Tuesday, November 12, 2013


This past weekend, on Friday we went the Bisti’ wilderness area and then to a Navajo rug auction. Then on Saturday we went to various places to shop and then horseback-riding at Canyon De Chelly. Phew. For Bisti’ we parked in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and headed down a pretty flat area with rock formations around it. Nothing was especially interesting at first and we weren’t really sure what to expect. But before long we came to an area full of rock formations called hoodoos which look like a lean tall rock with a flat rock balancing on top of it. It honestly looked like we were on another planet. It’s amazing that there are places on this earth that you can’t even imagine; every single time I think I’ve kind of got the gist of what the world around me looks like I’m proven very wrong. Our teacher, Mr. De Young showed us places where millions of years old petrified wood was with the trunk still intact. We talked about how the trees fell in the same direction and so there was some type of event that made them fall down at the same time. Probably Aliens. He also showed us where dinosaur bones were sticking out of the ground.  I guess I always assumed that all the dinosaur bones that people found were dug up, but here the bones were right in front of me relatively undisturbed for millions of years. We found remnants of clams from when there was once water in the area as well as pieces of turtle shells. In just a few hours there was so much history to take in. We took some time to just relax and enjoy the silence, the blue sky, and the beautiful rocks all around us.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Afterwards we went to the rug auction for a couple of hours. The Navajo rugs were absolutely beautiful. They had all kinds of intricate patterns or even pictures of animals or people. Even a relatively small rug could take a couple of months to make, yet would only go for about a hundred dollars at the auction. That means that they are getting only a few cents per hour of work. Some rugs wouldn’t even sell. It was sad seeing such beautiful art not being recognized, especially since Navajo weaving is a dying art form. I think in our culture we’ve gotten so used to things being mass produced and cheap that we don’t realize when something is actually worth paying more money for. It’s definitely something I need to be more conscious of as I get souvenirs when I travel.

I guess that’s all I have to say for now. We did other awesome things over the weekend but I've save those stories for when we come back. Everything is great here and we will be beyond sad to leave in a few short weeks.



Majestic Grand Canyon squirrel