Les Hannah, day 44, part 1

Back to work today. I had the first two lessons off; only had lessons three and four this afternoon. Nevertheless I went into school early so I could begin work on some further NSU tasks that needed completing. I needed a strong wireless signal so to school I went. Plus I had a scheduling meeting with Pia during the first session. We tried to plan several activities for my remaining time here.

Kind of odd to think that we are actually now planning departing activities. Not so long ago it seems we were trying to figure out how to get started. And honestly is seemed as if I were at the front end of a very long tunnel – no end in sight. But now here it is rapidly approaching. I am beginning to reflect a considerable amount on the time I have already spent here. But enough of that for now; I will certainly address it when the proper time comes.

Pia and I discussed events and activities to be held in the next few days. We are going to play stickball soon. We cannot play outside because of space, no decent place to play. Because of the limited indoor space we have available to play the game we will likely play a version more similar to what the Choctaws play than the Cherokee version. But that’s just fine; the basic concept of the game is still the same. We also discussed having a go at a powwow, or at least something that very closely resembles one. Now I have been very careful in the classes where this came up to explain the difference between a powwow and a stomp dance. I have also been detailed in the different tribes whose customs were each. The students truly grasped those differences I think. Anyway, Pia and I discussed and tried to plan for something along those lines. We just now must wait for the dates and times to be approved.

I spent the remainder of the morning working on different correspondences or one task or another. Before I realized it lunch time was upon me. So I ate then readied for the afternoon sessions. Lesson three, the first following lunch, was cut just a bit short because of announcements about the approaching merger this school is making with another school. That is still a short distance into the future, and I will be long done before that happens; however, I do understand some of the concerns the faculty and staff are feeling about the matter. I have dealt with similar situations before at institutions where I was previous to NSU.