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After the completely over-the-top, awesome day yesterday, we woke up to heavy snow falling at Rosie’s.  I was not expecting this, but I should know better—expect the unexpected.  The week has flown by, and Thursday is our last day on the rez.  We had another busy day planned—I had to pick up the CPR manikins from the OLC Nursing Program and take our sponsor family from One Spirit their items in Pine Ridge—all before 10am.  The students are exhausted at this point and decided to stay behind to work on their meal for the youth center—the much-hyped buffalo roast.  My exhaustion has set in, and I am also feeling the end-of-trip funk that I have described in previous blogs.  I thought that the drive to Pine Ridge in solitude would help my mood, but with the vigorous snow, it made me even more anxious instead of giving me some calm.  The highlight was meeting Terri, the mother of our sponsored family.  She is a single mom who is raising three kids with ages ranging from 23 to 15.  She also makes soup and other meals for the homeless on the reservation each week—all with an extremely limited budget.  We got to chat briefly, and I look forward to getting to know her better over future trips. 

The students and Kathleen were making their final purchases in the store when I returned.  I had hoped to be able to squeeze in a trip to the historical center before the high school, but we seemed to be moving in slow motion today—getting in a few screenings in the store not withstanding.  We finally wrapped everything up and left to go to OLC with the students making the request to just go to the OLC bookstore.  As we arrived at the bookstore, I realized that we still had some items for the youth center that needed to be returned tonight since it was our last night.  Unfortunately, these had been left back at Rosie’s.  I let everyone off at the bookstore and headed back to Rosie’s to get them. 

Even though it had snowed a good 3 inches this morning, by afternoon the majority of the snow had melted and left the landscape around Rosie’s and elsewhere a mud pit.  As I was hurrying into the cabin to get the items to return to the youth center, I made a fateful step that landed me in the mud on my butt.  With my poor attitude, frustration with having to drive back to the cabins, and overwhelming fatigue, I briefly considered crying.  Instead, I sat there for a few seconds thinking that I had probably deserved this, and that this was the wake-up call to turn my attitude around.  Again, hurrying and over-planning gets me nowhere—except in the mud on my butt!  I had to change 90% of my clothes, which left me with even less time.

By the time I got back to the OLC bookstore, the request was thrown out to eat lunch at the motel.  Because of the time and our commitment to go to the high school, we could not do both.  I let the group off at the motel for lunch (after all, even though our diet has consisted of cold cuts and granola bars—or maybe that is only my diet—my goal is not to starve anyone!), and I went to the high school to do the last day of teaching on CPR and first aid.  This was absolutely not optimal, but we can’t be in two places at once, unless the group splits up.  I also dropped off prom clothes at Oyate Teca in Kyle.  While my CPR teaching was not as good as the previous day’s sexual health discussion, it was ok and was enough to help me get outside my own head and finally improve my attitude just a touch. 

We headed to Allen for our final day of teaching and fun with the kids.  Suzie had made a contact earlier in the week with a lady who had come into the youth center to pick up mail.  Her husband is a hoop dancer (which I didn’t think was traditional to the Lakota, but it actually is—they are the “Michael Jordan” of Lakota pow wow dancers, I was told), and Suzie made arrangements for the hoop dancer to come to dance for the kids at the youth center.  After negotiating an unplanned honorarium, the dancer set up for his demonstration.  There was a good mixture of kids and adults, and it was great to see Travis, the youth center director, so excited about this added event.  One of the youth center board members and elders, John Bad Wound, has been at the center most nights that we have been there this week, and we have gotten to know him well enough for the fun joking that I appreciate in this culture.  I nearly fell in the mud again taking some things to the dumpster behind the center, and afterwards, he told me that I would be the featured mud dancer after the hoop dancer.

