Reservation Life

Hello from Montana, where temperatures are still reaching 90 degrees! Sure is no sign of the harsh winter yet (but I'm sure that when it comes it will hit hard.)

There has been so much I've been wanting to blog and still so many more pictures from the first month that I've been needing to post.. but right when I was on a roll with posting, we had a slight incident of no electricity for several days. We are still running on the generator here at our house (there is some unknown legal drama surrounding why they can't install the electrical poles; they need to wait for the tribe's permission and for some reason they can't get it yet... just a typical situation on the reservation!)

So when the generator blew out one night last week, we "roughed it" for about 3 days with no electricity-- which was so completely not bad that I feel like I shouldn't even write about it. Really the only inconvenience was no hot water for showers... so we really couldn't complain. We were able to move all of our food to one of the school fridges, and even just used the stove in the teacher's room to cook dinner. We functioned by flashlight and candlelight and just lived extra simply for a while! I personally wish we just had to live without the generator at all (at least until winter ...though I definitely appreciate the hot showers!); it uses a lot of diesel fuel (which is expensive and not sustainable) and would just really force us to live even more simply. But I think I'm out-voted on that one...

We learned that a lot of the families on the reservation have to deal with problems like this all of the time. One of the teacher's aides told us that it's just like her house, how they never know when they're not going to have water or power. It makes us think how much we take it for granted at home ...and how some people-- in this same country-- have to live without the luxury of even such basic resources. I've known this- we all have- but it served as a grounding experience (no electrical pun intended.)

They finally fixed the generator, but we have to keep a close eye on it. We're thinking we won't see electricity installed before winter, if at all, which will bring further challenges. We shall see! Typical, typical.



In other news, our Ashland JV friends came to visit last weekend. We took them to Forth Smith, which is about 20 miles south of us, right down the road- by Yellowtail Dam, at the head of BigHorn Canyons- and is apparently a world-reknown fly fishing area. (We've really met people at church who are up here from Kentucky, Arizona, and even Mexico just to fish!) Like I said, we still have the remnants of summer heat here, so it was the perfect day to spend at the river (all of the pictures in this post are from the riverside.) Our friend Meredith said she felt very "Pride & Prejudice"-- like how they must have spent their leisure time in the old days, just sitting by a river, fishing, reading, picnicking. It was such a simple and enjoyable day!









So many more pictures to come... Crow Fair, our excursion in the BigHorns, Native American Week at school, pictures of our house here... they'll be up soon!

Red Lodge

Yesterday I spent my Saturday with a great group of Pretty Eagle kids at a Cross Country meet in Red Lodge, MT. My roommate Sarah is the assistant coach for the team, so I decided to go along with her to the meet (mostly for fun and to support the team and also because I heard Red Lodge was a gorgeous town, on the edge of Custer National Forest, just above Yellowstone.) It was a fun time! The team has kids from 3rd grade to 8th grade. Sports are really big around here, so they train pretty seriously even though it's only elementary and middle school. Our school did really great and they all finished in the first wave of each of the races (they had races for 3rd-5th grade girls, boys, then middle school girls, and then boys.) We were probably the best (and biggest) team there. Go Pretty Eagle!

A few of the younger kids from my classes were at the meets with their families, cheering on their older brothers and sisters. It was fun spending the day with the kids and coaches. Not to mention in this gorgeous spot!


Red Lodge, MT



Some of the elementary school girls after they finished their race : )




Sarah and I were talking about planning a trip back down this way sometime soon to do some more sightseeing and go on some hikes! Can't wait to explore more of these beautiful parts of Montana.

A week in Ashland

Since we were homeless once we got to Montana, we had to live in Ashland for a week, where 7 of our new JV friends are serving this year. It was a fun week- which included my birthday!- getting accustomed to Montana and getting to know the staff at St. Labre.

Ashland is a town of about 400 (mostly made up of St. Labre Mission & School, I'm pretty sure) in southeastern Montana. There's a small strip of stores, including two restaurants (both of which we visited), a gift store, a small market, a video rental store, and, of all things, a milkshake stand! (You can guess where I picked to celebrate my birthday!)

