Anniversary Part 2: Carlsbad Caverns

We were trying to get going early on Saturday morning, and we arrived at the hotel restaurant for breakfast when they opened at 7.  They were a little disorganized.  First, I got coffee but no sweetener, so I spent some time staring longingly at my coffee while trying to flag down the waitress.  Then I got my oatmeal but no fruit until my oatmeal was no longer hot.  Fortunately, Stephen drinks his coffee black and ordered a "normal" breakfast, so he had a better experience.

It was a 40 minute drive to the cavern.  We had several choices of tours.  We could have ridden down in an elevator and taken a guided tour of some of the rooms (the wimpy choice).  We could have signed up for the Spider Cave tour which is four hours long and involves belly-crawling (the crazy choice).  We chose the self-guided tour through the Natural Entrance, which is for those who are fit but not particularly adventurous (no belly-crawling!).  You start at the surface and hike down 750 feet over one and a quarter mile, arriving at the Big Room which takes an additional hour to walk around.  The path is paved and there is a hand rail, but it is very steep with switchbacks, you can't see your feet, and in some places the path is wet. 

The little model at the top is the building we're standing in.  You can see the path we took to get down.

The Natural Entrance in 1926.

Here is the Natural Entrance as it looks today.

Here we go!  Stephen took all the photos in the cavern because he was playing with our new camera.  That's why he's not in any of them.
The temperature was in the 90's when we started out, but very soon after entering the cave it gets markedly cooler.  The cavern is about 56 degrees year-round, with 90% humidity.  The entrance is bombarded with swallows who nest in the rock openings, and at the beginning of our descent there was a strong smell which we later decided was bird poop, because once we were past the swallows' habitat, there was just a neutral, slightly damp odor.  We quickly lost the natural light and had to wait for our eyes to adjust to the dim cavern lighting supplied by electric lights. There are no springs or rivers in the cavern, but there are some pools created by dripping water.  Here's a reflection in one of those pools:

 The formations below are called draperies.

     Stalactites.

 The bubbles of rock on the walls are called popcorn.

 The variations in the colors are caused by minerals in the rock.

 The descent was steep, and our legs got tired of standing on hills when we stopped to admire and take photos.  It was cold, but because of the exertion and the humidity, we were both soon sweaty.   I actually didn't feel cold until we were in The Big Room for a while, walking slowly on mostly level paths.

 The Big Room was spectacular beyond description.

There is a snack bar next to The Big Room, but all food has to be eaten there and nothing but plain water can be taken into any other part of the cavern.  This is to protect the bats from disease.  We carried our water, and didn't eat at the snack bar.  It seems a silly thing to be amazed by after all the spectacular natural beauty in the cavern, but I couldn't believe there was a restroom with flush toilets and running water 750 feet down.  I expected composting toilets and hand sanitizer.  Now how do they pump sewage that far?  Superior engineering. 
We took the elevator back to the surface after exploring The Big Room.  There are other tours given different days of the week, and we would definitely go back and explore more or even do the part we did over again.  It was truly a wondrous experience.

Anniversary Part 1: Roswell

I chose Carlsbad Cavern in Southeast New Mexico as the destination for our 23rd wedding anniversary.  Stephen did most of the research, determining the route and the other places to see along the way, and booking the hotels.  This is how Team Marino goes on vacation.  Stephen likes to stay in hotels that have "character" and to eat in restaurants with "local color."  So no chains or safe choices for us!  So far that has worked out pretty well.

Our first stop was Roswell, NM.  I have never been that interested in UFOs or conspiracy theories, so I didn't know the story behind Roswell's fame.  The very short version is that in the summer of 1947, a rancher found some debris and reported it to the local sheriff.  The Air Force took control of the area, and the official report was that a weather balloon had crashed.  Decades later, conspiracy theories were launched by various publications and documentaries claiming that an alien spaceship had crashed and the Air Force had covered it up.

Roswell has made the most of its fame, as you can see:

This place was full of alien-themed kitsch, and you could pay to go through a spacewalk (we didn't).