The hoop dancer was amazing!  This was my first time seeing this type of dancing in person.  His presentation involved the audience, with anyone who wanted to try out the hoops invited to participate.  All of the students and Kathleen and most of the kids participated and had a blast.  He also incorporated several of the week’s teaching topics into his presentation—specifically self-esteem and bullying, which was a great addition, especially coming from the traditional Lakota viewpoint.  My favorite part of the experience beyond the hoop dancing itself, was a centering activity that focused on “Grandpa Rock”.  Since apparently today is all about me and what I am thinking (see previous comments about attitude), I needed this badly.  I was able to clear my head and quiet my racing thoughts for just a minute at least—I possibly need to carry around a boulder with me for future centering exercises!  The night culminated with the much-anticipated buffalo roast that was delicious, as well as the final teaching on CPR and first aid.  The kids loved having the students there so much that they did not want them to leave.  After photos and goodbyes, we are off again for our last night at Rosie’s. 

After the chaotic environment at the youth center on Tuesday, the students resolved to put their game faces on and take back the night (i.e. manage the chaos!).  After having close to 30 kids last night with widely varying ages, they decided to split the group up into smaller, more manageable teaching sessions, repeating teaching for multiple groups.  They also decided to allow students who truly did not want to participate to be excluded.  With this new resolve, we were ready to start our Wednesday.

We started with an early visit to the Red Cloud Indian School Heritage Center.  The center changes exhibits frequently, and for this visit, there was a Wounded Knee Exhibit.  I am familiar with this historical event from previous visits and readings, but the exhibit hit me hard.  It was incredibly powerful and moving with historical photos that I had never seen, as well as narrative from Red Cloud students.  The tears always come at some point, and this was the time.  The chapel provided a peaceful moment of reflection as well.

After this visit to Red Cloud, we arrived at Big Bat’s promptly at 9am to meet our buffalo supplier, Bamm Brewer.  Big Bat’s was not as busy as the summer so the students decided to make some purchases and take some selfies in the parking lot (I usually avoid Big Bat’s during pow wow because it is just too busy with all types of buying and selling inside and outside the store).  After sitting in the SUV for about 30 minutes, I called Bamm, who said he would be there in 5 minutes, and we agreed that I would follow him out to the “meat house” (no clue where this was before I agreed to this).  Keeping watch for a red Chevy truck was on everyone’s agenda, and once spotted, Shelby rolled her window down and waved vigorously to let him know that we were the SUV that would be following.  He gave one quick wave and then we were off to the meat house in a two vehicle caravan.  We drove out past the pow wow grounds to an area of Pine Ridge that I had never been before.  The meat house had a huge buffalo skin/fur (?) on display out front which made for an interesting topic of discussion upon arrival.  Bamm was friendly, kind, and quite funny, as well as gracious so our buffalo bargaining went very well. I bought a buffalo roast, prime tips (?again I’m not sure that I am getting the description quite right), and one beef roast.  After an explanation of how to cook it, and a story about the buffalo herd that lives close to his home that involved a curse word or two, he was fast friends with the group.  After explaining how the meat house had come to be and the buffalo herd that is close to his home, we received an invitation to meet the baby buffalo that he has tamed (that was abandoned by her mother).  Cola, the Magic Buffalo, is housed in a pen close to the house and can be walked with a lead rope.  She was beautiful and had the most gentle, knowing eyes.  The students took turns feeding and petting her and posing for photos with her.  She will be returned to the herd when she is bigger.  After thanking Bamm profusely for this amazing experience, we were off again.  However, we had to stop before getting out to the main road because of more exciting animals to see—this time, llamas (or alpacas?).  There was one just laying in the dirt road/driveway so I decided to attempt to make friends.  I picked some grass and clicked to it like I would a horse and was able to get it to come to me.  This was a bit scary and again exciting, but he or she wanted no part of my grass—sniffed it, turned his head quickly, and then ran off to join his friends. 

After stowing the buffalo in the refrigerator at the cabin, we were off again for a quick trip to the Badlands.  The wind was blowing like crazy, but as always the lighting and clouds provided another unique view of this beautiful terrain.  Red Shirt Table was quiet today, unlike the summer when we had to share the view with bikers.  The bikers were nice, but having the view to ourselves is better.

