First, I touched beautiful nature with my body. When I arrived at Albuquerque, I felt that the sunshine was much stronger than Spokane. I wanted to take a lot of pictures, but it was hard for me to keep opening my eyes. In Albuquerque, the altitude was higher than Spokane, that’s why. The altitude was different, also the climate was different, so the scenery was completely different. It was the first time for me to see natural cactus. Also, I was very surprised that some cacti take 100 years to get to their full height. What most impressed me was the Grand Canyon. I felt the earth and it was enormous, I couldn’t say anything when I saw the Grand Canyon. The geography showed that we can’t win nature; we are really tiny in front of the earth. It was a deep and precious time to understand nature.
Second, there were a lot of architectures which was my first time to see, such as adobe, cliff and capitol. When I visited downtown Santa Fe, I realized that all buildings were same color and same design as adobe. I felt the spirit of people who live there because they protect their tradition at the same time, it reminded of me Kyoto because Kyoto also limits height and color of house and building to protect the traditional scenery. Moreover, I was impressed by the cliff because it was just rock and I think it is very hard to live in such a dangerous place. I couldn’t imagine how people lived there. Also, I was interested in the shape of the capitol building because it was only one that the capitol was built in a circle. I was surrounded by traditional, treasure architecture, and that told us their life and culture.
Third, I enjoyed learning the various cultures, such as language, art and people. In Pueblo Culture’s Center, the guide man told us many kinds of languages, such as Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Zuni and Ceres. The sound and pronunciation was very different from each language, so it was interesting. Also I saw many potteries which are in Acoma Pueblo and I toured the Georgia O’Keeffe museum and International Folk Museum. I could compare the difference between past and modern and these things were very beautiful. Then the people were also a little bit different. For instance, the president of Acoma high school was very friendly and unique or the clerk who met in the Mexican food restaurant was very kind, but a little my pace. I felt their culture is everything for them, and I found lot of new culture.
The food on this trip was awesome! I really had a good time trying new food, such as Mexican food, French food and Steak at the steak house. I was so happy to eat Mexican food in New Mexico because the style was completely Mexican! Surprisingly, they brought us some chips with salsa, and it was free! I love salsa, so it was a time like heaven for me! In downtown Santa Fe, I went to the French food restaurant. My favorite was hot crepe with egg, ham and cheese. It may not be related with the Southwest, but it was so yummy and I realized that even people in New Mexico eat such food. Actually, I had image that Mexican people always like spicy food. Then one of the biggest memories of food was the steak house! They showed us the perfect stage and I was very excited. It was a dreamy time with the wonderful performance.
In addition, the Native American school and university were totally different on class and system. At the Acoma high school, there were some students who wore military uniform. I heard that there is a system of the training before enters the military in the school. Also, I was surprised that there were many unusual classes, such as jazz, photography and sign language class in the University of New Mexico. I was so curious and really wanted to try such a class.
During this trip, everything was fresh and valuable for me, and I think we had a fabulous opportunity to face each other. I will never forget this stunning trip.