We really did have to check this out.

 The UFO Museum and Research Center was a hoot.  There were newspaper accounts of the 1947 events, and lots of interviews with various people involved.  There were many documents to "debunk" the official explanations given by the government at the time.  The presentation was clever -- the museum included a few exhibits about hoaxes to give the as yet unexplained stories more credence.  And then there was the simply ridiculous:

The museum also featured alien abduction stories and UFO photographs.  And they have a records library for "research."  We skipped that part.

Roswell has many businesses like this one.

Even the local Mexican restaurant is on board!

 Roswell was a fun place to visit, and we could have spent more time walking around, but we wanted to get to Carlsbad in time for dinner.  Stephen had booked us a room at the Trinity Hotel, which was recently renovated from the ruins of its previous incarnation as a bank.  On the way to Carlsbad we drove through rain, which is very unusual for this area, and during the night there was a tremendous thunderstorm.  The Trinity did have lots of character, and our room was spectacular.

We had a lovely dinner in the hotel and took a walk around the area.  During our walk we found an auto museum that Stephen was interested in seeing if we had time after going to the cavern the next day. 
Day 1 of the weekend was complete.

Spanish

Can you live in New Mexico without speaking/reading Spanish?  Sure you can, but you'd be missing out on much of the culture and much of what is going on around you.  The experience of Abq is greatly enhanced by knowing some Spanish.  Sadly, I took several years of French in high school and college, so I had to start from scratch when I moved here.  I am sorry to say that my brain is much less flexible than it was 30 years ago when I soaked up French like a sponge.  I'm still coming up with French words and phrases whenever I try to speak or think in Spanish, but I don't intend to give up!

Spain colonized this area and land grants were given by the Spanish king in the late 1600's and the 1700's.  After the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the Mexican government awarded additional land grants.  The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War in 1848, specified that the U.S. would honor the Spanish and Mexican land grants.  Ultimately, the U.S. did not honor all of them, and there are groups in New Mexico that are still fighting to claim land grants from those times, tracing their heritage back to the royalty of Spain.  New Mexico didn't become a state until 1912, the 47th state in the union. 

It's hard to explain the ubiquity of Spanish to my New York and New England friends who haven't been here.  For one thing, I couldn't pronounce anyone's name until I learned Spanish pronunciation rules.  The first day I worked as a substitute teacher, I was in for Mr. Trujillo.  When I told the principal who I was there to sub for, she said, "You're not from here, are you?"  I have since learned that Trujillo is a very common name here (like Smith) and is pronounced Troo-hee-yo.  One of the most common first names for girls at my school is Yarely, also spelled Ydali.  I have at least five students with that first name.
The parents and secretaries and many of the teachers in my schools speak Spanish, so when I'm in the main office I never know what's going on unless I ask.  We say The Pledge of Allegiance twice every morning; once in English and once in Spanish.  Many signs in the city are bilingual, but some are only in Spanish.  And lots of jobs require you to be bilingual. In the grocery store and other public places, I hear many conversations in Spanish. 

A city bus.  Spanish only.

Dresses for the traditional 15th birthday celebration.

Restaurant.

Park rules.

Church

If you have a plan for your phone, why not for your health?

La clase de Español visita el mercado.

This semester I have been attending a Spanish class hosted by the music studio where I teach part-time.  The class is on Monday and Wednesday, but since I teach lessons on Wednesdays I have only been able to go to the Monday class.  I have enjoyed it immensely and I feel as though it has helped me with comprehension and pronunciation, in addition to making me a bit less self-conscious about using my limited vocabulary with my kids at school.  This week instead of meeting at the studio as usual, we had a field trip to a Spanish Market on the West side. 

 It is about the size of a supermarket.  On one end there are places to buy prepared foods, cafeteria-style, and there are tables with benches where you can sit and eat.  Then there is a large area for produce, and aisles of dry goods just like you would expect at the supermarket.  The market sells a lot of produce that you would find in Mexico, and lots of Mexican brands of packaged foods.  It also sells many of the same foods that you would find at the supermarket, but with Spanish labels. 

