NEWS FROM MAI

Travels to the USA on a YSEALI Scholarship

Dear everyone, 

This is my blog.

Culture and History, 

Native games and National Bison Range

“Time and tide can wait for no man”

​

“Amazing University in the bight morning”

Hello everybody, I’m Mai Chansamai RATTANASUVANNAPHON, from Luangprabang, Laos PDR.  

“Time and tide can’t wait for no man” Oh no! Unbelievable this is the last week for us to be in Missoula, Montana I gonna leave a charming, beautiful, peaceful, and friendly place. I wanna stop because I’m going to miss you so much. Especially, my friends and all gorgeous mentor.  

Today is one more day that I’m very happy and enjoy the scheduled activities.

First activity for today is to visit Culture and History of the confederated Indian Reservation Salish and Kootenai Tribes (People’s Center Museum). Since I was a child, I  have seen the movies about the people like Native Indian American. I didn’t even know who they were and where do they lived. But today I learn about their life and their culture. I was really surprised to see they collect all of the ancient material, traditional clothes and how they hunt animal as their food. The main language of Native American Indian is Salish. For Kootenai there are just a very few of people speak the language

  

“The Grizzly Bear catching the fish 

I'm scared !

 We move to Salish and Kootenai College Health Department for the Native Games and cultural Preservation. Professor Paul Philips lead us to play games. There are three game  stickball, double ball and running scream. We are separated in to two teams, women and men for the first game were chasing small ball and then shoot to the goal. “While we were playing the game, I chased the ball and everyone tried to chase the ball from me, but I gave it to Hyuen no one knew so they still ran after me” 5555 I tricked them, they all said I’m a dangerous girl. This game the men won. The second game was double ball. This game has two teams and the men and women are mixed. At the end of the game, I did it , I shot the double ball in to the goal….”Yeyyey! I can do it” and last game before lunch was running scream. 

All the games we did are part of their culture.

“Playing the stickball and double ball my team was the winner”

For our lunch today was rice soup with carrot, potato, and bison meat. In Laos, I ate buffalo meat quite hard, but bison meat is really soft and nice. In front of the college there is an eagle statute made by old cars. The people  believe that the spirit has been living in the statute so everyone must respect The people in the college all welcome YSEALI group. Teachers and students are really friendly they and serve us tasty ice cream.

Last activity for today, we continued to the National Bison Range. Bison Range is one of oldest wildlife refuges in the nation and it also an example of attempts a build a federal partnership under the  1994 tribal self- Governance.

 

“The real Bison”

It was impressive , when I saw the horn of the elk. It has a lots, in other countries, it may be  traded for sale, but here they collect everything. Bison and buffalo in my country are really different. It’s the first time of life to see  real bison. It was really wonderful day. While we were driving back to Missoula, I could never forget how beautiful the mountain was.

I’m falling in love Missoula, it is my second home. I want to stop the time! Feels like going to miss somethings in life.

​

 "The mission mountain.....I love the nature"

.