Today was a great day! We got to the Public Health Nursing trailer about 8 am and made sure our first aid kits were good to go and made sure that the other various supplies that were donated got to the right place. About 9:30 we headed to the Elder Fair. This fair was held for all of the Native American elders in Kayenta and nearby communities. When we got there we set up a tent and table for our first aid kits and education. Setting up a tent usually isn’t a problem, but in the middle of the desert with strong winds and blowing sand it becomes a lot more challenging. It all worked out however and we had a great turnout! We passed out our kits and told them a little bit about what was inside and what was included in the first aid pamphlets that we made. We also worked with others who were part of the Public Health Education in Kayenta. They provided education on sun safety, HIV, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and the importance of immunizing and spaying/neutering your pets. It was really cool to see how interested the Navajo were to learn about these topics. They were asking questions and paying close attention to the teaching that was being done. It was awesome, because sometimes I feel like people back home don’t give you the time of the day when you’re providing health education. They simply grab whatever is free and walk away. We passed out about 100 first aid kits, so we have about 100 left for another event. At our tent we were also passing out handheld fans because it’s very hot here. Well, one of the older Indian men that we were talking to decided to spank me with it….hahahaha there’s never a dull moment in my life. During the elder fair, we also had the opportunity to witness some traditional dancing and singing. What an amazing experience! It was really cute to see some of the older individuals get up and dance around in a circle, arms linked with a partner. And to see all the beautiful turquoise worn by the women!! Wow! These women don’t save their jewelry to wear on special occasions; they wear it everyday! I was once again able to meet and talk with a lot of wonderful people and also have the chance to have my picture taken with one of the women elders (which isn’t a common occurrence as they do not like to be photographed). After the fair we headed to the flea market that happens once a week on Wednesday. They had many food stands and vendors selling jewelry, blankets, rugs, pottery, and many other things. I couldn’t decide what to eat at first so I bought some fry bread to start. Fry bread is similar to an elephant ear but without the sugar. It’s very good! I finally decided that I wanted to get food from the Mexican food truck. I had three enchiladas with rice and beans. It was very authentic and also delicious! We walked around the market and looked at everything being sold. I decided to buy a few things, including a bag of fresh yummy California cherries! However, the longer we stayed, the worse the winds got and being in an open field in the desert with whipping sand is not an ideal place to be. Many of the vendors were starting to leave and so we decided to head home. We will have the opportunity to go again next Wednesday so hopefully it won’t be as windy and more vendors will be there. We got done fairly early today about 2:30 so that we could work on our Community Assessment Project that we have to do while we’re here. We had our professor over for dinner, which we thought for a while might end up in failure when we tried to cook brown rice at this very high elevation (5,641 feet above sea level). Haha it took almost an hour to cook it! Lesson learned. After dinner we took a walk through the compound and adventured out a little ways up toward “The Toes” which is a rock formation basically in our backyard. We plan on hiking to the top of them on one of our less busy nights and watching the sunset. On our walk we saw horses, cacti, desert flowers, and some interesting desert bugs. The most interesting one that we saw looked like a giant spider, but we looked it up and it’s called a Jerusalem Cricket. As you all are well aware of the way I feel about insects, I wasn’t too thrilled. Lol. Now I’m home and in bed preparing for another eventful day. Tomorrow I will be making home visits with Mary, one of the two public health nurses here in Kayenta. I’m not sure who we will be visiting but I’m sure it will be a great experience. After that we will be heading to a place near Monument Valley and Mexican Hat to help with another “Just Move It” walk. We have heard this one will be a little bit hotter than Tuesday’s since it is down in between the rocks, but we also heard that it is extremely gorgeous! We’re all looking forward to it. Thanks for reading!