Today Jeff arrived with a large cargo van filled to the brim with clothing, quilts, and shoes from our Church, the Lutheran Church of the Master. We will be doing a giveaway tomorrow morning with Jerome and Theresa High Horse. All the clothes, shoes, etc… are all really needed. We have children staying home from school because they do not have shoes or appropriate clothing. Sometimes staying home means that child also will then not have food for the day as well. The school and the High Horses are working together to try to get a food backpack program started. 

Last Sunday, I went to church for the first time here in South Dakota. I spent several Sunday mornings sitting in empty parking lots guessing on church times based on when others thought church might be. Churches here work on rotating pastors so you have to be in the “know” to know when services are. It is not posted on the outside of the church. There isn’t even a phone number or website you can use to find out. I call it the secret society church. Anyway, I went to services at a small Lutheran Church in Kadoka last week (About 30 miles away). There were 10 of us present! No one spoke to me until after the service. The lay minister read the sermon off his iPad. He assured us it was a good message because it was written by a real pastor. 

Oh, the things I take for granted:

  • My church right in my neighborhood and so many people there who are an important part of my life! Messages crafted each week are intended for the individuals within our community. Music that sings to my soul. 
  • My friends and groups that I attend. I am really on my own a lot here. I am older than all of the teaching staff I work with and truthfully there is little to go and do in Wanblee. After a long day at school, most of them are going home to care for young families. 
  • Having running water that is hot when you turn it on and real water pressure. Jeff calls it shower by dribble, and to do the dishes I have to swish the water around with my hand to get bubbles. Otherwise, there isn’t enough water pressure to create bubbles. 
  • I am thrilled when I get far enough down the road that I can get a radio station. I take for granted my Christian Radio station that is right at my fingertips in Omaha.
  • Air conditioning. It was in the high 90s this week and the school’s air conditioner is not working. I did not have air in my apartment until Tuesday. 
  • Wifi and cable TV. ( I have neither at the apartment and I am really tired of PBS reruns. The wifi and printers have been down at school at times as well. In the next two weeks we have MAPS testing so pray that the wifi holds for two more weeks. I am sure we will have children praying for just the opposite.)
  • Everything closes up by 5 and all towns are at least 30-40 minutes away. We are at school until 4:30 or 5 daily. Nothing is open on Sunday! It’s amazing to me!!!
  • The closest Quilt shop is 2 hours to Rapid City or 2 hours to Chamberlain. I am so used to having multiple shops right down the street from my house. From my home in Omaha, I have 3 Quilt shops within a 5-mile radius. I have yet to find a yarn shop here. So I am depending on my friends to buy from our favorite shop in Lincoln and then wait for Jeff to relay the projects to me. 
  • I am beginning to find my way around Rapid City. I am crossing off grocery stores as I try them. I really miss HyVee being right on my way to and from work and Jeff doing all the grocery shopping!

Not meaning to sound like I am complaining; it is just a really different way of life here. You can’t just run and get what you need – you must plan far ahead and have the time to get to the materials you need. For example – the table in my classroom is too short. The legs will not extend high enough for my children to sit around it and get their legs under it. So this week my boys decided they were tired of sitting way back from the table when they have group time with me. So on the count of 3 (in Lakota) – they lifted the table and rested the table top on their knees.  I have Bob, the builder working on cutting PVC pipe to fit on the legs to raise the table. (The kids made me laugh each time they did this little feat. It’s just another example of how they are just used to figuring out a way to make whatever they have to work with work!)

Once again I came off as the crazy old white woman. Each morning our pod of classrooms (third-sixth grade) gathers in the hallway to open the morning with announcements and a Lakota prayer. Ramon, our sixth-grade teacher usually leads this. One day this week, he was tied up in a meeting. So I stepped in, to lead the opening. I did the good morning and the Crazy Horse Chiefs chant with the kids. Prior to the prayer Ramon always does a 1-2-3 countdown in Lakota. Of course, I cannot do this, so I do it in English – no one starts the prayer and I only know the first 2 or 3 words…. so the kids say to me no in Lakota. So they say 1 in Lakota and I repeat it, they shake their heads and say it again, after several attempts, I was able to count to 3. We got the prayer started. They were all giggling so hard they could hardly pray.

Today was the back-to-school PowWow. Jeff and went over for dinner and the beginning of the dancing. No one warned me that the teachers had to be a part of the grand procession of dignitaries into the dance. It would have been nice to have known what I was doing. The kids looked so amazing in their costumes. The beadwork and designs on some of the costumes were outstanding. The really little toddlers in their full costumes were precious and they were out there dancing like my girls used to at every wedding dance. It was joyful to watch. 

Finally, the other big surprise this week is that homecoming has a parade and our classroom must have a float. We were given $50 to purchase all we needed to decorate the float. I understood we had homecoming happening. I understood there would be a parade – somehow I missed that my class would have its own float! So we will have a float. We need candy for the kids to throw – that is what my kids are most concerned about. Thank you to my friend, Carla for already sending candy with Jeff. We will need more candy, so if you are willing to get a bag of candy or money for candy to Jeff by Monday, September 25th PLEASE do so. My friends Elizabeth, Kitty, and Lori will be coming up and will deliver it to me in time for the parade. The parade is Friday, September 29. I will post a picture of the float. Thank you to the High Horse family for furnishing the flatbed for our float.