Since we’ve been back to the States we have been doing quite a few things. We arrived in NYC August 24th. A friend of ours picked up all our luggage before returning back to work. This enabled us to take the subway to visit some places I had been promising to show Joe.
One of the first places we went to was the north side of Central Park, then to my old elementary school: Cathedral School of St. John the Divine. Having gone to the school for almost 8 years I remembered the back entrance to the Cathedral so we got to take a quick personal tour.
Since we had been waiting around an airport for about four hours and then having just got off a 19 or so plane ride we were starving so after walking around the school grounds and checking out some of the sculptures and gardens we walked down a few blocks to 106th street and Amsterdam Avenue to Awash Ethiopian restaurant, one of my favorites when I lived in the area. Apparently it had grown in its popularity with many of the Columbia students because the place was jam packed.
From there we walked through Harlem to 125th Street to catch the upstate train to our friend’s house. I noted how much the area had changed. After all the traveling we got to the house at midnight. We fell right asleep.
We stayed in the city a few days visiting friends and then made our way to Niagara Falls. Since we have been here we have been going to Skaru:re’ language class every Monday and Thursday and beading class which started this past Tuesday! Plus Joe has been doing some work with the nation on Beaver Island which is near Grand Island about 30 minutes from Niagara Falls and the reservation.
One of his assignments is to monitor an archaeological site. Last Friday we met with the head of the project so he could walk us through the site. This past Wednesday I was able participate in the dig. It was my first time actually working on a site as opposed to just reading about one. The work is tedious, consisting of taking measurements, filling out forms, carefully lifting off layers of earth with a small trowel, picking out any traces of artifacts or animal remains then documenting them and placing them into a bag. The items found have been mostly bitage in the form of Onondaga chert flakes from the manufacture of arrow heads. Afterwards, the remaining soil is placed into a bucket and sifted through to gather any missed objects. The sequence goes on all day and will continue for another two months. Hopefully something significant will be found.

Photo exhibits

Disclaimer: Hi everyone, things have been a bit hectic as Joe and I came back to the State's last month and then had to take care of tons of things before and after the trip. I just wanted to share the last highlight of our trip with you all before going into our new adventures.

This entry is from August 6th, 2011 by Joe.

Today has made my trip to South Africa. Today was especially significant, because of what transpired this afternoon. Actually, I haven’t seen my wife this happy in a few weeks. I feel that her recent stress has revolved around the upcoming photo gallery exhibition with her participants and the significance of her activities with the youngsters.

The turnout at the Madiba’s Babies PEP exhibition was more than I expected and the reception from those who attended responded very well to the photos. As the day progressed I noticed the satisfaction of her work on this often difficult project. However, my day wasn’t so much focused on Fileve’s happiness, but also what Tatum and Natasha thought of this whole affair. They loved it. Both of them had smiles all afternoon. They did an awesome job talking to the attendees, the writers from the Gandhian, a South African magazine.

Back to Fi.

After the show we took the ladies to lunch. While we were there a new friend of ours from KwaMuhle museum found us and exulted the work. All he could say was "There's a book in this!" I think the girls liked that. Anyone, reading this who is interested in helping us produce a book please contact me!

Anyway, leaving South Africa was tough but we got to say good-bye to the majority of friends and family. It really hit me when I was sitting on the phone and had to turn off my phone. At that moment the tears came flowing. The plane was jam packed with American holiday makers and a few looked at me in wonder as if to say "She was just here on vacation, what is she crying for?" Well I really don't know what they were thinking but Joe comforted me as best he could.