Arches Sunset

Arches Sunset

Sunday 8 December 2013

Thanksgiving in Three States

This year marked my first Thanksgiving, and a few days' holiday just before the final phase of the term was very welcome. My friend Isaac had invited me to his house in Sunland Park, a town close to El Paso, just on the New Mexico side of the Rio Grande, and so on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we set off south from UNM.

The New Mexican desert close to the Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated


The first stop was at White Sands National Monument, about two-thirds of the way between Albuquerque and El Paso. White Sands is known for the missile range there but it also contains an area of gypsum sand dunes about the size of the Isle of Man. I had already seen plenty of photographs of the dunes, which under summer sunlight are a beautiful white colour. The day I went was unfortunately overshadowed by cloud, and so Isaac and I were surprised when we arrived to see the aforementioned shade of dune. On closer inspection, the whiteness was not sand but snow, as the previous week's cold spell had produced snow that had settled on many of the park's dunes.

Snow on the dune fields

Families playing on the snow

Golden sky to the south over the glazed sand dunes


The resultant effect was utterly alien, and the combination of sand and snow was bizarre. Visitors often bring toboggans in order to ride down the dunes but the virgin snow created an even better surface on which to slide. The snow also enabled us to create a snowman - probably one of very few ever made at White Sands! I had removed my shoes so as not to fill them with sand and so by the time we left my feet had had a strange sensory experience on the cool sand and freezing snow, and were a curious mixture of red and white all over!

The slightly unconventional snowman we made!

Other visitors with proper toboggans, and a mountain backdrop


At around sunset, we arrived at Sunland Park, where Isaac introduced me to his delightful family, after which we left again for a short tour of El Paso itself. We ate at Chico's Tacos, a fast food chain exclusive to El Paso and famed in the local area. Isaac's family briefed me on the potential for gastric problems to arise, but thankfully no such issues were forthcoming and the rolled tacos in tomato sauce were actually pretty tasty too! On the way back to Isaac's house, we took a diversion up into the Franklin Mountains, from which there was an excellent view of the lights of El Paso and the neighbouring Mexican city of Juárez.

Thursday was Thanksgiving itself, and the first event of the day was the annual parade in the centre of El Paso, which was definitely very different to any similar parade in the UK. Much of it consisted of marching bands from local schools and multiple municipal vehicles like fire engines, police cars and road sweepers, as well as local politicians riding in open-topped cars. The most vibrant parts of the parade, though, were the large number of intricately decorated carnival floats that meandered through the city's streets, many of which were vamped up with music and pyrotechnics. It was clear that a huge amount of effort had gone into the parade and there was an obvious sense of community as everyone came together to support the parade and wish each other a happy holiday.

In the afternoon Isaac and I helped out with the cooking preparations for the evening's meal, which was eaten at Isaac's aunt's house. This was a real family occasion, reminiscent of Christmas and I felt thoroughly accepted. The combination of traditional turkey and a variety of Mexican food had filled me up, and instead of retiring to bed when we left, I went to the shops with Isaac and some of his family!

The Friday after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, when most US retailers advertise massive discounts on many products. This year the deals began in the evening on Thursday and thus we went then instead of waiting until the morning. The shopping centre was manic, especially as El Paso is so close to Juárez, and therefore large numbers of Mexicans had migrated across the border to take advantage of cheap shopping! The following day, I found myself migrating the other way...

At the USA's southern border


Given my proximity to Mexico, it was in the back of my mind to try to cross the border, but Isaac's family, who have experience in that country, were initially dismissive owing to the inherent danger of tourism to Juárez. I was prepared to accept their advice as I was already aware of Juárez' reputation; in 2009, it was declared 'the most violent zone in the world outside declared war zones' and in 2010 there were 3,075 homicides in a city of around 1.5 million people. This violence, due to a conflict between rival drug cartels, has subsided in the last couple of years and Isaac's family reconsidered about taking me to Mexico, although they emphasised the importance of sticking together and staying in the more touristy parts of the city.

Crossing the bridge over the Rio Grande was no trouble and once on the other side, the difference was startling. The city was packed with traffic in the streets adjacent to the border and there were policemen using whistles and hand gestures directing traffic in place of traffic lights! The roads from the border to the Mercado Cuauhtémoc were uneven and there were many potholes, which was such a contrast to the US side of the river. Not all the differences were negative though, and the market was fantastic to walk around. We began in an indoor market in which almost all the available space had been filled with a multitude of colourful clothes, food, medicines and trinkets, leaving just enough room for the market-goers to move around in between the stalls. We wandered around lazily taking it all in, and spent time looking at rabbits and parrots on sale, as well as chihuahuas (appropriate as Juárez is in Chihuahua state).

We stopped briefly beside a stand featuring various medicines and treatments for a range of ailments. Upon inspecting a contorted black shape hanging above a table full of bottles, we were told that it was a dead skunk, and by the sound of the description, it could cure most illnesses known to man. Likewise, there were numerous rattlesnake skins on sale, which apparently treated cancer and herpes among other things. As if to encourage the woman flogging these unusual medicines, Isaac's sister then requested something to counteract 'bad vibes' and was instantly offered a bottle of black liquid whose label featured a pentagram and whose instructions stated that one was to shower with it daily to rid one's personal demons. Startling difference to the USA indeed!

