$2 internet today!
May. 23rd, 2010 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wispfoxApparently Santa Fe hostel has cheaper internet than Taos. Bigger city may explain it!
Last time we checked in... I was on my way to Santa Fe!
The hostel I was at in Taos is called The Abominable SnowMansion, which is just a great name. Apparently accurate for winter, too.
There were a couple very friendly women there, one of whom worked the front desk in the evenings, the other of whom was traveling with a cat. I met the latter because the cat needed to come in for the evening, and she was failing to convince it to come in. So, after verifying that the cat was willing, I scooped him up and brought him in. And then did it again a few minutes later when he sneaked out again. :)
There were a total of four cats there; I met the two which lived there, and the one that the aforementioned woman owned. I'm not sure where the fourth was. Perhaps in a single room?
I did not have too much trouble sleeping in a bunk bed dorm room set up, although the second night I was awakened very early because the people upstairs were up early and walking back and forth on the creeeaky floor. Alas. Made for a very tired trip to Santa Fe!
After giving the two women above hugs, I headed to Taos Plaza, as I had not yet been to it. I found it nowhere near as enjoyable as going to Taos Pueblo. I think I have strong fondness for being able to converse with the artists. Also, people's homes tend to be _way_ less visually/auditorally noisy. But, there are some pictures.
Next, I tried to go to a Post Office, it being Saturday before noon. Except that Taos' post office is not open on Saturday. So, I shall have to wait to get a stamp to send that $5 to the woman mentioned in the previous post who let me send her the $5 I did not have on me for the item I purchased from her. I also need more stamps. And postcards! I got none today! Shocking.
At this point, after having my lunch, I headed to Santa Fe via the high road. This is both because it's pretty and because there are lots of artists on the way. I definitely appreciated the pretty. I think that I don't much care about local non-Native artists, however. This may be because the kinds of things they were making, I can often get locally in the Boston-area. It's not... distinctively _here_ in ways that the Native art is.
Tried to go to San Ildefonso Pueblo, but got there too late in the evening.
Pictures!
And, I arrived at Santa Fe hostel at around 7pm. After checking to see what sleeping arrangement would not involve people living above me (dorm bunk beds work fine, here), I got myself a room key. The three bottom bunks were all taken, so I ended up in a top bunk. Sad. And, as it turns out, the earliest awake person (me) was above the latest to bed one. I suspect that this was not the best arrangement, but ah, well.
I was awake at 5am, unfortunately, and the fact that I smelled fuel (thought it was gas, but it turned out to be smoldering rags which were used during the process of transforming cooking oil into diesel fuel or something) meant that I was not able to relax enough to sleep again. Especially since being in the top bunk put me _very_ near the ceiling, where the smell was stronger.
Gave up and got up at around 6:30a. The main room, where the internet access and kitchen are does not open until 7a, so that's too early! On the plus side, having mentioned the smell meant that they figured out that those rags were smoldering and a fire did not start. Hopefully I sleep a bit later tonight!
Had food, did my morning chore, and headed out. First, to San Ildefonso Pueblo because I failed the previous evening. There was not someone there until closer to 9 than 8, which was unexpected. However, I did get to see many many examples of the gorgeous (and expensive!) black on black pottery they are famous for. I did not purchase any of the highly expensive, and amazing, pieces I saw (similarly when I did not purchase a _GORGEOUS_ shawl made by a local-to-Taos weaver, it was just far too expensive for my budget). I did get one red piece that was also by an artist there, and a black piece from another Pueblo at their trading post.
Had lunch, and a call with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
metahacker. My phone mostly behaved with its between one and two bars of signals, and it was very nice to talk to him and hear his voice.
From here, I went first to try to see the animal sanctuary and rehabilitation center near Ghost Ranch which apparently no longer exists. However, this did allow me to see many lovely vistas, and even take pictures of some.
The piece I purchased from the trading post at Ildefonso came with a discount for Puye Cliff Dwellings. So, on the way there, I stopped in briefly at Santa Clara Pueblo and purchased a couple of lovely pieces of pottery. I have decided I am not allowed to buy any more pieces of art from Pueblos this trip. :)
The man I purchased the second piece from strongly suggested that I should go to their festival in three weeks, as it's open to the public. I will, however, be nowhere nearby at that time. I was, however, quite charmed by the fact that he apparently specifically thought I should go.
Re pottery pieces: I have... a couple of the mica-based pottery pieces from Taos Pueblo, the two pieces I got at San Ildefonso Pueblo, and the two pieces from Santa Clara Pueblo. They are lovely, but I have _no_ idea where I will put them all. At least they are all small. :)
When I got to the cliff dwellings, I took a tour of the dwellings guided by a descendant of the original dwellers. I got my very own tour, as no one else was in the group. :)
All sorts of nifty things and info. Like, pointing out and explaining petroglyphs above each dwelling, there to describe which clan lived there. Or, talking about how the black ceiling and grey-brown ground were symbolic of a dark cloudy sky and the ground (perhaps relating to their grain crops, perhaps not? I can't recall). He also commented about archeologists belief that the black was because of fires in the dwellings, and noted that the Santa Clara Pueblo people use ash to color things black to this day. The coloring was also not patterned like a fire would cause. Or, before leaving their dwelling to go to where the rest of the village had moved to (what is now Santa Clara Pueblo), packing it up and storing things such that if anyone else comes there to look for them, they would have food and supplies to be able to survive there. Considering that everyone in a clan is basically an enormous family, this made complete sense to me. And mentioning what various plants were useful for (the pi~non tree has neat-flavored needles, which are apparently an excellent source of vitamin C; juniper trees are useful for all sorts of things). Was very cool. :)
Now, back at the hostel. Currently uploading photos! Sleepy and need a shower before bed, as the wind was _nuts_, and the Pueblos all have sand everywhere. So the wind made for mini sandstorms, and I'm covered in sand, as well as coughing a lot for sad throat/lungs reasons today.
Tomorrow: my first experience with Couchsurfing, with a former co-worker who is also the person who suggested the site.
I have a promising lead relating to volunteering in a research lab, from the professor at Brandeis that I had been talking to before applying. We shall see. :)
More pictures!
Last time we checked in... I was on my way to Santa Fe!
The hostel I was at in Taos is called The Abominable SnowMansion, which is just a great name. Apparently accurate for winter, too.
There were a couple very friendly women there, one of whom worked the front desk in the evenings, the other of whom was traveling with a cat. I met the latter because the cat needed to come in for the evening, and she was failing to convince it to come in. So, after verifying that the cat was willing, I scooped him up and brought him in. And then did it again a few minutes later when he sneaked out again. :)
There were a total of four cats there; I met the two which lived there, and the one that the aforementioned woman owned. I'm not sure where the fourth was. Perhaps in a single room?
I did not have too much trouble sleeping in a bunk bed dorm room set up, although the second night I was awakened very early because the people upstairs were up early and walking back and forth on the creeeaky floor. Alas. Made for a very tired trip to Santa Fe!
After giving the two women above hugs, I headed to Taos Plaza, as I had not yet been to it. I found it nowhere near as enjoyable as going to Taos Pueblo. I think I have strong fondness for being able to converse with the artists. Also, people's homes tend to be _way_ less visually/auditorally noisy. But, there are some pictures.
Next, I tried to go to a Post Office, it being Saturday before noon. Except that Taos' post office is not open on Saturday. So, I shall have to wait to get a stamp to send that $5 to the woman mentioned in the previous post who let me send her the $5 I did not have on me for the item I purchased from her. I also need more stamps. And postcards! I got none today! Shocking.
At this point, after having my lunch, I headed to Santa Fe via the high road. This is both because it's pretty and because there are lots of artists on the way. I definitely appreciated the pretty. I think that I don't much care about local non-Native artists, however. This may be because the kinds of things they were making, I can often get locally in the Boston-area. It's not... distinctively _here_ in ways that the Native art is.
Tried to go to San Ildefonso Pueblo, but got there too late in the evening.
Pictures!