This day was a whirlwind and our next stop was the high school.  I had asked AJ what he felt like the students needed as far as education, and he mentioned sexual health.  This was not on the students agenda for the youth center so I told them that I would cover it.  After a self-image pep talk, we got down to business with review of STI’s and unplanned pregnancy prevention.  The students were quite engaged with this topic, and even more so when Hayley gave them a demonstration of the correct way to apply a condom using a banana.  I really enjoyed doing this teaching!  We left all of the condoms that Sharon had brought and then prepared to move on to the youth center.  As we were packing up, Ted, the Lakota teacher, in the alternative classroom invited the students to his house to learn about the sweat ceremony.  This was terribly exciting and quite unexpected!  We got directions to his house and made a plan to visit after the youth center.

After the discouraging teaching session yesterday, the youth center on this day was calm and quiet in comparison.  The students still arrived with their game day faces and “take back the night” attitudes though!  There were much fewer children, but the audience was completely engaged in learning about stranger danger and smoking prevention (and much more manageable).  A quite pleasant evening which was a welcome change! 

After the youth center it was off to Sharp’s Corner to try to find Ted’s house.  After looking for a green house with a white fence set back from the road in the waning daylight, I finally had to call for directions.  His very sweet mother-in-law directed me to look for the flickering porch light and to turn down the driveway by the three trees and the ditch.  I have an absolute terrible sense of direction, but these directions worked like a charm.  Ted and the rest of the family were still in the sweat ceremony so we waited with Mamie, his mother-in-law and some of the small grandchildren.  After an hour or so of conversation, everyone that had been in the sweat arrived, and Ted very kindly had his son, Dino, who is a Lakota teacher, explain the sweat ceremony.  This particular sweat was related to the change in season from winter to spring and the return of the Thunder Beings who will bring rain to the earth with the season change.  There was also an explanation of a particular type of medicinal soup that is consumed at this time of year, but I will not get into that here.  The sweat custom and Lakota legends were fascinating, and the time spent with this family was truly enjoyable.  We got to see the sweat lodge as well.  This is a night that I will never forget.  I have pushed the students to do more health promotion than they had planned for—I hate to pass up an opportunity when it presents itself–and this includes going to the high school for additional teaching each day.  However, I feel like our added efforts were rewarded—good begets good.  If we had not gone to the high school, this invitation from Ted would not have happened. 

Even if we go to the exact same places for each trip, I am always amazed by how different each trip is.  We never have the same experience twice, and I guess that is just one of the many things that I love about coming to Pine Ridge.

I have been working on “scoring”some buffalo meat since arriving on the rez.  Suzie plans to make a traditional meal with buffalo roast for the Allen Youth Center and finding some meat for sale has been a bit of an adventure.  I do in some ways feel like I am working an illicit deal—tomorrow morning I will be meeting a man at 9am at the Big Bat’s in Pine Ridge to close my buffalo deal.

 Today started off with horseback riding for Kathleen, Hayley, and Sharon so no other activities in the am besides a bit of laundry, poster work for the remaining students, and visiting with Frieda.  We went back to Little Wound High School at the invitation of the alternative classroom teacher, AJ.  It was great to be back!  This visit was informal with my students being initially nervous, and the alternative classroom students being shy.  It didn’t take too long for both groups to warm up a bit.  The topics today were nutrition and sugary drinks and oral health.  We only have 45 minutes there, but definitely well-worth the short visit.  We’ll be back Wednesday and Thursday again—by the end of the week everyone should be quite comfortable. 

The traveling health promotion brigade then moved on to Allen.  Yesterday there were about 14 kids who participated in the health teaching.  Today there were around 26.  The size of the crowd definitely influenced this session’s outcomes.  Trying to get all of the kids to sit down was like herding cats (thus the title)—as soon as the students got one table seated, another table would get up and move around.  The group was quite lively, easily distracted, and included a mixture of ages—including some middle school-age guys that were a bit smitten with my students.  After calling them on their whistling (which I was told was just a way to say hello-ha!), I figured out that joking with them actually got them to stop being fresh. Postscript:  I thought that this had worked, but not so—this is another story for another day though.

