Day 7 was travel back home - all of which went smoothly. I even got to see the rainbow everyone was posting to facebook when we landed. I LOVE that they now have wifi on airplanes. It helped calm me down to watch How I Met Your Mother in the air.
It was great seeing Scott at the airport. Both of us teared up. It was great to be home.
I have some random thoughts for the trip. First, it happens every year and they are all over the place in the US. You can choose to apply to two out of 30 or so places but you can only go to one if you get accepted. Over 500 people applied for 80 slots for my trip but some trips have WAY less applicants. Also, you can be ANY kind of teacher - science, English, special ed, ESL, substitute, public, private, charter, elementary, middle, or high school. You don't just have to be a social studies teacher. Most weren't in my program. We had nuns (sisters) and Spanish teachers and an Indian reservation teacher and everything in between. Applications start in December and are due March 1. There are some summer programs that last 6 weeks (like the South Africa one) and some that last 2 or 3 or 4. They are all over the world too. Some are in Africa and some in Europe. I highly recommend doing this. All provide various amounts for stipends to help you with travel expenses. The programs are listed here: http://www.neh.gov/divisions/education/summer-programs
And starting in December, it will change for the next year.
I highly recommend renting a car so you can see more than what they show you.
I went the entire program as "Stephanie" instead of "Stevie". It was interesting. Sometimes I didn't even know people were talking to me. But it's weird to hear anyone call me Stephanie except my parents when they were mad at me... or of course, Scott calls me that since it's less of a boy's name. I really have been called Stevie since January 5, 1983. It was an interesting experiment but I am gonna stick to Stevie because I don't really recognize that name. Interestingly, I sign these blogs as Stephanie... weird.
And finally, I forgot this. Every morning Natives line up at the Portal at the Palace of the Governors to get a spot to sell at.
All items there have to be 100% proved to be authentic. It was neat seeing them all lined up in the morning claiming their spot.
On our final day we got a lecture about Primary Sources in the Museum of New Mexico History. Tomas Jaehn gave us each a 47 star flag. It's an illegal flag because you have to wait until the 4th of July to have a new flag and it became a state on January 6, 1912 and Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912 so technically the next flag should've had 48 stars but New Mexico went and made a 47 star one anyways.
After, we took a group picture of our 40 person cohort (plus our 3 teachers: Mia, Rebecca & Quincy):
And then we had a few hours off since it was going to be a late night so I too Jessica and myself to Tent Rocks (take 2!). It was really cool but we didn't have much time.
We got back JUST in time to hear a lecture on Pecos Pueblo and then we left for Pecos Pueblo and our closing ceremony. Pecos is completely abandoned.
There was a 1.25 miles hike to get to the site where I saw tons of flowering cactuses cacti :)
We were even allowed to enter a kiva.
We ate dinner and talked about our curriculum projects but there was a nasty thunderstorm looming (and we were the tallest point for MANY miles around) so we high tailed it out of there but not before the closing ceremony where we circled up and said what our one word for this journey had been. Mine words had all been taken by the time it got to me so my word was "renewed".
On the bus ride home, we got out $1200 stipend and our certificates of completion.
We also got narration - apparently there were a few decisive battles of the civil war fought in the area.
When I got back to the hotel I went swimming and it made me want a swimming pool... and an outdoor fireplace.
What a great way to end a fabulous experience!
Today was a fabulous day. We chose to either learn about Tinwork art or Retablo Painting. I chose Retablo Painting but wish I could've done both. After Gabriel Vigil explained to us what it was and showed up some examples, he encouraged us to do it and we got to copy his stuff if we wanted. I am horrible at art but still had fun attempting this. Here is stage one:
Stage 2:
Done:
It took about 2 hours to complete. Everyone else's was better than mine but like I said, I still had fun!
Then we toured the New Mexico Art Museum.
Since the day ended somewhat early, I high tailed it to Jemez Pueblo to see more Red Rocks at the advice of one of my teachers, Quincy (pronounced Quin-Cee not Quin-Zee). It was amazing. I spent three hours driving around down there.
I seriously am in love with this area.
