Yesterday I had a surreal day.

I went with the Anthropology Department to Pendleton, OR where they are currently having the Pendleton Roundup, one of the area's largest rodeos. Specifically we went to see the Happy Canyon Pageant, which they claim is "The World's Most Unique Indian Pageant."

Now I have no way of knowing if this claim is true, for I have no clue as to what an indian pageant is and how others may compare to this one. I can be certain, however, that I have never really seen anything like this before.

On our way to Pendleton, we stopped at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, which is the interpretive center for the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes. It is a lovely place. I particularly like how the exhibits were juxtaposed by large windows that revealed the foothills of the Blue Mountains. The exhibit illustrates the way these people lived prior to contact with the settlers that came from the east. It continues to show how this contact changed their way of life, gradually at first and how with time these changes became more and more violent. It ends with a more optimistic perspective that in the future they will be able to maintain their heritage despite the difficulties they have had and continue to have.

The pageant began with the Native Americans illustrating the way they lived before the arrival of Lewis and Clark. Apparently this is a new addition and it echoed much of what was displayed at the cultural insitute. As the "white people" arrived, there were some violent clashes and then the "indians" suddenly disappeared. The rest of the show was a slapstick vision of the "Wild West", with a lot of songs (such as "Oh Susana" and "She'll be Coming around the Mountain"). It ended with a really bad teenaged singer singing "Happy Trails," "God Bless America," and the national anthem.

Prior to this I had seen many caricatures of "country folk" from the "wild west," but in the audience here and on the streets of Pendleton I was seeing them all around me. People were actually yelling "Yeehaw" and it was not in jest. People really got into the Oh Susana song by clapping and stomping their feet. On the streets there were vendors in trailers selling big hats, big belt buckles, cowboy boots, saddles, and God-knows what else.

It was certainly a cultural experience...definitely foreign.

It is bizarre because in the town here I have never seen anyone with a big hat or cowboy boots. And it is only an hour away. There are farmers here, many of them, but they are so different. They are soft-spoken and very inconspicuous.

I am still processing this experience in my head.

Of course it was made all the more strange by the fact that when we got back my frat-house neighbors were having a "foam party" and the streets near my house were covered with soap suds.

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In other news, I am getting a housemate. At least for a couple of months.

I have mixed feelings about this.

It makes sense because I have this huge house with a room that I never use. Moreover, even though the rent is not that much, some extra dollars saved will be put to good use paying down some of that student debt that I have acculmulated over the past several decades.

However, I has been a while since I lived with anyone other than Sara. I am quite fond of my privacy and my space. Having someone in it will be strange and maybe a little uncomfortable. Hmm...we'll see how it goes.