jarrodchap 2017, Uncategorized

Who inspires me at this program?- Jarrod

At this program i have learned so much, and all that knowledge came from Vicente. Without Vicente i wouldn’t have learned much about any culture. Every day, when Vicente talks to us, i am dragged in by his stories and the way he uses his words. He tells us stories and some cool little tricks that i didn’t even know about. He is also technically a living calculator with that nepoalzintzin (i don’t know how to spell it). Vicente’s knowledge is endless, when we were in a circle, i think he did a hummingbird call and then some hummingbirds actually arrived. I look up to Vicente because he takes his own time out of his day to teach us and tell us stories.

My legacy will be me helping the people going through depression, i feel like i should be out there telling my story. I want to talk to the youth and tell the story of depression, and how no one should go through that. I don’t know why i want to do this but i feel like i have to. No, not have to, need to, i really want to try and end depression.

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jarrodchap 2017

Back at Pizter – Jarrod

When we came back to Pitzer, we all went to a class where Ben Florio was. Ben taught us about how music can make a scene in a video game or movie can really affect the moment. We had a little exercise, where we would watch a video and try to imagine what type of music would be there to make the moment better. We watched some movie clips and listened to the music. The movie scene that i was confused about was the death of Doby, because everyone started laughing which confused me so much.

The next morning, i woke up pretty late and jogged down to the indigenous games so i can get to the blessing in time. We then played an actual game against each other, which taught me strategy and teamwork. Some parts of the games rules were confusing at first but i got it eventually. Some strategies were working and some failed but it taught me that strategy is the best weapon.

Way later, we had a talking circle where Vicente told us so many things that i have never really heard of. I don’t get taught much about culture, so i am glad to learn from someone that knows his culture and can teach me some of it. Then the men sang a song together to honor all the women. Again i am just glad to be here, without this program i don’t think i would ever learned anything about any culture.

jarrodchap 2017, Wishtoyo Village

Wishtoyo!!! – Jarrod

On the first day at Wishtoyo, we were greeted with a song by the Chumash people when we arrived. We hugged and introduced ourselves to each other. But right as i got out of the car I felt the energy of Wishtoyo and it felt so great. Later, we had some of the best food i have ever had in such a long time. After lunch, we had a little group that went to go learn some traditional archery, which was easy to pick up if you did it enough times. The traditional archery was way different than the type of archery we know today, you actually throw the arrow with some type of stick. I kind of sucked at aiming it but all i was good at was throwing it far.

On the second day at Wishtoyo, we woke up and we did the sunrise ceremony, which was something different than most things i have done. The thing i liked most, was the fact that we had a blessing for every meal. And again, the food was just great. Then the beach was great also, i went swimming and the waves just took me so many times, so much salt was in my nose and sand was everywhere. I was even turned into a beautiful sand mermaid. Later on that day, the men went to a sweat. I was one of the men who hasn’t done a sweat before, and that sweat took about three hours all together.

On the third day at Wishtoyo, our last day, we went to the beach. The waves at the beach were more common than the day before. Most of the group went surfing, while i stayed on the sand for most of the time. After we were done at the beach, we went back to the village to have lunch. We said how we felt about the last few days. And then had lunch, but after lunch we said our goodbyes. And we all got Wishtoyo shirts!! and we took a bunch of photos together. I am so glad that i was able to experience this program that has been teaching me so much.

 

jarrodchap Uncategorized

Jarrod’s Fifth Day

Today was a great day, just like every day i’ve been here. Today we did indigenous games, taught by John, and we learned about strategy. I felt the discipline, the unity and the strategy from the techniques. We did lots of running today, we kept formations during the runs. But later was probably my favorite part of the day, we walked out of our dorms and we walked toward the talking circle and I was a bit late but not too late. When i got there i thought to myself “How am i going to start this” I haven’t made baskets in such a long time. Last time I actually made a basket was in the seventh grade and it was at my school. I forgot the strategy of how to make the basket, so it felt good to actually do it again.  While making the basket, I had a pattern, starting with the light color and then going to dark in a pattern.  I love making baskets with a group because you can see how amazing others are at being creative. I would say that i made an alright looking basket, but I saw some amazing designs. I am still enjoying everyday while being here, being here makes me forget and be happy.

jarrodchap Uncategorized

Jarrod is Having an Awesome Time

I have been having a great time so far. I keep on getting closer to everybody but I don’t know everyone that well. I already feel like we are all a family. We have been going into the pool, learning Aztec math and just writing. We made a necklace out of soap stone. We also got closer together in the circle and I felt honored that they actually had the strength to tell things that would also be hard to talk about.I also learned about what happened to our ancestors hundreds of years ago. Today, we had a blessing in two separate groups, i haven’t really ever experienced anything like that. We also got to swim again but it was a smaller group that went swimming because everybody else went to town to get frozen yogurt. This morning was really great too, but we had fun, we played volleyball with a huge beach ball. I took my shoes off and placed on the grass. The connection with the ground made me feel much more connected to mother earth, because my feet started to dig into the ground, and every step i took while in the dance I was excited to see what we would do. When dancing i was turned around in most of the moves because everyone else would be going one way and then i would be going the other. The dancing really brought up my mood from being tired to feeling energized. I also learned that dancing was a big part of our culture, i don’t really know this kind of stuff because no one in my family has taught me anything about my culture. So i am thankful to be here and learn what i have been wanting to learn.

jarrodchap Uncategorized

Jarrod’s First Day

So far, I feel like i am going to have a ton of fun. The mentors here are really enthusiastic. I met new people, I’m not that good at meeting new friends, but i seem to be doing well so far on the first day. I had even got to hang out with some of my old friends from another college program from two years ago. My favorite part of the day is when we were in the theater and we were do the mirror game.