 Today’s topics were self-image and bullying—such important topics for this group.  While the crowd was lively and boisterous, the students held themselves together and again adapted their plan to meet the needs of the audience.  Frankly, it was a bit of mayhem, but this has only strengthened the resolve of the students to go back tomorrow and have their crowd control persona’s ready for action!  They are resilient and ready to do their best no matter what.  (This night deserved another pie debrief at the Lakota Prairie!)

It’s Spring Break so that means another new adventure.  This is my second spring trip to Pine Ridge with students, and this time, there are 4 senior nursing students, 3 of whom made the trip in August and one fellow faculty person emeritus/friend.  Because of our donation volume (which is good!), we ended up with a two-vehicle caravan, and the students divided between the two vehicles.  The trip up went smoothly with no untoward issues or complaints—we are always blessed in that way.

We made it to Pine Ridge early in the afternoon on Sunday, after an overnight in Sioux Falls.  We’re trying something new this trip, staying in Rosie’s “Cozy cabins”.  We’ll miss the Lakota Prairie, but the cabins are great and quite comfortable.  We visited for a brief time and then headed on to Rapid City for the requisite grocery shopping.  And if we’re going to Rapid, then there, of course, is sightseeing on the agenda as well.  One of the four students had not seen Mt Rushmore so we took a quick trip there.  I don’t usually even get out of the car anymore, I’ve been to Mt Rushmore so many times now so I just quietly in the car enjoying the calm before the storm that is the activity-filled week on the reservation.  While the mountain goats were not in the parking lot this year, we could see them on the mountain next to Mt Rushmore so that was worth the trip in itself!  After a delicious Japanese steakhouse meal and what seemed to be a midnight Walmart shop, we drove back to the rez in heavy snow.  I may or may not have wanted to kiss the ground upon our return to Rosie’s—quite happy to be out of the car for the night!

My day on Monday started with a quick trip to visit Allyssa and meet the new baby, Liliana Shae.  Oh, this baby!  Just absolutely beautiful and precious and perfect.  So thrilled that I got to see her and that everything is well.  Pictures later!  This was a great beginning to the first day on Pine Ridge.

Students’ health promotion for this trip is focused on the Allen Youth Center with a week-long teaching initiative.  The students are such great team players-they have a great program planned with activities, healthy meals, and giveaways.  Monday’s teaching was focused around oral care, healthy drinks, and nutrition.  As soon as the students walked in the youth center, the hugs started.  There were many of the same kids, and they clearly remembered the students.  With a lively crew of about 14 kids of varying ages, the students completed their activities, adapting like pros.  With varied ages of participants, students had to problem solve limited attention spans; competing interest in phones and tablets; and occasional shyness.  But, as previously noted, they worked together like champs.  After teaching and a delicious chicken soup and fruit prepared by Hayley, the students played with kids (which is, I think, what all of them wanted to do more than anything since they are all kids at heart).  Great to be back here in Allen with such a warm welcome.  Our week is off to a fantastic start!  We celebrated a successful beginning with a stop at the Lakota Prairie Restaurant for pie and debriefing and then a night of rest that can only be experienced after a full day on the rez.

I learned several new Lakota words during this trip, and while I don’t have the expertise to use them in a sentence, the word, Iktomi, is appropriate for the final blog title.

Iktomi–a spider-trickster spirit and cultural hero for the Lakota

After returning home from every trip, I can’t help but reflect, taking the quality improvement approach that I have always used for my nursing practice and teaching career.  More, better, enough, what else?  These are all things that I think about, but this year I am also thinking a lot about my students.

After this trip, I have now taken over 70 nursing students to Pine Ridge.  I have so many good memories, and my most fulfilling experiences as a faculty member have been in witnessing the transformations that occur during the trip to Pine Ridge.  My students are all so different, and that includes the group from this year.  Frankly, this group was one of a kind–I have never had to ask a group to edit blog posts for professional tone!  They embodied the trickster spirit of the Iktomi from Lakota culture.

