Northern New Mexico

Over the last two weeks, I have settled down at UNM (despite the daily near-death experiences when rogue cyclists and skateboarders whizz past too close for comfort) and become accustomed to my classes and US life in general. There are many things I notice that are very different to the UK even in terms of general mannerisms, such as the use of the friendly-but-insincere greeting 'Hi, how are you?' which is always reciprocated with 'good, how are you?' I prefer to try and sound a little more genuine and use adjectives than go beyond just 'good'. There have been certain other cultural quirks, such as the frequent muddling of the words 'English' and 'British' (I would love to witness the reaction of a Welshman, Scotsman or Northern Irishman when told in no uncertain terms that they are English!) On the subject of Britishness, one of my teachers has advised me to explain away my foreign accent when interacting with locals by suggesting that I come from Moriarty (a small town about thirty miles east of Albuquerque!) Perhaps one of the strangest examples of a cultural mishap was my discovery that the table football set contained no fewer than thirteen players, prompting my suggestion that it had to be based on rugby league, since no other sport to my knowledge has that number of competitors!

The bizarre twenty-six man table football
(photo: A. Khoja)

The cultural gulf between the UK and the USA was nowhere more apparent than at the baseball match I attended with my friends last week. We watched the Albuquerque Isotopes (named after the team from Springfield in 'The Simpsons' as a result of a 2002 competition) play the Texan team Round Rock Express in the Pacific Coast League, one tier below Major League Baseball. The national anthem was played before the game started, at which point everything in the stadium stopped for two minutes while the anthem was sung, before the entire crowd burst into cheering and applause - not something I had ever encountered before following the playing of 'God Save the Queen'. The between-innings entertainment was a madcap assortment of random activities (largely involving spectators dressed as burritos), whilst the actual match itself was somewhat lacking in excitement. Only two runs were scored during the ten innings, forcing the match into overtime, during which the Isotopes were able to smuggle a player round to take a 2-1 victory. The most important lesson learned was never to buy tickets to watch the Isotopes play, because there were hordes of people giving away unwanted tickets to fortunate visitors. Unfortunately the chance will not come again because the baseball season has now ended, restarting in April, which was one of the reasons for going when we did!

International crowd with famous Isotopes fan Homer Simpson

Isotopes (in black) batting

Victory celebrations for the home side

The following weekend coincided with the Labor Day holiday, equivalent to May Day in the UK. This meant that the Global Education Office organised a three-day trip to the north of the state, which presented a fantastic opportunity to escape Albuquerque and do some exploring!

The first stop was the state capital, Santa Fe, widely acknowledged as a significant arts centre, not just within the state, but within the entire country too. Here, I had the chance to walk around the state capitol building, and then the group moved on to the San Miguel Mission, which dates to the early 17th century and is the oldest church in the USA. This was an intriguing blend of traditional American and colonial Spanish, as it featured adobe architecture and was built atop a native kiva (a form of religious building), but also incorporated an altar screen featuring figures ranging from Christ and the Virgin Mary to King Louis IX of France.

San Miguel Mission, oldest church in the USA

Image of the crucifixion on a cow hide

Interior of the tiny church

We were then able to wander around the city, including the extensive market in the centre, as well as visit the New Mexico History Museum, which featured exhibits on everything from pre-conquest native history to the age of nuclear testing in the 1950s and contemporary New Mexico. The Santa Fe market outside in the plaza was a vibrant and colourful display of all things native and New Mexican, selling everything from locally produced art and traditional bead necklaces to an assortment of spicy southwestern foods. The next stop after leaving Santa Fe was a lay-by where the coach gave us ten minutes to admire the view from the highway across to the impressive Rio Grande Gorge in the distance. From there it was on to the town of Taos, in which we briefly entered the Harwood Museum of Art to admire more paintings, both traditional and modern, that represented the southwestern art movement.

Chillies drying in the Santa Fe plaza

View across State Road 68 to the Rio Grande Gorge

My friend Achraf gets to grips with local art in Taos

The day ended at the superbly named Abominable Snowmansion in Arroyo Seco ('dry creek'), just north of Taos. This was to be our accommodation for the weekend, and after unpacking and getting settled, I realised that in addition to the internal bunk beds were three teepees to the back of the building. Not wishing to miss out on the opportunity to sleep in the traditional style*, I immediately upped sticks and relocated myself to a bed in a teepee! The evening was spent in true cub scout fashion, melting marshmallows over a campfire, before I settled down to sleep in the teepee.

*Teepees are traditional native dwellings, but were used by the Plains Indians (such as the Lakota, Cheyenne and Sioux) living in the Midwest. The natives of New Mexico (such as the Pueblo, Navajo and Apache) never used teepees, instead residing in mud brick dwellings.

My teepee, with a wigwam in the background

I awoke at 0515 and suddenly realised I was cold. I never normally sleep soundly in tents, but the teepee and my bed's many blankets kept me thoroughly snug all night until the moment I rose from my slumber. Outside, the moon was still visible, but once inside the hostel, there was an atmosphere of hustle and bustle, making porridge for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, and preparing to leave for the mountains. Everyone on the trip was to go on a hike in the Taos ski valley area, but the majority were still asleep as I was one of a group of eight heading off early so as to make the summit of Wheeler Peak, New Mexico's highest mountain and the USA's 99th. When everyone was ready, we drove to the Taos ski base and then set off on the eight-mile ascent of the mountain at 0700.

