I had an amazingly amazing trip. The trip started with unexpected trouble. Our airplane which we were supposed to use to fly to Arizona was suddenly canceled by engine trouble. We had to go back to our dorm and we used our second day of the Southwest trip just for traveling. However, I had an absolutely fabulous time on the Southwest trip. It was my first time to go there. The Southwest was completely different from Spokane, such as culture, temperature, atmosphere and history. I can't believe the Southwest and Spokane are in a same country. It was really interesting for me to learn new things in the Southwest.
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| Beautiful Adobe style |
First of all, I was surprised at the temperature and buildings in New Mexico. There is a large difference in temperature between daytime and night. The daytime was very hot, about over 25℃ but at night it is 10℃ in October. Also, there is difference between Spokane buildings and New Mexican buildings. It is called adobe style buildings. They made from sand, clay and water and the color is ocher, like yellow. Also, the windows are small, the corners are round and the walls are thick for keeping in the cool and warm temperature. In New Mexico, I could see many the adobe style buildings. I couldn’t go to a university of New Mexico but I could see the university buildings. They were also made by adobe style. I could feel the southwest atmosphere. It was very interesting for me because it was totally different from Spokane.
Second, I enjoyed visiting Acoma High School. When I went to Acoma High School in New Mexico, the Acoma pueblo students showed us the traditional dance and sang traditional songs. Acoma is one of the Native American groups in the Southwest. While they sang songs, they shouted like animal voices. It was very surprising and interesting for me. At the same time, I found they really like to sing songs because they looked like they were having fun and were happy. It made me happy. The songs were sung in Keres which is ethnic language so I couldn’t understand the meaning of the songs. However, I was moved by the songs. After that, they treated us to traditional food such as chips, cookies and bread. It was really great time there. I could learn about Acoma pueblo culture through the visiting Acoma High School.
Finally, the Grand Canyon was amazingly fascinating. I can’t express my feelings and how beautiful it was. The Grand Canyon is 2 million years old. In addition, there are no dinosaur fossils there because Grand Canyon is older than dinosaurs. It is amazing! There were a lot of foreign people there including Japanese people. I talked to a person who came from Sweden in English. I was glad to talk with different foreign people in English. However, I was reminded that I have to study English more. Anyway, Grand Canyon has a lot of animals and nature. After all, it was huge! I felt that how small I am. I took a ton of pictures there. However, the pictures can’t tell how big and beautiful it is. Inclusive of all the things, Grand Canyon was absolutely wonderful.
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| My fabulous Southwest trip |
In conclusion, inclusive of all things, the Southwest trip was incredibly perfect! Through the trip I could learn the Southwest history, culture and atmosphere. Moreover, I had a terrific encounter there with people. I will not forget this extremely wonderful trip.