Menlo Borderlands- Northern Arizona 2024

  Today we woke up in our luxurious cabins and ate a hearty breakfast at 8am. We then packed our bags and boarded the vans for a three hour drive to Pinon. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch and had a filling meal. After lunch, we completed our journey to Pinon. We were greeted at the farm in Pinon by our host, Roberto, who led us on a tour of the property. We explained the cultural and spiritual significance of the hogan we will be staying in, telling us about the matriarchal traditions of his culture. We then went on a walk where he explained the projects we will be working on during our time here, especially teaching us about the watershed and dry land farming. We learned a lot about his family and their history here and are excited to meet them over the weekend as well. For dinner we then enjoyed Navajo tacos, cooked by Roberto's mom Rena. Overall it was a great day to continue settling in. We are setting up camp now and looking forward to seeing the stars in an area ...

Watch the short video here .      Today we arrived at SFO at 11am excited to begin our travels. We flew for an hour and a half from SFO to PHX where we had an hour before our connection to Flagstaff. That flight was blissful and brief being 45 minutes long where we could see the landscape of the state. Upon arrival in Flagstaff we met Marcella and Lauren, our guides from Global Works, and drove to the cabins and hogan we are staying in here tonight. We spent the evening exploring the area, playing games, and orienting ourselves for our first full day tomorrow where we will transfer to Pinon. Everyone is doing well and we are excited to meet Roberto and his family there and learn more about the Navajo Nation! - Miki and Sienna

  Even though we are still in California, we thought it would be best to update you on what we did at school. Today, we focused on researching our topics: Political, cultural, economic/social, and sustainable. Each group explored numerous articles/websites to obtain as much information as possible on their subject, then, based on that, created a research question. These designated questions will help us determine what questions or notes we should take/ask when we arrive at the reservation. Following our discoveries, we will create a presentation based on what we learned. We would like to give you some insight into what the groups completed today. Nuria, Keira, Liam, and Mikki delved into the history of water rights. While Bianca, Sophie, Ethan, and Zander researched Diné art/culture throughout history and how certain legislation/restrictions affected their culture. Paige, Claire, Brad, and Daniel explored the US governmental impact on the Diné economy. Finally, Leotei, Sofia, Sienn...

     Today our group gathered for the first time and we discussed our personal and group goals and played games to get to know each other. We introduced the projects students will be presenting at the showcase upon our return and began work on that. We had a great brainstorming session about topics and essential questions for final projects and decided we will focus the four projects on sustainability, economics, social/political, and art/culture. We are excited to work more on the projects and prepare for departure tomorrow!  

  Borderlands Northern Arizona Students and Parents, Welcome to the final week of Spring semester and the beginning of Borderlands: Northern Arizona!   1. All Borderlands - Northern Arizona students should assemble on  Monday, 5/20, 9:00 am, beginning in the Stent Ballroom .  2. Students will depart for Northern Arizona on Wednesday, 5/22, mustering at  Ticketing / Departures, American Airlines 2124, Terminal 1, SFO, at 11:00 am . Please be prompt. See the  Northern Arizona Preparing to Go  guide for full flight itinerary and other details. 3. Final Showcase is Friday, 5/31, 11:00 am  - 12:00 pm in MFH .   -- Peter Brown Global Programs Director History Instructor 650-330-2001 x2238