Sunday with the Meesters
Early Sunday morning I plugged in the little electric water kettle I use to make our lattes every day and the electricity went out. Unfortunately, it was not as simple as a blown fuse. As we googled about it, we learned that it was the GFIC system–at least that was new learning for me; Randy probably knew about it already. Supposedly, all you have to do is reset it by pushing 2 little buttons on the outlet where the system starts, in our case that is the outlet below the bathroom sink. However, that did not work. Randy went all around to look for loose wires, unscrewing and pulling out every outlet. Nothing seemed wrong. Finally he gave up and went to the store for more propane so we could run things on that until he figured it out.
With the trailer powered by propane we started getting ready to go to church. At one point I sat on the toilet, looked at the outlet and decided to just push those reset buttons. They snapped down and back up and…I saw a little green light! I checked and double-checked and then said, “Randy, I think I see a green light.” He checked and double-checked and, sure enough, it had reset.
Later, it all turned off again two more times. It has been fine since but we are super nervous about it. We plug in only one thing at a time and pray and cross our fingers as we do it. My theory is that the stupid bumpy highways in CA knocked something loose and somehow it’s in the right position again. I’m just afraid that it’ll get jarred out of place the next time we pull the trailer. But I guess we’ll see and we’ll survive.
When we walked in the church, the Meesters were doing the Lenten reading.
We managed to get to church only a little late and had a good time of worship. After church we had lunch at the Meesters, seated around their beautiful wood table with a copper top. I’ll try to take a photo next time we’re there. It was a joy to break bread together. Juliana and Thijs are a delight to be with, too.
After lunch we went to the Zuni Christian School where Betsy teaches 6th grade. Another beautiful place. I love learning more about the Native American culture and I was especially curious about the Zuni because they are a pueblo tribe. I’ve read novels and some other things about Navajo culture but nothing specific about Zuni or other pueblo tribes. There’s a lot more to learn but Dan and Betsy told us about some things. It sounds like many of the religious beliefs and practices are secret. Unlike the matriarchal culture of the Navajos, Zuni is very much a male-oriented culture, even to the extent that there are many parts of the religious life that only men learn and practice. They are also very private about sharing things outside their tribe. Betsy said she’s had a few occasions where, when she’s asking questions to learn more, one of the students will say, “That’s not for you to know.”
In at least one of their ceremonial gatherings, some of the men dress in 9-feet tall Kachina costumes. The Hopi tribe has Kachina ceremonies, too, and sometimes demonstrates them for tourists, but Zuni do not share their ceremonies outside the tribe. Betsy said during that time she has to have permission to come to school and has to keep the shade down on her classroom window she doesn’t see anything.
The church sanctuary.
I really liked the worship space at the Zuni school. The sanctuary is beautiful, with lots of wood and a stained glass window above the altar. The back wall can open to allow larger crowds for school or community functions. I like the way it feels like an intimate worship space for the church but can serve multi-functions. I think a concept like this could work well if our church decided to give our campus to the school.
The “DY” is a prominent feature of the landscape in the Zuni pueblo. DY stands for Dowa Yalanne. If I remember correctly, Dan said that the Zuni are the only Native American tribe that were not forced to relocate. When settlers attacked, the Zuni went to the DY mesa top and waited out the fighting.
The written Zuni language uses colons and apostrophes for accents and sounds.
Dan and Randy sitting on beautiful homemade benches.
Betsy telling us about her storyboard in her classroom, an over-arching approach to learning.
The library. It looks like a great space for reading!
DY Mountain.
After the school tour, we headed to El Morro National Monument. What a beautiful place. The rock has inscriptions and petroglyphs hundreds of years old. We arrived late but the park staff let us take the main loop path and we enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. It’s always amazing to see things that have been there for centuries like that.
El Morro National Monument.
The visitor center.
Inscriptions.
Petroglyphs.
Sunlight on the red rock near our campsite.