Day 2 - It always gets better!

 There was an email waiting for me when I awoke in the morning of Day 2.  My lost luggage had been delivered to the front desk of the hotel at 12:05 am.  Great news for the first real day of the program.  The dinner and the orientation session the night before reviewed the program materials and identified the various venues we would be using, including dining rooms and classrooms.

The day begins, everyday, with a very adequate breakfast buffet, typical of fairly good hotels.  Served from 6:00 to 9:00 am it makes for a leisurely start of the day with a full stomach and a clear head.  The next thing on the agenda, everyday except the last two, is a lecture/discussion lead by Oliver Prezant, who is the person who does the pre-performance lectures before each performance.  I can't say that I was immediately taken with either his information or his style of delivery.  It felt a little like we were being talked down to.  I've come to describe his presentation as a sort of advanced music appreciation class, with a lot of emphasis on what to listen for and historical and cultural background on the operas, themselves.  His knowledge regarding opera is truly encyclopedic.  I guess for me, he was an acquired taste.

His introduction to "The Righteous," the opera whose world premier we would see is a few hours was really quite good, especially at unpacking a very complex plot and introducing the principle characters.  More of that later.

After lunch, we did a walking tour of the historic plaza area of Santa Fe.  Our leader, Christopher, could point out and embellish the history and traditions of a variety of sites, especially those associated with Los Alamos and the development of the atomic bomb,  Christopher has deep New Mexican roots and grew up speaking Spanish and English and carries a vast knowledge and loyalty for the many influences that contribute to the culture of Santa Fe.  He calls the Spanish Conquistadors, colonizers, which should indicate where his cultural loyalties lay.

The statue above represents all the non-indigenous imports to New Mexico by the Spanish which brought a raft of diseases which decimated the native population.  The statue commemorates the arrival of the "colonizers."

I have to say that Santa Fe has embraces its heritage with abandon.  Virtually every building is adobe-mud colored and has that particular look and style associated with the region.

One of the interesting sites we visited was "The Miraculous Stairway."  The Sisters of Loretto were brought to Santa Fe to educate the girls and they built buildings to that end.  One of the buildings was a French style church.  It is a beautiful church but someone neglected to design a way to get into the gallery/balcony.  The sisters were clueless about what to do, so they began a novena.  At the end of the ninth day, there was a knock at the door of the convent and a wondering carpenter was asking for lodging.  The sisters said he could have lodging if he built them a way to get into the balcony and his handy work is still admired, today.

It was back to the hotel to prepare for dinner and the opera.  I'll close with the first views I had of the opera theatre.

fin

Day 1 - Travel - Bah!

 Everything was going great.  I arrived at O'Hare at 6:35 am as planned, was assisted (mightily) by United Airlines staff and received my first ride on an airport wheelchair.  Of course, the gate for my flight was at the absolute end of Terminal 1 which made me even more grateful for Bill's (my travel agent) suggestion that I acknowledge my limitations and make use of this airline service.

The flight to Denver was on time and unremarkable, until we reached Denver Airport and had to wait 50 minutes for a gate in which to disembark.  As I watched the time tick away, I began to wonder if I would have enough time to make it to my next gate and the final leg to Santa Fe.  Luckily, there was a wheelchair waiting and a vigorous youngish man to hurry me from the very end of the A concourse the the very end of the B concourse.  We arrived just as their were getting ready to close the doors and I collapsed into my seat as the engines were starting.  I couldn't imagine that my luggage had made the transfer, and I was correct.  

Upon arrival in Santa Fe, no baggage!  After an hour of filling out forms and making a claim, I called for an Uber to take me to The Druray Plaza Hotel and checked in with what little carry-on I had with me.  No clothes, no toiletries, etc.  Luckily, I had all the program materials, my phone, my compute, my meds, and two pairs of shoes.  Hopes are high that my luggage will show up sometime tomorrow.  We shall see!cct

No pictures today, as my camera is among the missing items.  Perhaps I will have another opportunity to capture the stunning New Mexico landscape in the days ahead.

The Day Before the Day Before...

It's Saturday, and I will be leaving very early Monday morning to catch my flight to Santa Fe via Denver.  All I really have to do pack for a week away in a strange place and the few odds and ends that must be done before leaving home for any lengthy period of time, empty trash, wash last load of dishes, water plants, etc.  Some of that will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.  Tomorrow morning, I'm celebrating the 9:00 am Sung Mass at Ascension and assisting at the 11:00.  I then have three or four hours before my dinner engagement and bed.  All is well!

I'm really only making this post to that I can still make it all work.  I think I'd better try to add a picture to complete my trial run.

I guess I'm a ready as I'll ever get!

More, lateer....

Opera Extravaganza in Santa Fe, New Mexico!

 A wonderful trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, is about to begin.  It is the first travel I've attempted since the Co-vid epidemic shut me and the rest of the world down.  I had two trips scheduled for 2020, and we all know how that turned out!  Inactivity put me into a physical decline that rendered anything other than the essential basics out of reach.  However, some progress in recent months encourages me to "test the waters" and hopefully discover that more challenging travel is not out of the question.  Time and experience will tell.

This is meant to be only an introduction to a more extensive blog during the Santa Fe adventure.  I will be flying to my destination via Denver and Santa Fe airport.  The program is eight days with five Opera performances and museum tours, with ample free time to do as much exploring, locally, as desired.  It promises to be an informative and artistically fulfilling time away, and with some trepidation I'm really looking forward to it!

More, later.

Meet the Puebloans.