With all of the laughing, singing, and shenanigans, I wondered at times if they were getting what they should and needed from the trip.  But just like the Iktomi of Lakota culture who can be portrayed as a troublemaker, or, as a trickster spirit that possesses dignity and seriousness, this group provided me with another great lesson.   Even with this dichotomy of personality, care, respect, and helping were just as present as the mischief.

The personal interactions, screenings, and health education provided were the most of any trip, and while higher numbers are great, truly the personal connections, compassion, caring, and sincere desire to learn about the Lakota culture are just as important.  This trip provided both.

So, to the Band of Tricksters or Iktomi, thank you for all of the laughs and for your very compassionate care of our new Lakota friends!

Today is the final day of the trip, and I have to say that I am completely exhausted–I will likely go home and sleep for more than 24 hours this time.

Our health promotion plans eased up a bit with yesterday spent at the Singing Horse Trading Post.  Students were split into a group to either bead or horseback ride with some screenings in between.  This day was more relaxed with a later start time than usual which the students enjoyed quite a bit.  While the students were completing their activities, I took a quick trip to return the CPR manikins to the OLC Nursing Program and then spent the rest of the time chatting with Allyssa.

Today was more cultural experiences with our stops at OLC Historical Center, Red Cloud Indian School, Wounded Knee, and then back to the Allen Youth Center.  We also fit in two more screenings at the Trading Post.  The day was great with the exception of Wounded Knee.  I warned the students that we would likely be approached by some tribal members seeking money, and that our time would be limited at the cemetery.  Unfortunately, I have found that in recent years the very spiritual experience of paying respect to the Wounded Knee Massacre victims buried in the mass grave has been marred by those seeking money and/or intoxicated.  As expected this was the case today, and we did not stay long.  I much prefer our interactions at Wounded Knee with the Elk Family, who are respectful at all times to the history of Wounded Knee.

Our day wrapped up with a return trip to the Allen Youth Center.  We dropped off some of our leftover donations, and Alexander tuned the center’s guitars for them.  We chatted with Travis and his wife, Anita, for a bit and ended our day with hugs all around.  I am thrilled that we have been so welcome at this new site, and I look forward to working with the center again on future trips.

The trip has been great, and I can only hope that the students enjoyed it as much and have found the experiences to be as profound as I have.

Here are some photos from the past two days.

Off to the Races–Literally and Figuratively!

On Sunday, we started the day with some sightseeing in the Badlands.  I told the students that I would stop wherever and whenever they wanted to take pictures, and this happened early and often.  We saw two coyotes early in the trip, followed by two beautiful bucks with the biggest antlers that I have ever seen.  The Red Shirt Table overlook was busy today, but we quickly made friends with the group of bikers that had stopped.  We also stopped at the White River Visitors Center and had the pleasure of speaking to Emily Bull Bear.  A previous group of students and I had met her brother, Marcil, at the Visitor’s Center, and she was as equally kind and friendly.  She took some time to explain the process of how porcupine quill work is made.  This was fascinating!  I have seen and own several pieces of the finished product, but I did not know exactly what the process is for making this beautiful art.  After learning the process, I am even more appreciative of the pieces that I have.

We spent more time than planned sightseeing so there was some initial concern by one of the students that there would not be enough time for everything that we had planned.  Knowing how things work on the rez as far as time, I was not concerned in the least!  We made it to the Indian Relays in Pine Ridge with 10 minutes to spare before the advertised start time, and over an hour later we were still waiting for the races to begin.  This was perfect because it allowed us to get set up and start screening up the storm.  We had an even bigger response that the previous day at the pow wow.  The students are getting to be experts at using the technology, and I again must mention my appreciation for having Jackie with us to help with the Enform app.  She fits into the trip perfectly with her easygoing and friendly personality.  We met many new friends, including P., a two-year old, who would be riding in the pony race.   Yes, you read that right–two-years old riding a horse!  He was the most precious thing ever, showing the students how he would be riding with his stick pony.  I also met A., who got a screening–she is working for the fire department this summer, but will be a senior at the University of South Dakota.  She is considering returning to school for her Masters in Public Health, and I encouraged her to consider IU (also gave her my contact information and encouraged her to get in touch if she needed any help).  I really like this setting–it is informal and because people are not coming and going as much as at the pow wow, we can really visit and chat and get to know some of the families.

