Thursday, June 17, 2010

Somewhere in MT

We've been so blessed this week with such generous host families inviting us into their homes. Sunday night, as I've mentioned in the last blog, we stayed with Curt's friend Kelti in Billings. Monday and Tuesday night we stayed with Maria, another one of Curt's friends from High School, and her lovely family in Hardin (I think that's where we were at least...). Maria walked the Northern Walk last summer and she joined us on Monday for a shift during the day. Her family has an amazingly beautiful home that is decorated with Native American pictures and all kinds of other Indian themed things. The walls are covered in wood panels, but a gorgeous wood that I've never seen before. It is very light colored with brown spots and is so smooth to touch! The wood used for the hand rails going up the stairs and the railings on the second floor looked like big tree branches, and they had other arrangements of these branches throughout the house. (I wish I could post pictures on this blog page to show what I mean because I'm really not giving this house the compliments it is due. I'll get pictures up online somewhere hopefully soon and then post a link so that you can all look at them!) The first night we had Indian tacos for dinner- which are basically fried dough (although more bread-y than any fried dough I've had, and much tastier) with regular taco toppings on top. You eat it by cutting it up and eating it with a fork. I would definitely recommend trying the fried dough as a substitute for hard shells. The second night we had elk and buffalo! The elk was offered in the form of steak and burgers. The burger was pretty tasty but the steak was delicious! It was marinated in soy sauce, which in my opinion could turn cow poop into a yummy meal, and it cooked medium rare- just how I like it! We asked if elk was easy to find in Montana (like if you could go find it in a grocery store or a butcher shop), and we were told that if you wanted to eat elk you pretty much have to go out and kill one or get some meat from a friend who hunts them. The buffalo was prepared in jerky form- like little bits of beef jerky, only buffalo. That was pretty tasty also, but I preferred the elk.

Last night we were invited by Fr Paschel of St. Labre's parish (and school) to stay the night in the rectory (I think that's what it's called...the place where the priest lives), which is in Ashland, MT located on the Indian reservation. He had a very nice little home a short distance from the parish, and there we cooked pizzas, ate ice cream, watched movies, and chatted with Father. The parish itself was unlike any I'd ever seen. The outside was shaped like a tee-pee (again, wish I could post pictures here!!) and the inside had stained glass panels located at very specific spots so that at different times of the day (sunrise, noon, sunset, etc) the light would shine through and illuminate different things inside the church, i.e. the tabernacle or the altar. Ribbons are very sacred to the Indians so much of the church was decorated with ones of different color, thickness, and length. The floors were simply made of gravel (you know, like those portions of sidewalks and roads, and often driveways, that are made of gravel and gray cement) and had no kneelers. If you wanted to kneel on a cushion you had to grab one from the back of the church. I personally like it when there aren't any kneelers (plus I got used to not having any at school!) because it is a reminder of the sufferings Christ took upon himself in his Passion. And the part of the mass during which we kneel is that which allows us to share in that Passion on the altar. Staying with Fr. Paschel was a real treat and we were sorry to leave Ashland and St. Labre's parish this morning.
Tonight we're somewhere near Broadus staying with a family of 6- 2 young boys and 4 girls, one is a baby. This is the first time we've stayed with a couple that has children! It's fun for us to be around kids (even though we're tired) and they are so excited to have 12 new people in their house!
I didn't walk today because I hurt my foot yesterday trying to stretch out the muscles around my shins. Something funky happened when I tucked my foot under to feel a stretch, and since then it's been a little swollen and really stiff. It feels much better today than yesterday, and icing it helps a lot...hopefully I'll be good to go by tomorrow, and, if not, at least by this weekend! Having an injured foot makes it difficult to walk across the country ; )
Well I've got to run off to bed, even though I slept most of the afternoon away today. Hugs and kisses and prayers and blessings!

PS we should be in South Dakota by tomorrow night...woo hoo!

2 comments:

  1. Hey Mimi! Aunt Brigid here. Finally catching onto your blog. Great stuff! I can only imagine how beautiful everything is that you are seeing AND how tasty everything is that you are eating!!! Wow! Figure out how to upload some pictures. Hope your foot is healing ok. Make sure you drink your shakes! Very happy for you. Love,

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  2. HEYYY wanna bring some of that buffalo jerky home for me?

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