drive through cigarettes

so here we are in albuquerque. all i can think about are bugs bunny cartoons ("i knew i should have made a left turn at albuquerque"). we had breakfast at denny's and though i have long thought it to be one of the worst places to go to, i've ended up going through several times over the years just 'cos nothing else is open (once on christmas!) or it's smack right there in front of you. this was one of those right there cases.

indian pueblo cultural center

after having my fill of oatmeal and toast, we went to the indian pueblo cultural center. alright, finally we're going to see one of the reasons to visit the south west, native american culture! we're not going to a reservation and forcing ourselves upon people who are not welcoming us, but at the same i feel odd going to the cultural center, like i'm demanding them to perform for me so that i can feel like i've been cultured. i thought about how in okinawa there are similar things and was ok with it. it's a way for people to learn direct. but i couldn't help but notice the native american smoke shop set up next to it that had drive through cigarettes. surely something better could be set-up? say drive through fry bread? i kid. the cultural center's gift shop did have a "will work for frybread" t-shirt and i was tempted to get it after watching "smoke signals" but since i had yet to actually eat it, i didn't know if i would like it.

with a native dancer

at the center, we browsed the museum and watched some children dance native dances as part of the daily performance. we were glad traditions were being passed on but a bit disappointed they weren't adults with more seasoned experience. since there is a cafe at the center, we made it a point to eat there so we could taste a sample of native food, although most of it seemed to be generic southwest/mex cooking. i had grilled squash and in basalmic vinagrette which was really good, with fry bread of course. the bread was alright. once we were done with lunch, we realized that while eating we had missed the adult performance, doh! but we did arrive just in time to have our picture taken with a native. again i had mixed feelings over this but i just thought about how the same thing exists in okinawa and how i'm totally fine with it in okinawa. it's my heritage so i'm fine but yet when it's someone else's, i can't help but question the exoticization of the other. when it's your own, you are happy to share and the locations i am thinking of are places meant for tourists and for sharing and experiencing.

on top of sandia

while still in albuquerque but just outside of the city, we went to go climb a mountain. no, we didn't have time for that so we took the easy way up. we went up mt. sandia on the sandia tramway or as my mom called it, the cable car. it's the longest stretch of cable to take you up a mountain, something like that. there are 1-way tickets available for those that wish to hike up the mountain and ride back down. it was pretty damn cold up there. in the winter, you can go skiing. not every year though as it depends on the snow gods.

st. francis of assisi cathedral

after that our time in albuquerque was over and we drove to santa fe. again this was somewhere my mom said we'd be staying but that's not what happened. we arrived when the sun was setting and stores were closing. (i guess they want to avoid the vampires.) the only place we really got to see was the cathedral basilica of st. francis of assisi (a mass was going on so we only entered the 'lobby' area) and a few expensive shops. there is a town square (or plaza) and it would have been interesting to view this place during the day. it reminded me so much of mexico that you could tell this used to be mexico. you have the town square with the church at one side of it and all that. not to mention we're in new mexico.

since all the shops were closed and we had walked around a little bit, my mom felt like we could cross off santa fe from our list so off we went to roswell. we had dinner at applebee's and stayed at a super 8 motel again. they got my pizza w/o cheese order wrong so i had to wait as they made another one w/o cheese. roswell is famous for aliens but a no cheese pizza is apparently too alien a concept.