Windy Communities

I'm in my second week here and I've started to feel more at home. Living the the trailer takes me back to my Charlevoix Estate days. Although this one is def. smaller with only one bathroom. I don't know how my whole family lived in a single wide trailer, but somehow we made it work. I guess that brings me to the point of how I only brought a car load of my things with me. Obviously, I had a furnished house to move into so that helped, but when you think about all of the junk that you own that is nothing more then an object, it's kind of sad.

Today while in the office, a brother and sister came in to use the phone. They are known to be fairly poor living here in Dupree. The man told me he was a diver of some sort for the Navy I think. I can't quite remember. Anyways, Their water pipes were frozen and they were trying to get some help. The people who work on the pipes pretty much told them that they would call the brother and sister back when they had to time to get to their trailer. If this were to happen back home, people would be pissed. This is a natural occurrence out here. They just asked for us to take a message from the company and they could come check back with us on Friday to see if they had called back. People in modern society take things like this for granted and don't think about how other people in our own country are living.

It has been REALLY cold out here. All of you guys back in Michigan are complaining about the snow and all I can say is that we got a dusting on Sunday and then we got 60mph winds. So, we pushed all that snow and cold air your way! You're welcome! Yesterday I knew the girls liked me because they did my hair and honestly, it looked pretty good for 10 year olds doing it. Today was the first day really that the temperature was above 0. Back in Michigan, I know there is no way that my staff let alone the kids would want to go outside and play even if it was 3 above 0. Here, the kids were running around with their coats off playing rainbow tag, capture the flag and submarine. They were so happy to be outside. I was so happy to be outside. The kids didn't complain they were cold or that they didn't want to play. They just played. It was actually really nice to have kids who weren't whining because they didn't win or they had to be it.

Today I was also reminded of how loud my voice can get. I am reading a book by a Native American who was a Lakota. In it he spoke of how Indians are quite. I actually just read the part today about courtship and how the man would go up to the woman and speak very quietly. I should have been putting what I was reading to real life because I DO have a loud voice. I call it my camp voice and although it is great for camp and working with kids back home, some of the kids here don't really enjoy the loudness in everyday talking and most of the adults find it a bit intimidating. It was nice to be reminded to bring it down a notch because my voice does carry. I must get that from my dad... :) Always singing and whatnot.

I have slowly come to terms with the fact that I am going to leave this Rez with more then the dog I came out here with... Atlas is doing well and really wants his backyard to run in (city worker is coming tomorrow hopefully to find the leak), but I really either need to make a friend or two who can come and hang out with us or I'm going to end up taking in a Rez dog. There is this one that is probs. about a year old maybe and he's gorgeous! He's black with a white chest and has to be part Newfoundland. He's going to be a pretty good sized dog. He belongs to a guy who works with me. The dog is so sweet too. He use to be an inside dog I guess and then he came here with J.R. He got in a fight with a couple other dogs the other night and now he is limping around not using his front right or left foot. I want him. Most of the dogs here are nice. There are a few from what I hear who are not though. But anyways, I will be leaving here with more then just Atlas. I know it!

I'm going to just leave you guys with this last little thought. I am in no way meaning to write any of these posts as a racist or stereotypical white girl so I hope that if you are reading this and you are Native, I am not making you feel offended. I am so blessed to be able to be out here and LEARN about this culture. Taking Native American Studies, watching Smoke Signals (funny story there for another time) or reading all of the "right" books cannot take the place of how important experiential learning is. Immersing yourself in a different culture is an amazing feeling. My first night out here, I was scared to sleep. With all of the stereotypes you hear about poverty stricken areas and Reservations, I let those things get the best of me. When I woke up and saw how beautiful the sun was (even when it was -32), I felt horrible and really stupid for letting those thoughts take over my mind. Since then, I have tried and will continue to push those preconceived stereotypical thoughts out of my mind. Being able to live out here on the Rez and meet all of these wonderful interesting people is helping me break down those barriers of judging any book (or person) before taking the time to open it up and read it (or get to know someone and their story).

So, I hope you all who are reading this can take a minute and when you find yourself judging someone you don't know, remind yourself that you don't know their story. You don't know their struggles they have gone through. Be Kind. I know it's corny, but remember the YMCA's core values and apply them- Caring, Honest, Responsibility, Respect and Faith.

Love from the Rez,

Court

Busted Pipes and FEMA Trailers

When I took the Camp Director position out here, I knew that a couple things were going to happen on this journey. The first being that I was always going to have to have a back up plan... Maybe even a couple. The second thing was that I was going to have to be resourceful and the third was that I was going to be tested. It's only my second day of actual work and I have gone through each of those things.

I left Marquette Friday afternoon for Charlevoix and then down to the Mid American Camping Conference in Augusta, MI on Monday. I stayed with Paige and Ryan (and Cooper and Finn) and left Atlas with them while I went to the conference from Tuesday until Friday morning. The conference was great and it was nice to be surrounded by not only people who truly love working for the YMCA but also camp people. People who actually get what camp is all about. We sang songs, dunked our heads in the pool for a scavenger hunt and went to important seminars such as Emergency Action Plans and what to do in case of an emergency at camp (I would just like to point out the fact that the guy who gave the presentation worked as a secret service agent and puts together active shooter plans and knows his stuff. When I asked him what I should do if someone comes out to our camp which is 70 miles away from anything, he told me to always carry a pen. This way, I could stab the intruder's eyeballs while my staff and campers made a run for it). 

After the conference and after going and getting Atlas and Paige (who came along for the road trip) we were off for the Great Plains. We stopped at a Large Pink Elephant in Wisconsin, went through a molded/sculpture graveyard- where all those large pink elephants go to die, the Corn Palace- which was closed, but still neat, Wall Drugstore- which had some good hotdogs and fries, the Badlands- which were Badass, Mount Rushmore- kind of and the entrance to the Crazy Horse Memorial (long story). 

After all of these adventures, we headed to the LARGE town of Dupree- Population 538 (539 now). So, back up to the conference and add in a text from my boss saying that a pipe burst in my house I was suppose to be staying in. Now, I will live in the FEMA trailer which is a term used for the manufactured homes the Government gave out to those misplaced by Hurricane Katrina and whatnot. Awesome. Fastforward to arriving in Dupree. Get to the trailer and the batteries to the thermostat are dead. New batteries, smell of cats and two tired girls and one extremely tired dog (who was a trooper riding in his kennel for most of the two days traveling), we get new batteries and there is heat. Ok. 

I am living in the trailer until we get the pipe fixed in the house, which means on top of trying to hire my camp staff, run the afterschool program and all the other things I need to focus on, I will now be hauling wet junk out of the basement to get to the pipe. It's not that bad. 

Today I took Atlas to the house and let him run around the fenced in backyard. He LOVED it. Even though it was -14, he stayed out there and didn't want to leave. Hopefully I can get that stuff packed up ASAP and we can get into the house. 

As far as work goes, I have been trying to find camp staff and also go through all of the documents the directors before me left. I am also running the afterschool program until we can get the Site Director hired which hopefully will be soon. That would mean I would have a FRIEND too!

After speaking with some of the afterschool staff, we have decided to try and teach the kids in the program Lakota words because the school stopped teaching them their language in school. Apparently there are only two schools in the county or area that are public and not tribal and one is Dupree's. This pretty much means they don't need to teach it. I honestly am looking forward to it and learning myself. Thus the name of my blog... a girl and her dog. :) Hopefully that is correct because I found it online. heh. 

I have my afterschool kids coming soon so I shall go. If you know of anyone who would want to come out for the summer and work at camp, send them my way! 

-Court