After screening, screening, and more screening, the relays got started.  P. won his pony race, and that was terribly exciting for all of us!  We cheered him on like crazy!  We moved over to the bleachers to watch the actual relays, and it was even more exciting than last year with multiple riders getting thrown.  I had to cover my eyes several times.   This was our best day yet, and I am so appreciative of this trip, my students, Jackie, and of course, the Lakota people.

We started our day early again at 0830, heading to Rosie’s to pick up some of our shipped donations that she so kindly kept until we could pick them up.  We got to chat for a few minutes, and also visit with Allyssa for a few minutes–so happy to see both of them.

The students wanted to experience the pow wow parade so we headed to Pine Ridge.  The weather mirrored last year’s pow wow parade day with a  rainy start; however, this year, the rain cleared and we were able to see the parade and start screenings.  Part of our blessings with receiving grant funding this year was the allowance for the purchase of a pop-up canopy, folding table, and outdoor chairs.  The addition of a shady spot beyond the back of the SUV is great.  We had a steady ebb and flow of screening participants, beginning with the two elder veterans and one of their spouses that were parked next to us.

One of the veterans, R., spent quite a bit of time speaking to us.  He must be about 70,  a Vietnam veteran, and very generous in discussing Lakota culture.  He explained that he joined the Army at 17, entering the warrior culture at a very young age.  The requirements and expectations of being a warrior in Lakota society go beyond joining the U.S. military and going to war.  He patiently explained to us that as a warrior, he has made the lifelong commitment of watching over his people—especially the women and children.  To be a Lakota warrior, one must possess and practice the traits of generosity, fortitude, bravery, and wisdom.  As R. explained, the expectation of being generous ensures that you will never be rich because you will always do what you can for others–this is a lifelong promise.  As I listened to him describe his life and commitment to his people, I could not help but tear up.  Especially when he explained that he went to Standing Rock to represent his people in the fight for clean water this past year and was willing to fight and die if that was what it took.  To hear of his unwavering duty to his people and culture was quite humbling.  There is so much to learn from this beautiful culture and people.  I will always feel privileged to be here at Pine Ridge and to learn any lessons that I can.

While I will certainly never be a warrior, I can certainly strive to be generous, brave, wise, and strong.

Wayazan awanyanka–looks after the sick or hurt.

I have always wondered if there was a Lakota word for nurse.  Our friend, Michelle Bruns, from the OLC Nursing Department emailed me with this word and definition after asking on Thursday if such a term existed for the Lakota.  The Lakota language is a dead language so many modern things like computer, etc. don’t exist in their language.  I really like the concept of “looking after”–this speaks to me greatly!  After all, what a better way to describe all aspects of nursing.

I am a day behind with blogging now after having such a big day yesterday.  We were booked solid for the entire day with activities yet when I got in bed completely exhausted, my mind was racing with all that we had experienced for the day!

We started our day doing screenings for the staff at Head Start at the administration building in Kyle.  We had one hour for this, and this would be our first attempt to use the Telemed 2020 platform to enter data electronically into a mini-health record for screening participants.  Jackie Baker, from Telemed 2020, is here on the trip with us, and she was a godsend in completing initial troubleshooting as the students began to screen.  Even with some technology hiccups, the students took to it like pros.  We were quickly inundated with Head Start staff who wanted to have their lipid profile, blood sugar, blood pressure, and body mass index, and subsequent health teaching completed.  I did not know what to expect as far as the acceptance of the technology by participants here, but very quickly, we learned that the technology was not a barrier at all–we now have an outstanding tool to improve and expand our work here.  During our time at Head Start, I was able to chat with Jennifer and Dallas a bit–old friends at this point.