On day 4, I woke up with about 5 others, at the crack of dawn, to go see the Procession of our lady of victory, Santa Fe, La Conquistadora at the Rosario Chapel where the Caballeras de Vargas reenact what happened in the 1500s. I have a video of this that I will upload. This picture/sculpture was right outside my hotel.
Then we had a lecture about the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro which is the route the Mexicans took to get to Santa Fe to trade with the Puebloans before they took over the area. Then we went on a quic tour of the plaza which I had already done myself and then we had a really cool presentation where the Santa Clara Pueblo people came to show us 2 of their dances. And the pottery they make and how it's made. I will have to get the video up of this ASAP.
Then I took 3 women up to Abiqui to see Georgia O'Keefe's Ghost Ranch. I didn't really care about the ranch part but the landscape she painted was worth painting.
I loved this so much. This is what makes me not want to live in New England. Look at the blue contrasting with the red. Gorgeous.
On day 3 we had a lecture by an expert on Taos Pueblo (because she grew up there, among other things)and then we headed to Taos Pueblo which is the only living world heritage site. About 100 people live there currently but there used to be thousands. I could only choose one camera to take with me (by their rules) so I had to choose my video camera so I could get video and poor quality photos. It was an awesome experience. I got a real tomahawk for my brother and ate a frito pie and a slice of blueberry pie. Everything is made in the Pueblo and they don't have running water or electricity. There are only 19 pueblos left and this is the only non-"modern" one that people live in. Pueblo people were not forced to relocate like all other Natives were to reservations. They were also the only time the Natives realllllly defeated a European Colony. In 1680, they rose up together and kicked the Spanish out for 12 years.
Then we headed over to the quaint town of Taos (where Julia Roberts lives. And we also visited the Historic Ranchos Church.
I was still feeling pretty weird from the altitude so I went to bed early.
Today started off with a lecture by a woman who wrote an article we had to read for class on the Palace of the Governors. Then we had a quick meeting with all of our "like" teachers - so I was with high school. People in the program are all over the place from history teachers to speech pathologists to Spanish teachers to librarians to nuns. They are all very nice.
I unfortunately am shy AND suffering from a bit of altitude sickness. Santa Fe is the highest capital in the USA at 7,000 feet. You take in 20% less oxygen with each breath that can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. I love this area of the country and have been here several times. I've even hiked from 7,000- 9,000 feet but I have always gotten altitude sickness the first day or two in a new altitude.
Then we had a 2 hour lunch where most of us went to visit the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. I love her work especially the cows skulls she does but none of them were there. We actually teach about her in USII.
Also on lunch break, I visited the Francis of Assisi Cathedral, the Main Plaza and the Loretto Chapel. I've been to Santa Fe once and my resident, Daniel, took my friend, Meghan, and I on a tour of Santa Fe since he is from Albuquerque and we visited him. The Loretto Chapel has this amazing staircase - read about the legend here.
Then we toured the Palace of the Governors and then the New Mexico History Museum. We got to see an illuminated Bible that was spectacular.
And then our day was over at 4:00pm. I was glad because I am not feeling well and we had literally been standing up for 5-6 hours. My feet still hurt.
I wanted to get some fresh air so I asked my friend, Kim, from work, who is originally from New Mexico where I could go to see some great scenery within an hours drive of Santa Fe. She recommended Tent Rocks so I jumped in the car and went... only to find out that they closed early for the day... just because. I did enjoy the drive a lot though because I love the landscape out here.
Is there anything more beautiful than red rocks with blue sky? I think not. I am also in love with the architecture. If I didn't get incredibly homesick I would've likely moved to the southwest in 2005. I guess everything happens for a reason :) Still, if all of my friends and family didn't live in/near Massachusetts, I would move out here. Except Scott never would. :( Boooo.
And in annoying news - the uploader for facebook isn't working properly so I have to manually upload pictures.
Soooo I have really bad plane anxiety stemming from a horrific ride I took in 2002 where I literally thought I was going to die.
I pulled something really ridiculous last night. I took out my credit card, debit card and driver's license to scan them in case I lost them and then forgot to take them out of the scanner. Flash forward to this morning when I arrived at the airport ready to check my bags and they asked for my ID... panic ensued.