Part of the St. Labre campus



The chapel was designed to represent the union of the Native and Christian traditions with the cross becoming part of the teepee



Scenery around St. Labre



Even though I changed my birthday this year to be able to enjoy it at home/in Maine with the whole family, word got out that it was my birthday and so we all went out for milkshakes to celebrate. It was all I could have wanted in the middle of [nowhere] Montana!



My chocolate birthday milkshake : )



A fountain in the middle of St. Labre's campus



The chapel lit by a smoky sunset

{There had been crazy wildfires a ways west of Ashland, which made the sky look wildly firey and brilliant... we were driving back in awe of the thick smoke and the sun burning through it but I didn't stop for pictures. This was a bit after the brighter sun, but still neat.}




The view from the Ashland JV's front porch. Their house is set back on a hillside overlooking the town. An awesome view!

Traveling to and through

scenery from the Greyhound bus ride






Downtown Billings - the cafe we went to for breakfast our first morning in Montana



...and the delicious breakfast I got there!



Ashland JV Kristen looking out at eastern Montana






Scenes of beauty by the roadside

Orientation at Camp Adams

Photos from Camp Adams in Molalla, Oregon - more here.




A group of us went on a 5:30 a.m. hike to Eagle's Nest to watch the sunrise over Mt. Hood... one of my favorite parts of the week!

The view from Eagle's Nest at dawn.


Erica and me :)


Can you find the JV's? ;)


A lion I sculpted in a game of Cranium :)


Open air on the grounds of Camp Adams


...an amazingly beautiful place!

Happy Sunday

A morning surprise from our housemate, Don.

Scrumptious!! Thanks Don!

About to walk across our yard to church, which starts at "noon-ish"-- I think that means around 12:30, on reservation time. Maybe there'll be more than 6 people there this time? ha ha...

Update: Fr. Charlie finally arrived at 12:45, and then spent 20 minutes introducing each person there. And there were actually over 20 people there this time! Wow, getting crowded ;)

Hello from Montana!

I can't believe it's been less than a month since I packed up and headed out to Portland for Orientation. I've been in "Big Sky Country" for 3 weeks now but it feels like so much longer. It's definitely taken me time to adjust to being in this part of the country... with the wide fields and arid mountains and big sky that envelops it all (yes, it really is a big sky!) It makes me really miss New England and our woodsy areas and ocean all around. But as of today, actually, I finally feel like I've adjusted and am ready to "see with new eyes" and appreciate my surroundings.

These 3 weeks have been filled with so many new experiences that I don't even know where to begin. So I think I'll make several picture posts to share where I've been and what I've been doing!

But to summarize...

Orientation in Portland was wonderful in every way! It was at Camp Adams in Molalla, Oregon. It was an absolutely amazing place... like walking through a magical forest (you'll see what I mean when you see the pictures, although even my best couldn't capture all the magic!)

There were 141 JV's there, plus the JVC Northwest staff; I have never been around so many awesome people at once. I had so much fun meeting my fellow volunteers that will be serving all around the northwest this year. Throughout the week, there was a day dedicated to each of the four values of JVC Northwest: Social Justice, Simplicity, Spirituality, and Community. (You can visit www.jvcnorthwest.org to see more in-depth what it's all about... I couldn't love this organization more!) We started every day with music sing-alongs... had meditations in the meadow... and had a lot of great presentations to get us ready for the year. We had Contra Dancing (like square/line dancing!) and ice cream one night, which was so much fun! I was so hot from the dancing that I went straight to the swimming hole with a bunch of others... I jumped in and it was the COLDEST I've ever been!! They weren't kidding when they said their water in the Northwest was cold... but it was exhilarating anyway!

It was a packed week but full of so many fun times like that. Whenever we had free time I spent most of it walking around and soaking in my surroundings... there was so much to explore! I absolutely loved it there. Recounting orientation makes me miss Camp Adams! I would love to go back to Portland some day. I was sad to leave, but it was probably just the right amount of time. I am so thankful to have had such a nourishing week of orientation. In every way, it embodied what I love about JVC Northwest and what drew me to their program. 

