Santa Fe!
Wow. Yes, Santa Fe is spectacular. This is actually the oldest town in the United States, from the early 17th century when this was all a part of “New Spain” and Santa Fe was the capital of New Mexico.
New Mexico become an American state only in 1912, so you can imagine that the feel here is a bit different from, say, New Jersey. A weird and fascinating mix of Indians/Native Americans, “Caucasians” as they say here in the US (also as known as “white people”), Hispanic descendants of early settlers, more recent immigrants from Mexico, a few black people, occasional Asians.
I love the adobe architecture, which is used for almost all types of buildings here. Adobe = dried mud, and straw. The houses look like direct descendants of the dwellings of ancient Mesopotamia/today’s Iraq, for example Ur, with a splash of the Barbafamily’s house. Search for (”Santa Fe” and adobe”) on the Internet, and you’ll get an idea.
I haven’t really visited people in their homes, but judging from what the chichi boutiques in Santa Fe sell, they must all be filled to the brim by colorful textiles and expensive antiquities from New Mexico, Indonesia, and China…
Then there is the spectacular, mountaineous landscape..! My plan was to drive up in the mountains and visit an Indian pueblo, a traditional village, north of Taos which is a ski resort (there is still plenty of snow here, and quite cold!) - but of course I didn’t make it in time. I was merely hanging out having brunch at Rancho de Chimayo, and then it was too late for pueblos. Too bad, because they would have had Easter rituals and ceremonies yesterday.
But I did get to see a beautiful cemetary, north of Chimayo, featuring graves and tomb stones with Spanish names, lots of flowers, crosses, madonna sculptures, and the occasional American flag - located in a very muddy field on top of a ridge with a fabulous view over snow-clad mountains and valleys. (In case you didn’t know, I am a sucker for cemetaries.)
I will have to come back for pueblos, horse-riding, perhaps even skiing…and, yes, Santa Fe shopping! Or, it would be fun to live for some time with an American farmer family, perhaps on a ranch, to see what life is like there. I did check out one fairly remote village for that purpose…
A part of the road trip was quite different from the scenery mountain roads. On the way back, I checked out one of the casinos operated by Indians, next to the highway, and hang out with an 18-year old guy there working in the juice bar, amidst hundreds of casino machines and a permanent annoying sound. Very bizarre.
What about Easter? I went to a vigil on Saturday evening, in the beautiful San Francisco Cathedral of Santa Fe - packed with people and candles. Hours of songs and chants, and after the baptization we were all sprinkled with blessed water!
Now, I am leaving Santa Fe to travel southwards, towards Las Cruces. More to come.
Gunilla