We explored the restaurant offerings first.  La Maestra, Lisa, helped us order our food (en Espanol) and we sat down to eat and go over the worksheet she had prepared for us.

Frijoles y arroz sin quesa (beans and rice, no cheese).

Tamale Fresa (strawberry tamale!  yummy dessert!)

Our worksheet was a scavenger hunt of sorts, arranged by aisle.  We were given the Spanish names and we had to find the food item, translate it, and write down the price.  After we ate, we set off to explore. 

Salsa bar and Juices.

A juice for whatever ails you! 

The fresh ingredients for the juices were displayed on the counter and the "bartender" would make your drink in a juicer while you watched.

Dried chiles.

 I only moved across the U.S. and I had to find different brands of peanut butter and coffee because the ones I liked are not available in New Mexico.  I can only imagine how great it must be for someone from Mexico or another Spanish speaking country to be able to find these imports!  It might make one a little less homesick.

At one point in the search, none of us could find an item on Lisa's list.  She asked a man who was stocking shelves (en Espanol) and he replied, "I'm sorry, my Spanish isn't that good."  LOL!  Everyone else that we spoke to seemed to be a native Spanish speaker.  Seeing us, one woman at the cafeteria started to speak to us in English, but La Maestra explained that we were una clase de Espanol, so she switched back (but didn't slow down, much to my dismay, so Lisa had to repeat everything she said muy despacio). 

Here are some of the types of produce that I couldn't identify.  One of these days I'd like to go back and buy some of them, then look up how to prepare them and have a tasting party!

The experience was lots of fun, and if you come visit, we can add El Mercado to our list of places to see!

Wind

People here say that spring is their least favorite season because of the wind.  Now that I'm working on the West side, I understand that position a bit better although I think I'll always enjoy spring overtaking winter, leaves on the trees, flowers blooming, and temperatures warming.
     We live close to the mountains and there are trees in our neighborhood, so we don't suffer the worst of the wind.  But on the West side where I teach, the terrain is very flat.  In Albuquerque, any land that is not irrigated, except for the narrow bosque along the river, is dusty, sandy desert.  So the wind gets whipping across this flat desert and creates dust and sand storms.  Very often I go for a walk at lunch time, but when it's very windy I just can't.  The first time it happened I tried not to wimp out, but I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see and then a rock hit me in the head!  I was the only person outside, so I took the hint and fled to my room.  The kids with asthma (I estimate 10% of my students) have to be kept indoors during recess when there are air quality warnings due to an excess of coarse particulates.  Because my school consists of a collection of buildings and trailers, the kids have to go outside -- the gym is a separate building, the library is a separate building, I teach in a trailer, and many of the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classrooms are in trailers.  The kindergarten classrooms are in a building of their own, separate from all those others and from the cafeteria.  By the time the kids get to my portable, three are wheezing and two have something in their eyes...  it is no fun.
     Driving is also no fun on windy days.  Tumbleweed is large and scary when it comes rolling across the highway, and you can't swerve if there's heavy traffic, so you just hit it and it sort of explodes.  If you're lucky, it won't scratch your car.  Stephen saw a road sign the other day that read, "VISIBILITY MAY BE 0."   Driving home from the studio at dusk on Central Ave. (Route 66) the wind buffets the car, the dust obscures your view, and garbage flies around the street.  Add that to the crazy people that come out at sunset, and you have a very tense commute.  One day I was driving Stephen's truck and the wind was so strong that I couldn't open the door to get out when I stopped at the grocery store.  Grocery carts were blowing all over the parking lot, running into parked cars and tipping over.
     We were walking in the open space behind our house one day when we saw the wind start to pick up West of us.   This is just the beginning.

Every day isn't like this, or I would share the general opinion of spring.  Fortunately, there are many beautiful days as well.  But here's a typical spring day in my front yard (and remember, we're somewhat sheltered).

And then there's the red dust that settles on everything.  I took this photo in my portable at school just a couple days after I cleaned this area.

 And... our I blew away.