Early morning light over the mountains

A rather bold bighorn sheep

Group of bighorn sheep looking down to the group

Along the way, we encountered a handful of fellow early-morning risers, and within a short time had cleared the tree line. Once above the tree line, the landscape was uncannily reminiscent of the Scottish highlands, although the frequent barks from the local marmots indicated that it was a far cry from the Caledonian hills. The largest animals we saw were bighorn sheep, who were relatively unperturbed by our presence, and one individual came within twenty or thirty metres of the group during a food break! Time flew as we continued the climb, and at 1100, we reached the small cairn and large group of climbers that marked the 4,013 metre summit of Wheeler Peak. This vantage point offered spectacular vistas of the mountainous landscape, and here we enjoyed a very well-earned lunch on top of New Mexico, and 650 metres above Williams Lake, the eventual destination of all the others in the main group!

Horseshoe Lake seen from the ridge close to the summit

The final approach to Wheeler Peak

The eight intrepid explorers at the summit!

The UK's summit representative!

The view east from Wheeler Peak

After an hour-long break at the peak, it was time to make the journey down the west face of the mountain towards Williams Lake. I could well have spent a day camped out on the summit, partly because it was the first time to my knowledge that I have climbed to over 3,000 metres, but also because Wheeler Peak is significantly higher (three times) than the UK's highest mountain, Ben Nevis. However, time was of the essence because of the risk of lightning strikes on the summit, forcing us to beat a hasty retreat to the safety of the tree line. The first section of the descent was a tricky slope covered in gravel and small rocks, which then gave way to a smoother path, where we found ourselves once again in the company of marmots!

Yellow-bellied marmots

Williams Lake, seen from the side of Wheeler Peak

Williams Lake

Reflections on the lake

Once we reached Williams Lake, we came across some members of the larger group, for whom Williams Lake had represented the high point of their walk. Here we enjoyed a leisurely break, and we headed off downhill before the rain that had been threatening began to fall. The final break was a couple of miles further on, at the Bavarian Inn, which surprisingly did remind me of southern Germany, particularly in its pine forest setting. On the last couple of miles to the ski valley from the Bavarian, the rain at last caught up with us, and we did get wet, but by that late stage, it could do nothing to dampen the group's spirits, and we soon warmed up and dried off back at the hostel.

The second night in the teepee was every bit as comfortable as the first, although this time there was no need to get up at such an uncivilised hour! After a relaxed breakfast, we cleared the hostel and journeyed to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, from which we were able to admire the breathtaking 172-metre drop to the river below. We then went on to the Taos Earthship, a sustainable home project, where we were briefed on house construction and management techniques that limited the exhaustion of natural resources. Of particular relevance were the earth berm systems used in the houses to maintain constant cool temperatures during the hot summers and cold winters, and the water system, owing to the need to conserve water in a desert environment.

The majestic Rio Grande Gorge

Route 64 on the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

The beautiful and aptly-named Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Taos Earthship - sustainable home

Irresistible shot stereotyping the desert West

Following the Earthship, we travelled to the Taos Pueblo, one of the 21 remaining Native American pueblos. This was of special relevance because I have been studying the pueblo people as part of a unit on the history of New Mexico, and in particular how the Pueblos were treated differently compared to other native groups, such as the Navajo. The Taos Pueblo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and features distinctive adobe buildings, whilst the 150 or so residents still practise various native crafts. The Taos Pueblo is known for being one of the more conservative and secretive pueblos, and running water and electricity are not available there. The people have strict rules regarding photography so anybody intending to take photos had to pay $6 for a permit and even then one had to be selective about what was being photographed so as not to cause offence. Our guide toured us through the main areas of the Pueblo and even taught us a couple of basic phrases in the indigenous Tiwa language (one of five spoken in the New Mexican Pueblos, the others being Tewa, Towa, Kiowa and Zuni). Tiwa is a tonal language, so even after a couple of attempts at repeating the phrase 'hello' ('yo-oh'), I was fairly sure I had already desecrated the Tiwa tongue!

The traditional buildings and distinct, conservative atmosphere left a lingering impression; aside from the villagers' modern clothing, I would not have been surprised to have come across the same scene 100, 200 or 500 years ago. The arrival of Europeans to the Southwest from the 16th century onwards clearly affected the Pueblo's history significantly, but in many regards their ancient lifestyle has been resistant to change. The Pueblo survives as a fitting relic to the thousands of other indigenous cultures that once covered all of North America, and many of which have already disappeared forever.

The North House, the largest building in the Pueblo
The square in front is used for ceremonial dances
Taken from the bank of the Red Willow Creek,
the Pueblo's main water source
(photo: C. Takahashi)

San Geronimo Church and the Pueblo's cemetery
The church was destroyed by US soldiers during an 1847 rebellion
The gravestones reflect the mainly Catholic population of the Pueblo
(photo: C. Takahashi)

Before returning to Albuquerque, we stopped for lunch beside the Rio Grande, which meant there was an option to have a swim in one of the world's most famous rivers; I was hardly going to say no! Indeed, I was the first member of our group to immerse myself in the cool waters of the river, and had a great time riding the current downstream and relaxing in the slower sections. So, with this intensely refreshing feeling still lingering, it was time to return to UNM and prepare for the week's upcoming classes...

Our swimming spot - the Rio Grande near Dixon

Taking time out of the water to bask on the red-hot rocks!
(photo: M. Mamytova)