And, I arrived at Santa Fe hostel at around 7pm. After checking to see what sleeping arrangement would not involve people living above me (dorm bunk beds work fine, here), I got myself a room key. The three bottom bunks were all taken, so I ended up in a top bunk. Sad. And, as it turns out, the earliest awake person (me) was above the latest to bed one. I suspect that this was not the best arrangement, but ah, well.
I was awake at 5am, unfortunately, and the fact that I smelled fuel (thought it was gas, but it turned out to be smoldering rags which were used during the process of transforming cooking oil into diesel fuel or something) meant that I was not able to relax enough to sleep again. Especially since being in the top bunk put me _very_ near the ceiling, where the smell was stronger.
Gave up and got up at around 6:30a. The main room, where the internet access and kitchen are does not open until 7a, so that's too early! On the plus side, having mentioned the smell meant that they figured out that those rags were smoldering and a fire did not start. Hopefully I sleep a bit later tonight!
Had food, did my morning chore, and headed out. First, to San Ildefonso Pueblo because I failed the previous evening. There was not someone there until closer to 9 than 8, which was unexpected. However, I did get to see many many examples of the gorgeous (and expensive!) black on black pottery they are famous for. I did not purchase any of the highly expensive, and amazing, pieces I saw (similarly when I did not purchase a _GORGEOUS_ shawl made by a local-to-Taos weaver, it was just far too expensive for my budget). I did get one red piece that was also by an artist there, and a black piece from another Pueblo at their trading post.
Had lunch, and a call with
metahacker. My phone mostly behaved with its between one and two bars of signals, and it was very nice to talk to him and hear his voice.From here, I went first to try to see the animal sanctuary and rehabilitation center near Ghost Ranch which apparently no longer exists. However, this did allow me to see many lovely vistas, and even take pictures of some.
The piece I purchased from the trading post at Ildefonso came with a discount for Puye Cliff Dwellings. So, on the way there, I stopped in briefly at Santa Clara Pueblo and purchased a couple of lovely pieces of pottery. I have decided I am not allowed to buy any more pieces of art from Pueblos this trip. :)
The man I purchased the second piece from strongly suggested that I should go to their festival in three weeks, as it's open to the public. I will, however, be nowhere nearby at that time. I was, however, quite charmed by the fact that he apparently specifically thought I should go.
Re pottery pieces: I have... a couple of the mica-based pottery pieces from Taos Pueblo, the two pieces I got at San Ildefonso Pueblo, and the two pieces from Santa Clara Pueblo. They are lovely, but I have _no_ idea where I will put them all. At least they are all small. :)
When I got to the cliff dwellings, I took a tour of the dwellings guided by a descendant of the original dwellers. I got my very own tour, as no one else was in the group. :)
All sorts of nifty things and info. Like, pointing out and explaining petroglyphs above each dwelling, there to describe which clan lived there. Or, talking about how the black ceiling and grey-brown ground were symbolic of a dark cloudy sky and the ground (perhaps relating to their grain crops, perhaps not? I can't recall). He also commented about archeologists belief that the black was because of fires in the dwellings, and noted that the Santa Clara Pueblo people use ash to color things black to this day. The coloring was also not patterned like a fire would cause. Or, before leaving their dwelling to go to where the rest of the village had moved to (what is now Santa Clara Pueblo), packing it up and storing things such that if anyone else comes there to look for them, they would have food and supplies to be able to survive there. Considering that everyone in a clan is basically an enormous family, this made complete sense to me. And mentioning what various plants were useful for (the pi~non tree has neat-flavored needles, which are apparently an excellent source of vitamin C; juniper trees are useful for all sorts of things). Was very cool. :)
Now, back at the hostel. Currently uploading photos! Sleepy and need a shower before bed, as the wind was _nuts_, and the Pueblos all have sand everywhere. So the wind made for mini sandstorms, and I'm covered in sand, as well as coughing a lot for sad throat/lungs reasons today.
Tomorrow: my first experience with Couchsurfing, with a former co-worker who is also the person who suggested the site.
I have a promising lead relating to volunteering in a research lab, from the professor at Brandeis that I had been talking to before applying. We shall see. :)
More pictures!