So we left Camp Adams at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning and finally arrived in Billings (the largest city in Montana at 100,000 people... I know, huge, right?) at 6 a.m. on Sunday... yep, we had 19 hours on Greyhound buses! It wasn't a bad ride though because I got to see so much of the Northwest. The ride from Portland north towards Washington was absolutely GORGEOUS! The second most beautiful scenery I've seen, next to the coastal drive from Ballyvaughan to the Cliffs of Moher ♥ (I still miss Ireland every day!!)

We went to the JV house in Billings for a couple of hours (there are 5 JV's in Billings, 7 in Ashland, 4 of us in St. Xavier, and 4 way up north in Hays [where Erica is!]--we're the "Big Sky Region"; everyone in our region is really great, I'm excited to have retreats and holidays with them all.) Anyways, three of the staff from St. Labre picked us up from there, and we went to lunch at the Golden Corral (reminded me of visiting the Brooks in NC!)

They took us all to Ashland, where us St. Xavier JV's had to live for a week because... we didn't have a house! We were told all along that they were building a house for us but we found out during orientation that they had ordered a trailer and were still waiting for it to arrive. It became the running joke- "No people around... no internet... no phone... no house." (And now no electricity; but we're using a generator!) ...or... "Well we win because we don't have a house!" or "All I want for my birthday is a house to live in" or "We will host Christmas! ...if we have a house by then." ha ha. It was all good though; I was actually really glad we had a week in Ashland because we got to spend time with the Ashland JV's, who are a lot of fun, and got to know some of the St. Labre staff who we will be seeing sporadically throughout the year.

[St. Labre is the main mission site that serves the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations. It is a huge campus (basically makes up the whole town of Ashland.) They have an elementary, middle, and high school, along with dormitories and a group home for children without families. St. Labre also operates St. Charles Mission School in Pryor, Montana (where two of the Billings JV's are serving) and Pretty Eagle Catholic Academy in St. Xavier.]

So anyways, we had a great time in Ashland for the week, and finally moved in to St. Xavier two days before school started (about a week and a half ago now.) We didn't have much furniture, but we had beds and hey, we had a house! Since then teachers have bestowed various bits of old furniture to us and it is starting to come together. We still are missing some things like dressers or towel racks in the bathrooms, but we are just rolling with what we have. 

SCHOOL started last Thursday, so we've been there for about a week. I am working in kindergarten and first grade. It turns out I am teaching math for first grade for the year, as well as a reading group. It feels like I am back student teaching! But I don't mind it, it's kind of cool.

I really like the kids at the school. 95% of the students come from the Crow Reservation. We've been able to learn a lot about the culture already from the teachers, and the kids as well. The first graders are wild, but the kindergartners are a bit calmer and so cute! (I think kindergarten will always be my favorite!)

The school community has been very welcoming to us and they are excited to have us there for the year. We've been invited to various places and are getting to know the area and the community. The school has very much a family atmosphere to it (partially because it's so small and partially it's the culture; and partially because every other person is related, it seems...) so it is nice to be welcomed into this kind of warm community.

Like today, we went to Pryor, MT because the kindergarten aid, Vandy, invited us to her granddaughter's birthday party. (They make big to-do's out of birthday parties and family gatherings here... mostly because everyone has so much family.) I was really glad we went- it was fun and it's a really scenic area. We talked to some of the elders of the family, and heard some great stories from different family members. It was just so nice for her to welcome us in to her family gathering even though no one knows us. We heard at orientation and from past JV's that the communities usually treat their volunteers very well and invite them places and stuff, so we are especially grateful for such a warm welcome seeing as we are a new community (most JV communities are well-established by now, but this is the first year they've had JV's here since 1983.)

Anyways, between school and settling into the house and running around to various places, I've been pretty busy [which (along with only intermittent internet access) is why it's taken me so long to start this blog.] (Sheesh, I thought I was coming here to enjoy a slower pace!) I hope in a few weeks when we're settled in more and there's less going on that I'll have time to do the things I really want to do while here, like making art and reading and learning traditional beading techniques from one of the Crow teachers and write lots of letters to people!

Wow, I wasn't planning on making such a long post! I guess it's just been a big adventure to fill everyone in on! I hope to get several picture posts up within the next few days. If you read this whole thing, then 1) sorry it was so long and 2) thank you for being interested in my adventures out here in Montana! I hope to have interesting stories to share with you all!

Peace & really big skies,

:) Janine