockets on a regular basis.

The final highlight of the day was Sister Adelangela’s real Italian Risotto with salami and for dessert, crema pasticeria.  Making the meal even more of a treat was the presence of Janie Shorty, a Navajo friend of our group from last year.  She added to our knowledge of Navajo customs and traditions from her own experience, and we were touched when she shared that our return was a blessing to her.  “For you guys to come back after a whole year is really amazing to me,” she said.

We ended our evening with the following Navajo prayer:

In beauty I walk.

With the pollen of dawn upon my path

I wander.

With beauty before me, I walk.

With beauty behind me, I walk.

Janie explained that the “pollen” of the prayer is corn pollen, and it is very hard to gather.  Navajo keep this pollen in small beaded pouches.  When they feel the need to pray, the take a pinch of pollen, offer some outward (to God) and place some on their heads.  Her description was really quite beautiful.  She also spoke about the sacredness of smoke in Navajo religion, because smoke rises (in a sweet aroma if it’s cypress) to God, and it clings to the person using it as a sort of blessing.  This immediately reminded us of our Catholic practice of using incense basically for the same reason.

She also told us that to “walk in beauty” means basically to live a good life in harmony with others, with nature, and with God.  Connected with this prayer I also think of Todd and Ronnie telling us that all hogans (traditional Navajo eight-sided dwellings) have the only door facing the east “lest the sun should find you asleep.”

March 14, 2011 - Day One

New Mexico/Navajo Experience

Erin up at 2am – check

Grant up at 3am – check

Sister Karen Ann up at 3:30am - check 

All nine meet at the Birmingham Shuttlesworth airport at 5:15am……..oops, 5:30am.

Our 2011 New Mexico Mission Trip/Navajo Immersion Experience officially began when we boarded our American Airlines flight to Dallas-Fort Worth.  All present and accounted for by 6:10am for boarding.  Except, oh no!  Where’s Sr. Adelangela?  Taking a stroll.

Our flights were nothing unusual, but thankfully all went without a hitch.  Well, except for a very hard touchdown in Albuquerque.  We had truly arrived at the beginning of our walk with the Navajo people when we were greeted by the famous statue of the man with an eagle in the Albuquerque Airport. 

Once we picked out our van and car, we were on the road and surrounded very soon by the stark beauty of the New Mexico landscape.  We had flown out of the clouds of Birmingham and Dallas into blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  The colors!  Tan sand of the stone, tarry black earth sticking up between the clay and tumbleweed, and in the distance, snow-covered mountains and rosy, flat-topped mesas.

2pm: A long overdue lunch at the Denny’s in Grants – a high point two years in a row now.  The waitress at Denny’s was very nice and very good at her job.  She even took the time to joke with us and take our picture.  We got one of her, too.

As we counted the blessings of the day it was the native people who topped it all. 

• “The people are so welcoming.  I love these people – always so hospitable.” Philip
• “The guys are really good at basketball, but they included us even though they knew we weren’t as good.  They made us feel at home so fast.” Nigel
• “They were really down-to-earth.  They were really nice.  The oldest playing (basketball) was 30-something.  The youngest was eight.  They were all friends with each other.” Grant
• “The little girl selling handmade earrings for a field trip – she was about eight or nine.  She was so shy and cute, and her Dad was with her.” Erin, Irene, Adrienne
• The men at the mission office waited for us like they were waiting for someone very important.  The respect they have for us and what we are going to do even though it’s not that much.” Sr. Adelangela

Tomorrow we receive orientation at the Mission Office, and then Todd will put us through our paces in the food pantry.  It’s been a very long day, but a good one.  We won’t need to be rocked to sleep tonight!