Because of our interest in screenings, we ran late to our next health promotion site.  After a quick call to the Allen Youth Center Director to let him know that we were running late, we were on our way, on another new adventure.  I have never been to Allen on any of my previous trips to the rez.  Of course, this new venture turned into something exciting–the main road into Allen is being expanded and after sitting in a mini-traffic jam on a dirt road that had earth movers crisscrossing back and forth, we finally made it to the center.  We received an extremely warm and welcoming greeting from Travis Thunder Bull, the center director.  Initially, we had about 9 children and 5 adults present to receive some health education on first aid, CPR, and diabetes.  Over the course of our time there, our audience grew to 17 children.  Each of the teams of students took turns providing their education in a very informal, hands on way.  While our audience of kids were initially quite shy, they warmed right up after finding out that we had some basketballs, footballs, etc. as prizes!  We also provided a healthy meal, which Stormi, cooked–we did pulled pork sandwiches on whole wheat buns, vegetable soup, and fruit.  The food was a hit, and after the meal, the students spent some time playing with the kids, showing them how to use a stethoscope, etc.  After a challenging trip to the center, where more than one student voiced disbelief that we would actually get there, many asked if we could either stay or come back.  Schedule permitting, we may actually try to go back at the beginning of the week.

Our next stop was the pow wow for the grand entrance.  This is one of my favorite parts of the trip.  I love to see the students response and awe to this cultural tradition.  I also love to see their initial fear of approaching dancers in their regalia to ask about getting photos and then finally overcoming that fear.  We saw one of our screening participants from Head Start dancing in her orange and purple regalia in the women’s traditional dance, and we were able to chat with her and visit a bit.  I also Seymour, our students’ favorite person from last year’s trip, dancing.  While I did not get to talk to him last night, I certainly will seek him out today.  I thought that I might have to drag the group away, and I actually had someone ask why we don’t camp at the pow wow.  Never had that question before!  I also have a group that is intent on dancing in the circle during an open dance–we’ll see if that actually happens.  If it does, there will be video!

So, we are now off and running getting into the real reason for our presence here–learning about the culture and offering health promotion….what a great day to be a Wayazan awanyanka!

There has been so much lead up to the trip this year.  Months of planning; a grant application, presentation, and award; a new collaboration for technology for our screenings, and more.  I have done more worrying and fretting than usual because of this.  What if we can’t do as much health promotion?  What if my group doesn’t find a passion for the people and land of Pine Ridge?  How can I continue to do better and do more?  Last year’s trip was so good, what if this one isn’t as good?

The dubious start relates to the useless worry mentioned above, as well as having to get my appendix removed emergently one week before the trip.  All of the prior worry was nothing compared to my concern that I might have to cancel the trip because of my health.  Everything happens for a reason, and while the trip looked and felt quite dubious last week, I received a great reminder that I can control only so much.  I must rely on faith to get me through.

So here we are again–the promise has been fulfilled.  The trip actually happened, and I am going to appreciate and enjoy all of it–the good, the bad, the ugly, and whatever else might come up!  I am feeling good with no restrictions except related to lifting.

We made it to Pine Ridge yesterday.  Many of our beginning activities are the same as in past years–a quick trip to Mt Rushmore and then on to get settled at the motel.  The trip to the Chadron Walmart for supplies today which is always an adventure, but even more so this year.  (I’ll explain why later).   This is the first year that I truly doubted that we were going to be able to get all of our Walmart purchases into the SUV–we could not have fit one more thing!

My students already feel

like a tight-knit group.  They are absolutely hilarious, and I am loving getting to know them on a more personal level.  The Suburban (or the ‘Burb as we refer to it) is full of excitement, lots of singing, and so much laughter that it is hard to drive at times.  Some highlights so far would be quiet Shelby getting pulled out of the security line to have her carry on bag full of maxi pads (donations to be given away that she so kindly agreed to bring) searched; seeing a high speed chase in Pine Ridge today (including the use of spike strips across the road and the chasee continuing to drive on his rims) and the students yelling at me to follow the chase (the answer was no); listening to some quite enthusiastic duets by Stormi and Alexander; and much more.

The view was dubious last week, but we are certainly off to a promising start!