Hello, all!
It's been quite awhile, hasn't it?
Well, I've been crazy busy the past few days, and traveled to Phoenix over the long weekend. I guess we can start with Thursday...
On Wednesday during the day, Laura (the director of the program in which I am doing my student teaching) came for a visit. It was so nice to see a familiar face and talk to her. She had suggested at one point that we should try to see if we could get involved with athletics in our school. I said that I would love to help out the volleyball team, mainly because I've seen them practice and thought it would be a lot of fun. Good news: it's SO MUCH FUN. Thursday was the first day I helped. I just watched them practice for a bit, then talked to the coach and asked her if she wanted any help with practices and such. She said she would be happy for me to be there when they practice, and to start helping out with the "pee wee" girls, who are all not yet middle school age. I started by working with one girl on bumping and setting, and then I worked with another couple of girls as we switched around. It was a fun day.
Friday was an interesting (and long) day. I woke up at 5:15 to finish my CC Report before heading out to Phoenix that night. School was released at 11:30, but the teachers had to stay for a training session that was about the system the whole Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) uses. I, being a person raised around some technology, had no issues whatsoever. This session, though, was somewhat painful to sit through. It was from 1:15-4:00, and there was a little break in the middle. At this point in time as well, there was a cross country meet across the street, and my mom's friend Judi was rolling through town in her RV. We wanted to see each other, though, so she braved the dirt road to the school (it's really not too bad) and came on back to see me for like ten minutes. I was so happy to see her! We talked for a few minutes, but before we knew it, the visit had to be cut short because of the training. Don't get me wrong, there was some good information in the presentation, but it is something I could've figured out by getting the handouts she supplied and sitting at the computer for a few minutes to play around with it. Oh well, it was nice to spend some time with my teacher, too. After training was over, I got in the car and headed to the CC meet to see our varsity guys run. They did a pretty decent job, but you could tell a few weren't very motivated to win. They aren't the best runners, but they still need to try their hardest. The girls in volleyball seem to be the same way. After the CC meet, it was time to pack and get ready to leave. I packed my things, Nick packed his, and we loaded up in the car and headed toward Tuba City... or so we thought. We were actually headed toward Monument Valley, but realized it about ten minutes into the drive. Oops. We turned around and were soon on our way to TC. Tuba City is about an hour from Kayenta, so the last 2-3 hours to Phoenix were on my own. It really wasn't too bad, but we didn't leave Kayenta until 6-ish, which meant I didn't get to Phoenix until 10-ish their time (11 our time). As soon as I rolled into Tempe (where my cousin lives), I felt exhausted. I was excited to see him and his friends who were over, though, so I stayed up pretty late. We put together a futon that I never slept on (his couch was so comfy), and then went swimming with his friends. It was a good, relaxing night. After swimming and the guys leaving, Kyle and I realized we were pretty hungry, so we ordered a pizza. It was quite possibly the best $5 pizza I've had the pleasure of eating. We got it from Hungry Howie's, and just did the classic pepperoni with a Cajun crust. It was so good! (I would post a picture, but I'm having import issues right now, and I really don't want to deal with it.) We finally went to bed around 2:30, which was 3:30 Kayenta time, which meant I was up for 23 hours. Not cool, but I was glad I was in Phoenix.
Saturday, we went to see all the sights. I went up one of the mountains that overlooks the cities, and even took a couple of pictures (again, import issues). I'll post them another day. The other cool experience that day was going to IKEA. I had never been before, so it was a new and exciting experience. I bought a rug for our bathroom, a trash can, popsicle molds, and a bag of Swedish Fish. (yum) It was a great little trip to go on. We also hit up the mall that day. It was just a very busy day. It was also the day I felt like I was getting sick. I ended up having a stuffy nose (still do), and a sore throat. It's no big deal, but I didn't want it to escalate into something worse.
Sunday morning, I went to church with my cousin Kyle. It's completely different than any church I've attended, but it had its pros and cons. The preaching was very current without watering down the Word of God, which I loved. It was a wonderful experience. After church, we went for brunch, where I had a fantastic veggie omelet. The rest of the day was just more chill and relaxed, for which I was happy. Sunday night, we went to dinner at Organ Stop Pizza, where they have this huge organ in the main eating area. It was so cool! I have a video, but it probably won't be uploaded until later.
Finally, Monday rolled around, and it was time to get back to Kayenta so I could do laundry and get ready for Tuesday. The drive back was fine, and when I picked up Nick in TC, he offered to drive, so I got to ride the rest of the way back. It was a great way to end the weekend, just relaxing and doing laundry.
Today was also a great day. I still feel tired, but I'm sleeping in a bit tomorrow. My kids were hilarious in class today, but they were also a little bonkers in the hallway. There's something about these hallways that makes kids want to go crazy. I have no idea what it is, but they just aren't very good at standing in line.Today was also picture day! It was so cute to see some of the kids dressed in super nice outfits. There were even several girls I saw who were wearing traditional Navajo clothing, which was cool. I got done with school this afternoon, then headed to my second volleyball practice. I had a good time, but the girls weren't taking anything seriously. Luckily, it was just a small group of girls I was helping, so talking to them was easy. Tonight was filled with study hour, Barbie Rapunzel movie, helping girls make beds, and then taking a walk with Nick to talk about our classes. It was a great way to end the day, but I'm beat. I'm sure the quality of my writing right now is pretty low, but I will add some pictures and descriptions later.
Hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!
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