It's been a crazy couple of days, from the never ending
delays at O'Hare airport (6 hours!) to the multitude of 5 hour drives, but it
was all worth it! I can't really complain about anything that has happened over
the past couple of days. The plane delays actually turned out to be quite
pleasant because a group of us were able to meet up and become quite close
before our journey even began. We bonded over whether munchkins are made from
the discarded centers of doughnuts. Please chime if you agree, Pious is not yet
a believer. On the ride towards Ezra's father's hogans, a 5 hour car ride
became a 5 hour bonding experience as well. Van People 4 Lyfe! The hike through
Monument Valley was one of the coolest things I've done in a long time. We
hiked 3.3 miles around the left “Hand of God” monument and got pictures from
every angle imaginable! A couple of times during the hike, we managed to have
everyone stay silent. There was such serene peace that accompanied the
silence.
Today we finally got to start volunteering at our sites and
I, along with Monika and Jeanna, got to be stationed at the Window Rock
Judicial Court(WRJC). The WRJC resides on the second floor of the Window Rock
Police Department. The building itself does not look very impressive but what
it contains is quite beautiful. The WRJC is full of dedicated, hardworking, and
extremely friendly people. Our
supervisor is the lone lawyer for the judicial court. She literally does
everything at the courthouse.
We learned a lot about how the Navajo legal system works and
it is really interesting to see the influence of Navajo culture on the legal
system. Their version of mediation is a lot less adversarial and almost always
ends with an agreement. These agreements are honored because of Navajo culture;
mediation generally occurs with every member of the family present so the
promises made are like promises to your family members and much less likely to
be broken. I can't wait to learn more about this beautiful culture!
Nan Chen
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