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Published: April 23rd 2009
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I parted from my two friends on February 15th. Anahi returned to Venezuela and I proceeded on to New Mexico. Since the 1970’s when I discovered the artist Georgia O’Keefe, I have cherished a desire to see New Mexico. My interest in Native American culture since I was little has fuelled this desire, as many Indian pueblos still exist and function, albeit in quite a different form from the ancient ways. Thus, was I drawn to the stunning landscape and rich and deep culture of New Mexico, and being relatively nearby in Mexico, I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to visit for a while.
In all I spent about 10 days in New Mexico, arriving first in Albuquerque where the international airport is. I had forgotten just what a car culture North America is. Thus, getting around without a car (I didn’t even have my driving license with me in order to rent one) proved quite a challenge and I spent a fair amount of time waiting for buses, particularly in Albuquerque where buses seem to run only about every 30 or 40 minutes.
The historic centre of Albuquerque is an attractive complex of narrow streets and
adobe buildings. There are countless shops selling Native American art, and I quickly became overwhelmed at the amount, as also with the prices. Native American crafts and art have become highly collectible and thus the galleries selling such work are really quite up-market and expensive. There are other cheaper souvenir shops where a fair proportion of the work on sale actually comes from China or Mexico, but the real thing - such as Navajo pottery - is expensive, but very beautiful. On one side of the plaza here, as also in Santa Fe, local Native Americans come to sell their own handicrafts, mostly jewellery. Here the prices are quite a bit cheaper than in the shops and it is always so much more interesting to buy from the artist directly and hear, for example, what the symbols used in the work mean and what materials are used.
After a day exploring this historic centre and learning that I would not be able to visit any of the outlying Indian pueblos due to lack of transport, I left the following day for Santa Fe. Here the galleries selling mostly Native American work are even more up-market. Galleries selling other contemporary art
also abound and in general it is a very attractive town, with almost all buildings built in the New Mexico style of adobe. My own house in Bolivia is built with adobe (mud and straw) bricks, but the architectural style is quite different. Walls here in New Mexico tend to be rounded at the corners; they are generally low and with flat roofs. The strange anomaly is that adobe is a relatively cheap method of building and yet most of the Native Americans on their reservations live in mobile home type houses without any insulation. Adobe is one of the best building methods for conserving heat in winter and keeping houses cool in summer. I felt it would be so much better if the native peoples of this part of the country could also have this type of house.
From Santa Fe I took a free bus which runs from the Indian Hospital via several casinos, which lie on Indian land, to Taos - a beautiful small town higher up and closer to the mountains which, at that time of year, were covered in snow. Taos is lovely and is home to some exceptionally progressive ways of living. The
best known of such projects is the one called Taos Earthships (www.taosearthships.com). Regrettably, once again I was not able to go and see any of them, not having a car, but from all I heard, they are amazing. I have to say that throughout this trip I met some noble and heroic Americans who are doing all they can to make this a better world to live in and who are coping in some creative and compassionate ways with the changes and challenges our contemporary world is posing. In Santa Fe, I and a few other guests at the excellent International Hostel in SF went to the gallery of photographer Lisa Kristine (www.lisakristine.com). There we saw an impressive and moving collection of portraits of people from all around the world. Within the gallery was a small theatre showing two DVDs of Lisa, talking about and showing a range of her photos. She talks in one film of her dedication to showing the peoples of the world, individuals like any of us, to the American people who historically have been really quite insular in their relationship to people from elsewhere (the last bit my words, not hers). After meeting some exceptional
people, particularly at that hostel, I felt that a book or DVD that did the opposite - i.e. show the world some of the heroic and compassionate Americans - would be a good idea, for the current view of America and Americans in other parts of the world right now is not too positive.
In Taos I enjoyed watching some Aztec dancers in the plaza - Mexicans from all around the States and Mexico - who had come to celebrate the 509th anniversary of someone called Cuauhtémoc. (I later discovered that he was one of the last Aztec rulers). Their costumes were amazing and most wore many very beautiful feathers. They were celebrating from sunrise to sunset and many had not slept at all the night before. I was not allowed to photograph the dancing itself, as it is too sacred, but took quite a few of the dancers while relaxing between dances.
While watching, I chatted to a local Native American from the nearby Taos Pueblo. This is the most beautiful and historic of all the New Mexico Indian pueblos, dating more than 1,000 years. Sadly, it was closed while I was there for they too had
their ceremonies to celebrate, but it was interesting to chat to this man who confessed to the difficulty of trying to live the old ways alongside the new. I also met and chatted for a long time with local artist, Pat Woodall, whose colourful paintings of local scenes I liked very much (www.patwoodall.com).
Returning to Santa Fe, I had to go and pay homage to the artist whose work had originally inspired me to make this trip and spent the morning at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum where, alongside a selection of her work, one could watch two or three DVDs about her life. My last two days were spent in the excellent company of a couple of couch surfers (www.couchsurfing.com). Though I had had some trouble registering as a couch surfer myself, my Mexican friend Elena made the contact for me with Aysha and David and I was so grateful that she did. Aysha had long been a member of Servas, the organization that started after the war in order to establish a network of peace activists around the world. Later, once the internet took off, a small group of young people decided to set up something similar and
now there are couch surfers offering accommodation to other like-minded travelers in more than 230 countries and currently they have more than a million members. They say that they “do their individual and collective parts to make the world a better place.. by creating educational exchanges, raising collective consciousness, spreading tolerance and facilitating cultural understanding.”
Though I didn’t do many of the things I had hoped to do, by the time my visit to New Mexico was finished, it really didn’t seem to matter. What had enriched it beyond expectation were the people I met. New Mexicans in general are extremely friendly and helpful. I often had long chats in shops with artists or shop assistants and, whether I bought anything or not, it didn’t matter; a connection had been made. And, though I did not get out into the landscape much, it seemed I felt it, and I loved the huge skies, the wide open sunrises and sunsets, the clear dry air and the sense of its history everywhere.
Returning back to Bolivia through Guadalajara, I stocked up on Mexican blankets and other crafts in the excellent market, San Juan de Dios, where the prices are among
the best in Mexico and the array of things to buy is vast. For some things Mexico is actually cheaper than Bolivia, so is excellent value for any traveler as it has so very much to offer.
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