Osiyo ("hello" in Cherokee), how is everyone doing? It has been a while since I have blogged and that was on my campaign blog. My life has changed drastically since the beginning of last year.
I spent an entire year trying to get elected and coming up one half of one percent short--disappointing to say the least. I lost my job as a highway engineer with HMB Professional Engineers on Halloween and found myself on unemployment for a while.
I have to say, though, that these experiences have made me stronger and happier now. I received a phone call from the engineering company that I originally wanted to work for when I got out of college (Presnell Design Group) and they were interested in me. After talking with them over lunch one day, they decided to hire me to perform highway design work.
It is a relief to do something in which I have some experience. Also, this company is Native American owned so we do much of our design work for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs).
I have always had a connection with my Native American roots since I found out about them, but now I feel even more connected. One of my co-workers is very into the Native heritage and so it allows me to talk with someone about it.
Recently, I began learning the Cherokee language. It is difficult because it is so different from English but I am catching on quickly. I am glad that I had some Spanish before trying to learn this because the pronunciations are similar to Spanish; however, the rest of the language is completely different.
The Cherokee alphabet has 85 characters and I have learned 6o+ characters quickly but have a mental block on some of the others for some reason. It is interesting to note that the Cherokee language does not have R's so they do not say Cherokee--it is said tsa-la-gi (chaw-la-gee).
Well, I better go for now. Wado (Thank you) for reading.
