Last Night on the Res

After my last volunteer day at Tuba City Boarding School, Sina and I went back to the house to have dinner before heading out to Wilson's football game. I dashed about doing my last bit of washing before packing my suitcase. I was a bit nervous about being able to close it as I've acquired a few treasures already including a Navajo-English dictionary, a pipe, James Bilagody's CD, a Navajo hand-weaved rug (a tiny one) and my Amizade volunteer t-shirt...I'd better try and curb the souvenir purchases otherwise I'll run out of room!

I witnessed my first Arizona rainfall on Friday night and it started up a windstorm along with it. Red dust from the ground sprayed through the air and huge gusts of wind nearly knocked us off our feet as we tried to get into Sina's car.

When we got to the game we were a little chilly and windswept but we got good seats and managed to get there just as it was about to kickoff.


We huddled up together under a blanket along with Sina's niece, who is just the cutest baby ever! I took advantage of her cuddliness for body warmth...


We were cheering on The Knights (the team in black) and searched for Wilson, number 88. Unfortunately The Knights didn't win this time as they had a tough game against the Hopis but I nearly lost my voice when they made their first touchdown! I managed to get into the whole American football thing a lot more this time round. Aside from hollering "go!" and "no!" Sina and I chatted away and I played around with Talisha.

When the game ended I took pictures of the family; I realised just how much they had become my own away from home.


This is Wilson after the game with Sina (on the right) and his grandmother (on the left). Talisha was running up and down on the field with her cousins at this point so I didn't get her in there, but here is one of her when she baked us a cake earlier in my stay:


When we got back to the house Wilson and I went to feed the horses and cows - the last time I'd be jumping over the gate and tossing bales of hay over to the eager pets. I was going to miss everything, the smell of the Arizona air, how clear the stars were at night and how peaceful I felt whenever I sat on the porch for my night time smoke. After an exciteable evening and a long, emotional day, I tucked myself into bed and fell into my last deep sleep on the Res.