We climbed the steep stairs to the upper level of the market, where there were several restaurants but the whole floor was so smoky that it was difficult to breath or even see - a far cry from Western standards of health and safety! We then progressed through both indoor and outdoor markets, all the while remaining wary for pickpockets and suspicious activity that could endanger us. However, these lingering fears dissipated quickly and it was easy to enjoy gazing at all the wonderful goods on offer. We ate some delicious Mexican food including local cheese, sugar cane, corn in a cup and a variety of Mexican sweets, all of which were significantly less expensive than similar produce north of the border. The outdoor section had a whole area dedicated to food, as well as shops with trays of pirate DVDs, fake football shirts and cheap clothing. Interesting people were in abundance, including one man who owned a pair of fortune-telling birds.

After finishing at the market, we took a little time to explore the central part of the city in the vicinity of the cathedral. There was another small market here, occupied by Tarahumara natives from elsewhere in Chihuahua state selling their traditional products. They spoke Spanish when interacting with customers but I also heard some of their own language, an indigenous Mexican tongue in the Uto-Aztecan family. This was really pleasant to experience, especially having studied native peoples of Mesoamerica in one of my classes!

The cathedral in Juárez



The cathedral was an intriguing building because it had a colonial-style façade on the outside, but a very modern and plain interior. There were a few statues and the stations of the cross adorned the walls but otherwise it was rather sparse inside, which seemed unusual to me in such a Catholic country. One thing that did strike me as very unusual was a statue in the entrance of St. Judas. I had never before seen Judas being venerated in any way, but the text beside the statue explained that forgiveness can come even for those who make the worst decisions in life, as Jesus had forgiven Judas for betraying him.

Outside the cathedral there was a crowd gathered around a bandstand in the plaza and a board with a large red ribbon showed that it was an AIDS awareness demonstration. The main feature of this was a dance by eight young Mexicans in traditional dress. I am able to understand some basic Spanish, but the accompanying song was too fast for me to pick out what was being said. The basic message about safe sex was clear though, and the very stereotypically Mexican-sounding music made it easy to forget that this was only a couple of miles from the USA. The secondary feature of the event was a number of women distributing condoms and Spanish-language sex education leaflets, which made for some novel souvenirs from my visit to Mexico!

Dancers at the AIDS demonstration



By this stage it had got dark; Isaac's family had been concerned about leaving before sunset in case of any violence but the afternoon had felt fairly safe and they were content to spend a bit more time in Juárez. We went first to a restaurant that they recommended and ate flautas (meat-filled rolled taco shells) before heading to a small fairground and wandering the food stands. The last stop was a place selling delicious ice cream albeit with a relaxed attitude to food hygiene. The trip back to the USA involved waiting around on the bridge, where numerous Mexicans attempted to clean the car for us and sell us pirate DVDs. US border guards patrolled with several sniffer dogs but for the queue was fairly flowing and we waited under an hour drive back to El Paso before returning to Isaac's house.

The brief jaunt across the border was definitely eye-opening and I certainly had not been expecting such a marked contrast with the affluence of the USA north of the river. The trip had been very exciting for me as it marked my first visit to a 'non-Western' country and also the first country that none of my immediate family had previously been to. I hope that some time in the future I will return to Mexico and experience it properly because it is a vast land full of geographical and cultural contrast, and I also hope that Mexico's ongoing drug war will end so that it will be possible to return to Juárez without fear of cartel-related violence.

On Saturday Isaac's family and I travelled through the portion of Texas that is due south of New Mexico before crossing the border to Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico. Carlsbad Caverns are some of the largest caves in the world and were home to some spectacular speleotherms (cave formations). There was twisting path from surface level to the caverns followed by a lengthy passage through the remarkable subterranean landscape, although there were also many other caves branching off the main cavern which were not accessible and some had not even been formally surveyed yet.

Guiding the way through the caverns!

The entrance to Carlsbad Caverns

Beautiful cave formations

Towering stalagmite

'The Chandelier', a wonderfully blade-like set of stalactites

Gorgeous yellow deposits resembling a sort of beastly mouth



Sunday saw Isaac and me return to UNM, this time sticking to the Interstate all the way from El Paso to Albuquerque without the diversion to White Sands on the outward journey. We stopped just over an hour outside Albuquerque to visit the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, home to thousands of snow geese and sandhill cranes spending the winter in New Mexico. Around sunset the birds return to the marshes beside the Rio Grande and so we witnessed a large number of birds flying in, and even more already on the ground. In places the roads that wound their way through the site came extremely close to the birds, which were making an incredible noise! As we exited the park we came across three deer and watched as they slunk away, apparently unaware that we knew they were there and unwilling to break into a run for fear of being spotted. Very soon after this, the sun went down and we eased into Albuquerque to complete an adventure-filled five days away.

Autumn shades at Bosque del Apache

Sandhill cranes coming in to land

Sandhill cranes silhouetted against the afternoon sky

Snow geese

Sandhill cranes

Smooth reflections on one of the lakes

Mule deer doe

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