Day 2-- too early.  Typically, I awakened a little after 3 am, having slept about 5 hours.  Even taking into account that I'd gained an hour with mountain time, it was not enough.  So I forced myself to try to return to sleep, eventually giving up and using the rest of the night to continue my reading in Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest, one of the recommended books I purchased in anticipation of this trip.  It's actually quite a good read, but, as I discovered in our first lecture from Richard Friedman, our touring archaeologist, presents only one perspective among reasonable and accepted ones regarding the history and achievements of the ancient Puebloans.  Friedman has worked in this field for 40 years and strives to impart far more information than I can take in.  So, after a decent Hilton breakfast and a mind numbing lecture and slide show by Richard, we boarded a bus and headed for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

There are currently nineteen surviving Pueblo communities living in New Mexico and despite speaking three different languages and multiple dialects, they have banded together to create this center to introduce and illuminate their history, culture and contemporary expression.  As one might expect, there are displays of ancient artifacts, dioramas, videos, all showing aspects of Pueblo life as it was and is.  As the self-guided tour winds its way through Pueblo history, art and culture, one eventually ends up at a very expensive gift shop featuring the work of regional artisans, and, of course, the predictable trove of souvenirs.  The jewelry, pottery and textiles are all of excellent quality with price tags to match!  I nearly bought a T-shirt, but was saved by the absence of one in an appropriate size.  Whew!  There is also a restaurant where we had a lunch of blue corn enchiladas, beans and summer squash.  The tour ended at the dance floor where we were treated to examples of "the butterfly dance," and "the eagle dance."

Butterfly Dance

The Eagle Dance

Around the dance floor there were local artisans displaying and selling their pieces.  These were much more reasonable in price and of comparable quality with the gift shop items, and I was sorely tempted to buy a exquisite piece of pottery.  But, reluctantly decided that I did not want to be responsible for such a fragile item during the rest of the trip.  My experience from the past tells me that there will be ample, future opportunities for a similar, suitable expenditure.  On the way out, I took this shot of a truly arresting sculpture by a contemporary Pueblo artist.

Our next visit was to the Petroglyph National Monument on the outskirts of Albuquerque (if I get nothing else from this trip, I've at least learned to spell Albuquerque).  The monument is situated in the basalt rocks of an ancient lava flow.

The edge of the ancient lava flow

Getting to the actual petroglyphs required a hike of some distance over sand in 95 degree heat.  For the effort it took and the discomfort engendered, I would say that it was hardly worth it.  I saw better petroglyphs at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah last year.  These were pretty unimaginative and scarce, and had obviously been amended over the years to include "Bill" who at some point added his own contribution.  The most valuable lesson for me was that there were other people in this tour who struggled more on this adventure than I did--some comfort to me as I have carried a concern about my fitness for the three mile a day warning that comes with the designation of the Road Scholar activity level of "Let's Go."  So far, so good!

Petroglyphs on basalt with spectator

As clouds began to roll in, I couldn't help but take a picture or two of the high desert on the long, tedious trek back to the bus.

Still hot and sweaty, we stopped at a whimsical restaurant for a dinner that no one wanted since it was less than three hours since we finished lunch.  Nearly everyone selected the "fresh berry salad with salmon," and we headed back to the Hilton for another lecture and slide show by Richard on current innovations in archaeological research and a movie on Chaco Canyon, narrated by Robert Redford.  I think I only nodded of once!  I gratefully fell into bed at 9:30.

Whimsical restaurant in Albuquerque called "Home Range" (I think)

Arrival!

The flight from Chicago to Albuquerque was truly uneventful, delayed take-off (O'hare!!) but a smooth and comfortable three hour flight.  American Airlines provided me with a small bag of unsalted pretzels and a entire can of Coke, not the usual plastic cup fulled with ice.  Upon arrival, I called for the hotel shuttle as the tour directions instructed, and then waited for a hour in the New Mexico heat for the driver to show up.  Checking into the hotel was no problem and the room is satisfactory.  I had to join Hilton Honors to get free WiFi.  Since there is no cost, I can afford it.

The first event of the tour is orientation which we just finished.  It really amounts to no more than an introduction of the tour director and the archaeologist and, of course, each of the participants.  There are 24 signed up, although this evening three were still MIA.  It is far too early to put forward any opinions about the group.  I couldn't help but notice that there are only six men, and a bunch of very masculine-looking women.  We'll see how this plays out!  Tomorrow we begin the tour in earnest with a visit to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and Petroglyph National Monument which are more of less local.  More about that later.

I learned something worth remembering, today, though.  I decided to make the trip to O'hare on public transportation even though, when I left Malibu East I still hadn't decide how I would do it.  I took the first bus that came, and it decided my route: Sheridan bus to Foster bus to Jefferson Park Blue Line to O'hare.  The whole trip took about one and a half hours, probably twice as long as taxi or Uber.  On the positive side, it cost a total of $1.35 instead of $45 or $60, and since my time is not that valuable, it seems like a pretty good trade off.  The depression mentality so deeply implanted in my infant brain is alive and well!  O yah, and American Airlines has raised the price of checking a bag to $30.  Outrageous!

Tomorrow, more worth reading and some pictures.

Off again!

I'm starting this blog the day before I leave, just to make sure everything is still working and connected.  My history with technology is fraught with failure and frustration, and, when I am in unfamiliar surroundings, it is even worse!  So, this is the start of a new adventure.  I will resume posting to this site in Albuquerque, New Mexico, tomorrow evening when I have something to report.  My anticipation of this trip is that it will be essentially an exercise in cultural anthropology illuminated by the exploration of important archaeological sites.  I find that I have a lot more interest and even passion for knowledge of ancient people and places than I do of anything that might be identifies as roughly contemporary.  Is it a sign of old age, or meaningful commentary on current events? I can't tell!