Meet the 2011 Navajo Oral History project students

I meant to post this information earlier this week. During the first class day in Arizona, I took photos of the Diné College members of our class, to go along with the pics of the WSU students I had taken while still in Winona.

We've been so busy, I forgot to post the new, updated roster of students.

As I mentioned earlier, each year I give a fun nickname to each of the WSU students participating in the journey. The nickname usually comes from a funny or slightly embarrassing event that happens during our adventure.

Nicknames awarded this year, so far:

Michael "SPF 1000" Ruka

Josh "Cover King" Averbeck

Molly "Sweet Molly Purebred" Golden

Robbie "Bob Jo" Christiano

Michael's nickname came from an unfortunate miscalculation of the power of the Arizona sun here in the higher altitude of the mountains.

Josh got his nickname after serving as "pod-jockey" in the van on a couple long drives, during which he played many cover versions of songs. (A cover is when an artist re-records a song by a different artist, and hopefully makes the new version different and more interesting than the original.)

Molly's nickname is a slightly obscure reference to the Underdog TV cartoon from the 1960s. Sweet Polly Purebred was the sweet and innocent, caring, helpful heroine in the show; always believing the best in others. It fits!

Robbie's nickname was given to him by his dad when he was a child -- a shortening of his given name: Robert Joseph. Last summer, Robbie and his dad did some concrete work at my house, and I heard the name "Bob Jo" called out frequently-- usually when something was needed quickly. Robbie has been a big help to me and others on this trip, so whenever we need his help, we call out "Bob Jo!"