Kayenta

Well we made it through our first full week and are on to the second!  Life here is definitely different from anywhere else we've lived.  Some good, some bad.  But we are just grateful to have somewhere to start out real life!  I'll separate my list of things into things we have experienced and things that people have told us about living here.

What we've noticed:

• Everyone here drives really nice cars!  Our car (which is 10 years old) is one of the older ones in town.  Housing is super cheap here so people can afford nice cars.  The bishopric came over last night and we were asking them about buying a house here and they said a mortgage would be $300-400 a month.  Right now we pay $195 for a 3 bed, 2 bath townhome.  Housing is ridiculous!
• Our shopping options here are limited.  There is one grocery store (just a local place), an Ace Hardware, a Napa Auto Parts, and actually quite a few fast food places (McDonald's, Burger King, Sonic-David's favorite, Subway, and a local pizza and Chinese food place).  Because things are so limited, we have to drive 1.5 hours to Page to go to Wal-Mart.  Most people here get the little stuff during the week and then once or twice a month drive down to Page to do the big shopping.
• The McDonald's and Burger King are super nice!  Way nicer than the ones in Rexburg and Orem.  They both have a huge playground and McDonald's had a bunch of touchscreen tv's by the playground where you could play games.  I was super surprised about that.  But because it was so nice there they also had a security guard.
• Children here kind of just go wherever they want.  At the grocery store, McDonald's, church, you see a lot of kids and not too many parents.   I get the feeling the motto "it takes a village to raise a child" is very much emphasized here.
• People here are very nice, and also very poor.  David says he can tell that a lot of the kids here live in poverty because their clothes are worn out and don't fit right and they're a little dirty from living out on the plains.  The Navajo people are kind of funny.  To look at them, you would think they were angry all the time because they just have an angry resting face, but once you start talking to them they are all smiles and friendly and helpful!  They are very open and accept people just as they are.  I was worried they wouldn't be open to us because we're white, but that fear was quickly taken away.  We have been welcomed here very warmly.  
• We have learned that rules here are generally more like guidelines.  As long as you aren't stupid and make other people mad, you can pretty much do whatever you want.  
• The nicest buildings here are definitely the government buildings.  The schools, Correctional Facility, Post Office, etc.  
• The ward is very nice!  And very small.  More of a branch than a ward.  And I get the feeling they have a lot of less active members.  And I already have a calling!  When we walked in, about the 2nd thing the Bishop asked us was if either of us played piano.  I said I did and so he had me play piano in Sacrament.  So I'm now the pianist in sacrament and Relief Society.  Before this they had a teenage girl who was trying very hard to play out of the simplified hymn book, but she didn't have a lot of experience with piano.  Everyone was very excited to hear my very imperfect playing!  It's kind of a confidence booster knowing that even though I mess up a lot, they like hearing me play.  
• There are dogs everywhere!  Some are strays, some have collars, but almost all of them are super friendly.  Asher loves this aspect of living here because he just loves animals!  
• It's actually really nice living so close to the schools.  Almost every day Asher and I go over to the elementary school playground after school and play there for a little while and then walk over to David's school and hang out in his classroom for a little bit until he's ready to come home.

What we're heard from other people:

• Unfortunately, drinking and drugs are very prevalent here.  They don't sell alcohol on the Reservation, but there are a lot of bootleggers that bring it in.  One of the speakers in church yesterday said he knew of 3 just right around his house.  And we've heard of a lot of people say people in their family are alcoholics.  It's very sad.
• Someone in our ward had us over for dinner last week and David asked them if there was anything that he should avoid saying so that he wouldn't get in trouble.  He told us that some topics to avoid were bears, snakes, and most importantly death.  He told us a teacher had a student who was sick for 2 weeks, and when the student came back, he very jokingly said "look who's back from the dead!"  This was such a big deal that the school board ended up hearing about it.  So although most things are pretty normal, you do have to be aware that the Navajo culture is still very alive here.
• We have had many people tell us to make sure we lock everything up.  And I have decided not to keep anything of value in our car.  Almost everyone we've talked to has said they've had their car broken into at least once and the principal of David's school said he had a bike stolen from his front yard.
• If we needed to go to the doctor, we would have to go back over the Utah border to Monument Valley.  They have a clinic here, but it's only for the Native's unless it's an emergency.  I have read on a newsletter and have seen that they are building a new hospital here, though.  It's a pretty big one, about the size of the one in Rexburg.  It will have all the regular hospital wings including Labor and Delivery, which right now the nearest place to have a baby is about 1.5 hours away.  So if we do decide to stay here for awhile, that will be nice to have it so close!  And I'm pretty sure this hospital would be open to everyone.

I can't really think of much else at the moment.  I'm sure I'll add more later.  But here is a video of our place so you can see that as well as some other random pictures.  Now that we have a lot of room, we would love to have visitors!  But be warned, there isn't a whole lot to do right in town.  You have to travel about 2 hours in any direction to find big attractions (Grand Canyon, Arches Nat'l Park)....but we would love to be a home base if you did want to do that! 

Asher refuses to eat unless he's sitting at the table with us, and since we don't have a booster seat, I had to use our waffle maker!

This is part of the elementary school playground.  There's another big playset behind me.  They have the best playground I've ever seen!  It's actually a lot better than any in Rexburg or the ones we went to in Orem.

My boys. :)

And here's a bonus video of Asher and David!