Wednesday Updates

White water rafting:
anticipation, freedom, awesome mountain views, white water rapids, learning experience, excitement, very cold water, God's awesome beauty, lots of Boy Scouts following behind in rafts, awesome power, smiles, laughter, British accents, Southern "drawl", Australian accents, great guides, Very Fun! Let's do it again with more "white water"!

Regards,
Rob

Hey! It's Liann! :) Tonight we went to a play called "Unto These Hills". It was the tragic tale of the Trail of Tears. It told the story through songs and Cherokee dances. Tsali was a very heroic and brave leader who gave his own life to save the lives of his own people. "Unto These Hills" started out with a song and the Corn Mother and her husband who showed us early Cherokee life. Tecumseh comes to all the Cherokee people, asking them to join in a war against the white men. After a Cherokee leader saved his life, Andrew Jackson later betrays the Cherokee. Along the Trail of Tears, 4,000 people lost their lives. We were told that today, the Cherokee have over 13,000 people. :) This performance was filled with music and colorful costumes! :)

Hi! Mrs. W here...a few of us enjoyed discovering some more Cherokee culture at the Oconaluftee Indian Village. Highlights were watching social (as opposed to war) dancing...The Quail, The Corn, and our favorite, The Bear (grrrrrr.) The gals enjoyed hearing how the women were quite influential in the tribe...even deciding when they went to war. We learned that the Eternal Flame, the center of Cherokee life, was carried to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears...in the 1960's, part of that flame was returned to NC and we saw it on display, burning outside the theatre.