Pat W’s Blog, In Good Company’s Hopi Nation build

Pat Waldo is the Safety Director for American Licorice and is based out of La Porte, IN

The First Mesa

September 3, 2011 – Saturday

Wow, we are finally here 5:15 p.m. at the Hopi Nation.  The landscape is beautiful.  We have been traveling all day to get here  We had to hurry to get our tents set up before dark.  We are truly in the “middle of nowhere”.  One of the ladies that I meet on the road trip here is helping me put up my tent.  The tents are supposed to be a three person tent, but, by the time we get our air mattress and luggage in there it becomes a very small space.  The entire group ate dinner together, and then I went back to my tent.  I am trying to organize my little space, and  am really glad I brought a small lantern.  I hook it to the loop on the inside of the tent, and then I can write in my journal at night or read.  Really tired, sleep now.

September 4, 2011 – Sunday

I woke up really early so I went up on the ridge and did some yoga at sunrise.  Our day begins with breakfast every day at 7 a.m., the construction meeting at 8 a.m., and work until 4 p.m.  It was really hot today, 103 degrees fahrenheit, and Jill and I worked on scaffolding staining the soffits all day.  I am surprised at how fast my heart is beating today but the nurse on site told us that this is normal because of the elevation.  We are at about 6000 above sea level.

We all had our first experience of using a solar shower bag and showering under the stars.  I am surprised at how much water five gallons really is. My body is tired:  the work was harder than I had anticipated.

September 5, 2011 – Monday

What a beautiful place to wake up!  The stars seem to be right above you head.  The air is so clean here.  It seems very peaceful and not as hectic as life at home.  No television, no radio, just quiet.  I hear coyote pups howling in the night.

September 6, 2011 – Tuesday

It rained last night, but I stayed dry inside the tent.  Yesterday we applied stucco to the inside walls.  It was messy work.  I worked with one of the members of the Hopi Tribe who is a friend of the family receiving the house.    The family is all so grateful and seem to be very quiet people.  I watched the sun setting on the rocks tonight, and it just made me smile.  I love being here where it is quiet.

September 7, 2011 – Wednesday

I went for a walk at sunrise with Anne, the photographer that works with ClifBar.  We saw two red fox looking at us.  They did not seem to mind that we were in their space; they just looked at us,.  We went to Hotevilla, an old Hopi Indian village.  We were allowed to tour the village but not to take pictures.  Leeland, our tour guide shared Hopi culture with us.  He explained how the homes and gardens always belong to the women in the family.  In the village there is a natural spring that they use to water their terraced gardens.  It was so beautiful to see an oasis of green in the middle of the desert.    They work so hard to grow their food.  We are so spoiled.

September 8, 2011 – Thursday

Today I had kitchen duty which meant up at 5:30 a.m. to make coffee and prepare breakfast for thirty people.  Tonight is the first time we have left the build site.  We went to the Hopi Cultural Center for dinner at a restaurant.  They had real bathrooms YEAH!  It is really late and I am tired, and I miss my husband.

September 9, 2011 – Friday

Today was our last day on the reservation.  I am happy and sad. This week has made me think about my life and how blessed  I am, but also makes me realize that all this “stuff” that we seem to think is important is really not what makes me happy and feel fulfilled as a person.  We tend to live our lives so fast paced and so full of materialistic stuff that it makes us so out of touch about what really matters.

I am so grateful to have been able to be a part of this team and this experience. I have contributed to helping not only the Adam’s family have a home that is comfortable and adequate to live in but knowing that the next five generations will now have a place to live makes me feel good.