Luckily I have a wonderful husband who drove all the way home and all the way back with them in record time but unfortunately, I missed my flight. I am such an idiot.
So now I am stuck waiting for 2 hours for my new flight: American Airlines 381 and connecting flight 369. I should be in Albuquerque by 1:30 which means I'll be in Santa Fe by 3p. I have to be at the Palace of the Governors by 5p for the reception. Jeez Louise.
I hate flying and wish I was already in the air but I'm not. I can only hope there is some reason for it - like maybe if I had gotten to Albuquerque at the right time, I might;ve had a horrific car crash. Who knows?
I feel bad for the two girls I'm driving from ABQ to Santa Fe who have to now wait around for my dumb ass.
So I've sent out 10 letters so far and here are my thoughts:
1. I hope people aren't creeped out by them.
2. I hope people are getting them.
3. It's really hard to find 30 people that I think would like this. I've only come up with 22 people so far. Eek!
4. Once I've identified a person as "worthy" it's really easy to write these letters. I feel I could go on or pages but I don't.
5. I hope people at the end of the month aren't offended that they are at the end. Thirty people out of the thousands I know is a special number and I am specifically waiting to write to coworkers friends at work until after school is out on June 15.
6. I really hope it makes people smile because that's all they are really meant to do.
7. Often, I have to print out multiple versions because as soon as I hit "print" I remember more I want to write and after I've mailed them I keep remembering more things I wanted to include. Doh!
8. I hope people aren't offended if they don't get one. If you want one - lemme know!
Here is a sample of the opening part of the letter (to my friend Stephanie, not me):
June
- Make time for friends. I think I do a great job at this but from
January to May we are basically going to be spending $0 on ourselves or
others to pay off debts (just paid off a second credit card!!!). So... it might be time to back pedal.
I have been going out of my way for friends all year in anticipation for this. So this month should be a cake walk ending with one of my best friend's weddings on June 30. But there are ways I can improve.
After reading Gretchen's chapter on making time for friends, there are some things that stand out. There is a LOT in this chapter and I would highly recommend that you read it even if you don't read the rest of the book. There are a lot of good tips in it. One is that having strong relationships actually lengthen your life. Fact is, everyone dies. And we need people in our lives to help us through rough times. But we also need to be there for others. Simply showing up ever if you don't feel like it can make a huge difference. There are some friendships I've let slip away that I am really sorry that I have.
I am really good at bringing people together but get really irritated that I am the only one who does it. So one of her points is to cut people slack. We are all going through different things and there are times when I drop the ball. A great example she gives is how annoyed we get when a phone goes off in a movie but how if it goes off for us, we thought it was important enough to keep it on because ______ (you need the babysitter to get a hold of you etc...). And we tend to let one thing happening ONCE affect how we view that person's character. I am going to try to let stuff like that go. If a person keeps doing something, that's another story but one or two times doesn't mean they are a bad person. It just means they could be going through a rough time.
As much as this may shock some, I get really down when people complain. I know, crazy huh? I come off as a complainer. I know that. But I hate when other people do it because it makes me want to and I really sincerely want to do it less.
I am a huge hypocrite - it sucks. I hate gossip but hate feeling left out or like the last to know when things happen. I don't know how to rectify it but I need to cut back on it. I thin that it'll be an easy month to start this since work ends on June 15. Work(although I love it and my coworkers/friends) is a HUGE source of constant gossip.
She points out that you can strengthen old friendships, deepen current ones and make new ones.
One thing I am going to do is send out one letter each day to a friend letting them know what they mean to me and why. I feel super vulnerable doing this since I think it could come back to bite me on the ass - getting my butt busted for saying corny things or GOD FORBID not sending it to someone who thought they should've gotten one. That's 30 letters in June. I did this once in 2004 and got 0 replies back. It's not about the reply. That's not why I did it but it would've been nice to get one back. So far I can only think of 20 people who I could do this for. It might be a struggle but I will find a way to do it. Even if this becomes a quick thank you note instead of a letter.
And yes, I still need to work on smiling more. That one is super tough. I don't feel like I have to smile to be happy but I realize that others recognize it as a sign of happiness...
Here is what I came up with for my chart:
