Final night in Niskayuna

My flight leaves for Arizona tomorrow afternoon. Between now and then, I have to pack for seven days in St. Michael's, a town in Navajo Nation where we will be helping out in the school. It's going to be really dry, as one might expect, but not too hot.

My parents want me to start packing now. Perhaps they are taking in to consideration my atrocious packing job for the last trip. But it seems like all I really need to bring is clothing, my violin, music books, and some whole grain bread. Right? Provided that I clip my nails before departure. If I don't have time to do that, I should probably bring my nail clippers as well.

I got my picture taken at CVS for my Russian visa. I will include the picture for everyone's amusement. I suppose the Russian government probably doesn't care if I brush my hair in the morning or not. In any case, the photographer seemed pleased that there wasn't any glare on my glasses.

I spent a while looking through songs that we could play for and sing with the little kids on the reservation. I realized quickly that I had to check the lyrics carefully for guns, sex, etc. if I wanted to do anything by the Beatles or Bob Dylan. What I'm not sure about is whether I have to think about political implications. This Land is Your Land? Maybe I'm being oversensitive and paranoid, but that seems like one I might avoid. In fact, I think I will definitely avoid that one. But I'm not sure! I just have no sense of what they will think, not to mention their parents or teachers.

My mom provided us with some traditional songbooks with pictures: The Wheels on the Bus, some others. Those will be good for the very little ones who might not really care so much that the times are a-changin'.

If all else fails, we'll play musical chairs. In fact, maybe we should just start with musical chairs. We were also thinking of making some instruments. My mom says drums are the easiest instruments to make. But we haven't really planned that, so it might be too late.