The month of August has two pages of posts. Use "previous" and "forward" in the bottom right and left of your screen to navigate through all posts.
And when her back is turned, he goes to the robe and unravels the stitches she has taken It is believed among the Lakota people that if she ever finishes her robe, the world will come to an end.
From The Day the World will End English script by: Ardys Clarke Lakota Translation: Mary Wright Illustrated by: Tim Lammers Bilingual Education Project. Rapid City, SD 1980 Sometimes I stop and ask myself the question "How did I get to be in South Dakota?" or "Why am I still here?" but then I re-realize that it's not a question, but a fact, and I'm here because nothing's ever felt so right.
Moved into Carol's [60-something year old executive director of the Y] today. It's peaceful and clean (she's on vacation) but I can't help but feel that i'm missing out on part of the experience. I miss my prairie backyard! I stopped to talk to Josh, Devin, Catrell, and Ezra [boys ranging between the ages of 6 and 12] on my way over with my first load. They asked for a lift but my car was bursting. Ezra stole a bag of Lakota popcorn* out my window when I wasn't looking. They hung onto my car and mirrors and ran with me down the street. Josh thought I was leaving for good and the look on his face brought up emotions I can't even put into words. I explained that I was just moving into Carol's because of my allergies. I'd be back in the Y on Monday. I worry about these kids (and the homes they go home to) and sometimes I wonder how I can ever leave. *One of the snacks Ali and Kath [resident camp cooks] gave me that were left over from the resident camp, while only half joking that they felt like they were giving me food pantry donations, worried I would starve off of my $50/week food stipend. I told them, "At this point, I'll take it." Lice checks. Took the camp tipis down. Frog in my bra. All in all, a productive day!
Dupree is just a blip off Highway 212. If you blink, you'll miss it. It's a 10x10 block town in Ziebach county, a county that's consistently in the top three poorest counties in the country each year. The unemployment rate here is 90%. The population is around 500 and is about 60% Native and 40% white according to the locals. There's one restaurant (The Ranch House Cafe), one tribally owned grocery store (Lakota Thrifty Mart or "LTM"), one hardware store, and a K-12 school. We're two and half hours from Rapid City and the Badlands and about an hour and a half from Pierre (pronounced "peer"), the state capital. Pierre is much smaller than Madison, Wi, and much smaller than Rapid City. It has a Walmart but not a Target. Dupree is surrounded by farm land; the roads are straight. For a dentist, clothes shopping, a hair cut, or a movie, the closest city for you is Pierre. The Cheyenne River Reservation on which it is situated is the size of Connecticut.
Dupree's Wikipedia page Dupree's official website (The picture on their homepage is NOT in Dupree haha--we have no hills) Cultural Differences
Things I no longer have time for and must now consciously schedule into my week
Friday was the last day of Summer Day Camp at the Y. We had "Color Wars." We divided the kids onto two teams, red and blue, and let them paint themselves (I was a referee, hence the purple). They competed in an obstacle course (designed by me), a Gaga Ball tournament, and Douse the Fire. The Y will be closed for the next two weeks for a deep clean and recuperation. I'm not sure what fall has in store for me out here but I am assured that it will be a lot less crazy than the summer.
Two nights ago I killed a mouse that our new kitten (Benny, named so because Colleen had to take ridiculous doses of Benadryl to live with her out at camp) caught in the kitchen. Here's the play by play text messages I sent to my roommate, Courtney, who was spending the night in Rapid City. I think they paint a pretty picture of what happened. Saturday I'll be moving into Carol [Y executive director]'s house so I'll be mouse, mushroom, and mold free, yipee! I'll miss Courtney but it will be best for my allergies. A: OMG Benny's killing a mouse she found under the water bowl C: Yes!!!!!!! Go cat! A: She's cornered it in the toilet brush. What do I do? C: If you can get it, get it and throw it out. That must be why Atlas is always going to the bathroom. Lol A: I'm holding it for her.
No it's still alive. I can't kill it. C: Lol. Put it in something and toss it out! A: OMG now it escaped and Atlas and Benny are playing soccer with it It's under the water cooler again What do you mean put it in something? I hit it with a broom and now it's twitching. I'm gonna cry It was whimpering at me from the dust pan as I threw it over the fence I think I woke up whole neighborhood up Holy cow I just had my aerobic work out for the week and all because I came downstairs to get some benadryl Today was a day of ghost stories. As I was walking into work today, there were some boys sitting on the Y deck. I was talking to Jobi who told me that he saw a ghost last night standing on the tractor down the street from the Y. It was a man who disappeared when he noticed Jobi saw him. Jobi was so afraid he biked away as fast as he could. I told this story to JR when he came into work and he told me a ghost story of his own. Him and his sister were smoking a cigarette at Blondie's house (who happens to live kiddy corner across the street from the staff house). Him and his sister looked up to see a shimmer fly overhead. JR described the spirit like creature from the movie, Predator. It was invisible, but you could still see it. The spirit had wings like a stingray but a human body. All was silent except for the rustling of its wings. The weird thing is that two police men in Eagle Butte have seen the same spirit jumping from roof to roof of buildings off Main Street. I asked JR who or what he thought it was and he said "I don't know, but something's out there."
Below is the Sioux YMCA's Gumbo Gazette, their quarterly newsletter. I put it together in my first couple of weeks here.
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AuthorLife begins at the end of your comfort zone. -Neale Donald Walsch ArchivesCategories |