Starting Work, Settling In and Dorm Life Again!

Well I know that I have been a bad blogger! But my life has been so busy over the past few weeks that I really haven’t had a chance to update. Since I last wrote I started work with the Ramah Navajo Continuing Education Department. It is nice after being out of school for a few months to sink my teeth back into some work that I enjoy. My major project over the year is to help improve workforce development. Hopefully in the end of my service that will mean that I have put into place some training programs, wrote (and received J) a few grants, and developed a few green jobs. But for right now I am in the humble beginnings of my work, meaning I spend all day in front of my computer doing research. Honestly I am happy as a clam doing that. Anyone who went to UMass with me knows that I perversely enjoy sitting on Google and patching together various compilations of key words to bring up successful searches. I love the challenge of refining searches to bring up the exact data needed. So as of right now I have gathered quite an archive of information on green job development in tribal communities and on adult education in family learn centers. Hopefully over the next few weeks I will be meeting with community leaders to learn about programs in place and what they would like to see in terms of workforce development. I will pair this information with my prior research and hopefully begin drafting the blueprints for my major projects.

Along with enjoying work, I am really settling into life here. There is a wellness center with a little gym in it that I can use for free. I have made it a habit to get there a couple times a week. I am really happy about that because I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with working out in the middle of nowhere so finding a gym was a nice surprise. Also last Thursday another VISTA I met in training was driving by Pinehill on her way to her site and we were able to meet up for dinner at a little restaurant. I ate some really good green chile enchiladas; however they DO NOT hold a candle to the food at Anita’s in NoVa. It is nice to have another VISTA close by (relatively we are 2-3 hrs apart but in these parts that is dinner date distance). This coming weekend we are going to campout near Albuquerque and see the International Balloon Fiesta. So excited! Finally this weekend I went to a fall festival a little ways up the road. There were lots of artisans, a farmers market, and a group of Zuni women performing traditional dances. Who knew there was so much to do in the middle of nowhere?!

Another major change this week was my living situation. I have been living temporarily in a woman’s house in the community but I couldn’t stay there permanently because of rules and regulations around tribal housing. Luckily another option came up and on Sunday I moved into the children’s dormitory. The children’s dorm is a place where students from1st grade to 12^th grade can live during the school week. I believe that the theory behind the dorms is to help develop leadership and independence and that having an academically focused after school environment can lead to students doing better in schools. I am going to be able to stay at the dorm for free in exchange for doing an hour or so of after school activities a night with the children in the dorms. These past two nights I have been running a study hour for elementary age students. The work is more challenging than I thought. For example, several of the kids had division homework but they did not know multiplication. How are you supposed to teach division if kids don’t know multiplication? I tried explaining how to solve the problems in a number of different ways but I am not sure if the kids grasped it. Any advice from teachers (MOM) would be great! However the kids are really sweet and I think I am going to enjoy working with them.

Well that is all I have for now! Look for the next post which will most likely be about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!