People in the closest towns don’t recognize the name of Pueblo Pintado and ask, “Where’s that at?”
This area of the country is best known for how dark it gets…and subsequently has one of the best observatories in the nation. No light pollution does wonders. However, night driving is can be annoying when headlights seem to just absorb into the blackness rather than illuminating it.
A day of rain requires me to cancel volleyball practice so that people don’t have to deal with the dirt-turned-mud roads.
A couple hours of rain requires low gear, four-wheel drive, and driving at 1-2 mph in order to not slide off the roads.
When I take a student home at night, I know I wouldn’t be able to find their house in the daylight because a)it’s so barren b)there are no signs or landmarks and c)it’s so dark that I couldn’t see landmarks if there happened to be some.
The food stands that are set up on the side of the road double as drive-thrus...for horseback.
I spend my free time catching black widows and terrifyingly large wolf spiders…and then mail them (live) to Rachael Niemi for her science classes.
The kids charge their Ipods in outlets during class…because they don’t have electricity at home.
An exciting excursion to take during the school week? The Chaco Wash Landromat. Not because it’s so exciting, but because I get to leave the High School compound and get clean clothes.Exciting excursion option number 2? The gas station. No. I do not have a grocery store here. Yes, a box of cereal does cost $7 at the gas station.
Sometimes I see little kids, barefoot, playing games around their hogans and houses. And it reminds me of when I went to Mexico and Belize.
Don't worry, I leave town everyweekend to go to...town. Seeing friends, going to events, and buying groceries helps maintain my sanity. Here are a few things from the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival.
