St. Michaels, Arizona, Night 2: After Bingo

So I guess I'll be live-posting from Navajo Nation. Hooray! I wasn't looking forward to writing in my notebook and then transcribing, and realistically, I might have done something else with my time instead.

The last of us (myself included) arrived at the Albuquerque Airport at 11pm last night (1am ET.) It was immediately apparent that we were in a different state and place. Most public signs were written in both Spanish and English and the ceiling of the airport was elaborately decorated with some design with Native American influences. The unique ethnic and cultural diversity of the region is immediately apparent. Note that though 84.5% are white, 44.4% are Hispanic or Latino.

I had planned to work and be productive during my flights. I do have a fair amount of work to finish before school starts next week. On my first flight to Minneapolis, I sat next to a girl who was returning to Carleton College to complete her freshman year. Not surprisingly, considering that she was departing from Albany, we knew many of the same people from Williams, ESYO, Albany Academy (where she went,) Niskayuna High, etc. Unfortunately, I was so overstimulated by all of the common social ground that I knocked over my Diet Pepsi and had to press the klutz button so the flight attendent would bring over some napkins. I think Carleton girl was a little confused by the whole situation, unsure of why I had spilled my soda on my lap instead of drinking it like a normal person, but she seemed happy enough to keep talking to me. So by the time we landed in Minneapolis, I had read three pages.

After a medium-length layover, I boarded the plane to Albuquerque. Literally before I touched down on my seat, the woman sitting by the window (I was by the aisle) started talking to me about anything and everything. I would guess that she and her husband (sandwiched in between) are in their late seventies. I was happy to talk to her, really. Very interesting people. I abandoned hope early on that I would accomplish anything for my classes. My light flickered, anyway. So my new friends have lived outside of Albuquerque for 50 years. I learned all about how New Mexicans don't support English-only legislation, unlike most of the other western states, because they are proud of their multi-lingual culture. Less suburban sprawl, too. Their son is the Dean of Students at Union College and the woman, I don't remember her name, taught at Russell Sage for a while. She talked so much and her husband just sat quietly, listening and nodding or agreeing when he saw fit. They were both very interested to know what I thought about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the whole, they were very nice plane-mates and I managed not to spill anything.

Last night Gonpo and I rehearsed for our lessons until after 2am Mountain Time. It was nice to finally get together. He plays guitar and I play violin or harmonica. We both sing, usually. We're going to try to get a spontaneous story going, set to a 12-bar blues, going around with each person saying a line. I think that could be really fun. It will be interesting to see how the different age groups respond.

Our group slept in a motel right by the airport since it was so late. We ate breakfast at Denny's and then our hostess, Beth, a Dartmouth student who grew up on the reservation, and her sister drove us three hours west across the Arizona-New Mexico border. The first half of the ride was fairly boring for me because I was in the far-back of the van but the only other two people who were awake were in the front and I couldn't talk to them because I'd have had to yell and wake everyone else up. But after the rest stop people were more lively. The terrain is so different. There's really not much water around. The vegetation consists mostly of shrubs. This makes it really hard to tell how big mountains and other geological features are.

We saw a train going by caring some sort of non-human cargo. I was very happy and I think I might have woken someone up with my outburst. But the excitement didn't end there. Another train went by and crossed paths with the first one! Right before our eyes. The other people in the car did not seem so interested in this development, but it is very relevant to my reading for my history class, The Rise of American Business. And so I was joyful.

We drove through several smaller reservations before arriving at Navajo Nation. We passed by the expected casinos and we also saw many residential areas. The houses are mostly long and one-story. Beth told us that all of the doors face east in accordance with tradition. Many of them seem like they are just plopped in the middle of the desert with no roads leading up to them. But perhaps the desert is navigable enough by car, at least for medium distances, that it's not such a big deal.

Our accomodations at St. Michaels Parish (no apostrophe) were better than anything we could have asked for. We each have our own room with a sink, about twice as much space as my room at Williams, a big desk, a freshly made bed. I have become very popular because for some reason only my room has wireless internet. In addition to rooms fit for a gentry, Sister Josephine provided us with strict instructions about quite hours (starting at 9) and the policy on partying (no partying is allowed.) But I think she is growing to trust us a bit, and we haven't broken anything yet.

This evening we played Bingo at an event right next to the Parish. I think for most of us it was a stressful and confusing experience. Apparently you can win Bingo without getting a straight line. There are all sorts of other combinations which you have to memorize. I'm definitely glad we went, though. At first we all were going to sit together, but then we realized that we needed to branch out and meet some of the locals. So we went in groups of two or three to sit at different tables. I sat at a table with two Williams friends and two local ladies, a mother in her seventies and daughter in her forties. They were very nice and were sure to explain all of the rules to us. We were all really enthusiastic at first, but after a few hours we were pretty exhausted. Physically exhausted by sleep deprivation, mentally exhausted after staring at so many numbers, and emotionally exhausted by our collective failure to win a single Bingo.

We have to get up early tomorrow, so I should probably stop writing. Gonpo, Kyle and I caused trouble this morning by taking too long in the shower so we've turned over a new leaf. Here is a link to all of my Navajo photos, though you've already seen the four most interesting ones.