We've Arrived!

I haven't posted since we left Illinois. On the first night, Monday, exhaustion got the best of me; last night, we didn’t have access to wireless in our hotel room. So, I guess that means I have a lot to say! I’ll try to be brief and give more of my personal thoughts on what we’ve done rather than recounting each leg of the trip to avoid redundancy among our posts.

Though I’ve been out west twice (once to California, and once to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas), I flew both times. Our entire trip took me through states that I’ve never driven through and some of the scenery was pretty spectacular. We drove through Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. The highlight of the drive was definitely today, through New Mexico. We finally got that “out west” feel, with Robin swearing that she saw tumbleweed (some of us were skeptical about this). Unfortunately, my need for sleep and the dark of night prevented me from seeing EVERYTHING on the way out here, but I think I got my fix of mountainous scenery regardless.

We made two major touristy stops along the way. The first was on Tuesday, when we visited the Oklahoma City Memorial. I found it a little difficult to see because of the context. I’ve visited New York, Washington DC, etc. and viewed my fair share of memorials but have always felt somewhat prepared for them. Though this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment stop, it was still strange to go abruptly from the relaxed atmosphere of a van road trip, sitting for hours with friends in sweatpants, to such a powerfully serious experience. I also felt that I needed longer to really take in the memorial and give it the proper respect that I felt it deserved. Regardless, I’m still glad that we went. It helped me put some things into perspective, especially with New Years creeping up on us. Which is tonight! I haven’t even written my overly ambitious list of resolutions yet; I’m ill-prepared to greet the new year.

Our second sight-seeing experience was today, in New Mexico. We visited Sky City, a historic pueblo village atop a mesa that is still in use today. Unfortunately, my camera battery is almost dead and I couldn’t find my charger before leaving, so I didn’t get any pictures at Sky City. Adam did though, and he is the photog in the group, so I think we’re covered. We had a spectacular view of the surrounding land from the mesa and had a very informative (and occasionally humorous) tour guide who told us some stories about the culture’s history. We had a brief, but interesting, conversation after the tour about feeling like tourists and outsiders. Though we weren’t trespassing and were obviously contributing economically to a system that they themselves had established, some of us were still struggling with playing the tourist role. I didn’t feel guilty, persay, because we weren’t disrespectful by any means. I couldn’t help feeling like we’re always promoting this us-them culture and keeping Native Americans in the role of the Other by being spectators that pay a fee to come visit their village, hear their stories, browse their artwork for sale, etc. I don’t have an easy solution to this feeling, obviously. Our intentions weren’t malicious and we were simply trying gain some firsthand knowledge about their culture, but if I’ve learned anything from our readings and discussions in CI 403 this semester, it is that one doesn’t necessary have to harbor any ill will to contribute to a system that keeps certain people and cultures in the role of the Other.

Contemplations aside, it really was neat. I was glad to get out of the car and do something intellectually stimulating and really feel like I was outside of the Midwest. We’re spending the night at Mark’s house (which really does have a spectacular view, he didn’t exaggerate) and ringing in the new year… though it feels odd to start my year in a different time zone. I’m not sure what’s in store for tomorrow, aside from a professional French toast breakfast courtesy of Adam and his mad cooking skills. Til then… Happy New Year!