Thursday, June 9, 2016
Day 3 and Day 4
Monday, June 6, 2016
Day 1 and Day 2
June 5, 2016-Day 1
Today was eventful to say the least! From Lisa locking the keys in the van to our very scary detour to the blazing, sparking truck on the highway, it was surely a trip to remember, and it was only the first day!
After waking up at 4am, I was almost ready to leave when I received a message on Facebook. It was Lisa, and the van keys were locked in the van in her driveway, along with her cell phone. I sent out the message to our group that we would be delayed in leaving. Lisa used her connections and got the truck unlocked quickly. Although we were 45 minutes behind, we were still good to go. If this was the worst thing to happen this week, we'd be good!
The drive was fairly uneventful at first. After navigating for a few hours, it was my turn to drive. I took over for about 2 hours, until it was time to stop for lunch. A 15 passenger conversion van is not the funnest thing to drive, but I didn't kill us, so that was a plus! After Lisa took back over, the GPS started to give us messages that we would be coming up on traffic that would delay us for an hour or more. We decided to listen to her and took the detour. Bad idea! The road she took us to was 10 miles of sheer terror! Narrow, winding, with one lane bridges littered throughout, I was just thankful not be driving! But my view of the drop off mere feet from the edge of the road was terrifying. We made it, thanks to our fearless leader and awesome driver. Once we got back to a more main road, we could see the traffic backed up on the highway as we followed along parallel to it and reentered the highway past the backup. We figured we were good, until a while later traffic started to slow again and we could see black smoke rising ahead of us. Once we got closer, we could see a truck on the left shoulder with flames shooting out of it. Next thing we knew, it was engulfed in flames as we approached. EMS was just arriving on the scene. There was a truck stopped on the opposite shoulder with 2 men and a dog sitting behind it watching the fire, so we hope that one of them was the driver and that he is OK. Once past that, it was smooth sailing to our first destination, dinner in Waynesville, NC. After a delicious Italian meal, we finished our day by driving to our cabin.
Here's the thing about the cabin. It is on a mountain and all of the directions state to arrive before dark due to that windy gravel road and VERY steep driveway. Our original plan had us arriving about 7pm, but all of the delays got us here around 9, in the dark. We got to the bottom of the driveway, Lisa put the van in first and gunned it. We got to the top and had to stop very quickly to avoid driving over the AC units and down a cliff. Some jokester had put a sign on the AC that just says "WHOA"!
After unpacking the packed to the gills van, it was time to crash. Sleep did not come easy, but I got there eventually.
June 6, 2016-Day 2
Up at 6 am, to the Cherokee Indian Hospital by 730 for orientation. The hospital is brand new and absolutely beautiful. When you turn into the drive, there is a cliff side with a waterfall. I couldn't believe it was a hospital! We spent the first hour or 2 watching orientation videos (heart, head, heart sandwich! Google it!), then took a tour. The hospital is immersed in the culture of the Cherokee. All of the decorations displayed have a meaning and link back to the rich history and traditions of the Cherokee. From the beautiful water spider inlaid mosaic tile floor to the masks of the various clans, every piece was picked for a reason. Have I mentioned the views? The hospital sits in a valley in the Great Smokey Mountains, surrounded by lush green hills and ridges. All of the patient rooms have breathtaking views. The hospital is small, only 20 inpatient beds, but has everything the community needs: an ER, dental clinic, pharmacy, prenatal clinic, PT, plus more. Plans for the future include inpatient detox and outpatient behavioral health, possibly an ICU and Labor and Delivery, and an on-site simulation and education center. The wonderful nurse educator, Kayla, sat and answered all of our questions about the tribe, the hospital, the community and the culture.
After lunch at Kayla's favorite Mexican restaurant, we headed to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and my absolute favorite part of the day, meeting Mr. Jerry Wolfe, respected and revered elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Mr. Wolfe is 92 years young, born in 1924. He served in the US Navy during World War 2 (just like my PaPa) and was at Normandy on D-Day, 72 years ago today. We had the honor to sit with Mr. Wolfe for an hour as he told us stories of his people and his time in the Navy. My favorite story was the story of how the chipmunk got his black stripes. One day, the animals of the forest had a meeting, they needed to discuss how the humans were coming into their forest and killing them. The big bear was the leader, and wanted to stop this from happening. The tiny chipmunk listened attentively as the bigger animals, those who tended to be the victims of the humans, discussed their problems. Then the chipmunk spoke up. He said that the humans don't eat chipmunks, and that the humans were killing the animals in order to feed their families. This did not make the bear happy. Bear picked up the chipmunk and raked his claws down the chipmunk's back, giving the chipmunk the black stripes he has "to this day."
After spending time with Mr. Wolfe, we toured the museum. It is full of artifacts and stories from the Cherokee culture. These proud and noble people existed in peace until the white man came to their lands and decided that the Cherokee could not live there anymore. Most of the tribe was moved to Oklahoma along the "Trail of Tears." Those that refused to leave hid in the mountains and formed the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This part of their story angers and saddens me. Over and over in the history of man are stories of humans doing horrible and unspeakable things to other humans, from genocide to slavery to taking over land that belongs to others. A quote on the wall of the museum that stuck with me was about how the bible is a good book, and if the white man has had it for so long, how come they could not follow it's doctrine. This is something I wonder all the time as I hear about how awful people continue to be to each other, still killing, still taking, still hurting. If God exists, he does not want us to fight or be awful to each other, neither in his name or for other reasons. People were given free will to be themselves, to believe what they want, and we need to respect that we are a diverse species. Not everyone is going to get along, but we can live together in peace. Today was a day of reflection and thought for me. I was able to examine my own culture and know that I will continue to strive to have awareness of others and their beliefs, and be respectful of whatever others choose to believe, whether I agree or not, just as I hope others do to me.
After the museum, we spent a little time exploring the shops around Cherokee. I was able to get some souvenirs for my family. Then it was back to the cabin where I was on dinner duty with Julia and Shawanda. Dinner was great, everyone liked it, and now here I am. It is time for bed, tomorrow we will actually be observing patient care at the hospital. After that, we will be attending "Unto These Hills", an outdoor drama performed by member of the Cherokee nation. I can't wait to spend more time immersed in this amazing culture!
Pictures to come!
Today was eventful to say the least! From Lisa locking the keys in the van to our very scary detour to the blazing, sparking truck on the highway, it was surely a trip to remember, and it was only the first day!
After waking up at 4am, I was almost ready to leave when I received a message on Facebook. It was Lisa, and the van keys were locked in the van in her driveway, along with her cell phone. I sent out the message to our group that we would be delayed in leaving. Lisa used her connections and got the truck unlocked quickly. Although we were 45 minutes behind, we were still good to go. If this was the worst thing to happen this week, we'd be good!
The drive was fairly uneventful at first. After navigating for a few hours, it was my turn to drive. I took over for about 2 hours, until it was time to stop for lunch. A 15 passenger conversion van is not the funnest thing to drive, but I didn't kill us, so that was a plus! After Lisa took back over, the GPS started to give us messages that we would be coming up on traffic that would delay us for an hour or more. We decided to listen to her and took the detour. Bad idea! The road she took us to was 10 miles of sheer terror! Narrow, winding, with one lane bridges littered throughout, I was just thankful not be driving! But my view of the drop off mere feet from the edge of the road was terrifying. We made it, thanks to our fearless leader and awesome driver. Once we got back to a more main road, we could see the traffic backed up on the highway as we followed along parallel to it and reentered the highway past the backup. We figured we were good, until a while later traffic started to slow again and we could see black smoke rising ahead of us. Once we got closer, we could see a truck on the left shoulder with flames shooting out of it. Next thing we knew, it was engulfed in flames as we approached. EMS was just arriving on the scene. There was a truck stopped on the opposite shoulder with 2 men and a dog sitting behind it watching the fire, so we hope that one of them was the driver and that he is OK. Once past that, it was smooth sailing to our first destination, dinner in Waynesville, NC. After a delicious Italian meal, we finished our day by driving to our cabin.
Here's the thing about the cabin. It is on a mountain and all of the directions state to arrive before dark due to that windy gravel road and VERY steep driveway. Our original plan had us arriving about 7pm, but all of the delays got us here around 9, in the dark. We got to the bottom of the driveway, Lisa put the van in first and gunned it. We got to the top and had to stop very quickly to avoid driving over the AC units and down a cliff. Some jokester had put a sign on the AC that just says "WHOA"!
After unpacking the packed to the gills van, it was time to crash. Sleep did not come easy, but I got there eventually.
June 6, 2016-Day 2
Up at 6 am, to the Cherokee Indian Hospital by 730 for orientation. The hospital is brand new and absolutely beautiful. When you turn into the drive, there is a cliff side with a waterfall. I couldn't believe it was a hospital! We spent the first hour or 2 watching orientation videos (heart, head, heart sandwich! Google it!), then took a tour. The hospital is immersed in the culture of the Cherokee. All of the decorations displayed have a meaning and link back to the rich history and traditions of the Cherokee. From the beautiful water spider inlaid mosaic tile floor to the masks of the various clans, every piece was picked for a reason. Have I mentioned the views? The hospital sits in a valley in the Great Smokey Mountains, surrounded by lush green hills and ridges. All of the patient rooms have breathtaking views. The hospital is small, only 20 inpatient beds, but has everything the community needs: an ER, dental clinic, pharmacy, prenatal clinic, PT, plus more. Plans for the future include inpatient detox and outpatient behavioral health, possibly an ICU and Labor and Delivery, and an on-site simulation and education center. The wonderful nurse educator, Kayla, sat and answered all of our questions about the tribe, the hospital, the community and the culture.
After lunch at Kayla's favorite Mexican restaurant, we headed to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and my absolute favorite part of the day, meeting Mr. Jerry Wolfe, respected and revered elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Mr. Wolfe is 92 years young, born in 1924. He served in the US Navy during World War 2 (just like my PaPa) and was at Normandy on D-Day, 72 years ago today. We had the honor to sit with Mr. Wolfe for an hour as he told us stories of his people and his time in the Navy. My favorite story was the story of how the chipmunk got his black stripes. One day, the animals of the forest had a meeting, they needed to discuss how the humans were coming into their forest and killing them. The big bear was the leader, and wanted to stop this from happening. The tiny chipmunk listened attentively as the bigger animals, those who tended to be the victims of the humans, discussed their problems. Then the chipmunk spoke up. He said that the humans don't eat chipmunks, and that the humans were killing the animals in order to feed their families. This did not make the bear happy. Bear picked up the chipmunk and raked his claws down the chipmunk's back, giving the chipmunk the black stripes he has "to this day."
After spending time with Mr. Wolfe, we toured the museum. It is full of artifacts and stories from the Cherokee culture. These proud and noble people existed in peace until the white man came to their lands and decided that the Cherokee could not live there anymore. Most of the tribe was moved to Oklahoma along the "Trail of Tears." Those that refused to leave hid in the mountains and formed the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This part of their story angers and saddens me. Over and over in the history of man are stories of humans doing horrible and unspeakable things to other humans, from genocide to slavery to taking over land that belongs to others. A quote on the wall of the museum that stuck with me was about how the bible is a good book, and if the white man has had it for so long, how come they could not follow it's doctrine. This is something I wonder all the time as I hear about how awful people continue to be to each other, still killing, still taking, still hurting. If God exists, he does not want us to fight or be awful to each other, neither in his name or for other reasons. People were given free will to be themselves, to believe what they want, and we need to respect that we are a diverse species. Not everyone is going to get along, but we can live together in peace. Today was a day of reflection and thought for me. I was able to examine my own culture and know that I will continue to strive to have awareness of others and their beliefs, and be respectful of whatever others choose to believe, whether I agree or not, just as I hope others do to me.
After the museum, we spent a little time exploring the shops around Cherokee. I was able to get some souvenirs for my family. Then it was back to the cabin where I was on dinner duty with Julia and Shawanda. Dinner was great, everyone liked it, and now here I am. It is time for bed, tomorrow we will actually be observing patient care at the hospital. After that, we will be attending "Unto These Hills", an outdoor drama performed by member of the Cherokee nation. I can't wait to spend more time immersed in this amazing culture!
Pictures to come!
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