bienvenidos al mexico nuevo, pais del encanto

So, first impressions...where do I start? It's really incredible out here. It's kind of like living at the beach except there's no ocean, just miles and miles of sand and dirt. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was take the top off the Jeep. Then I unpacked and straightened up. Then Charlene and Joe (not their real names) came over and we signed the lease agreement for the house, which is awesome. There's a yard and everything. Plus, there's hummingbirds everywhere, so I need to obtain a hummingbird feeder. Apparently, the yard maintenence duties fall to me, so looks like I'll be getting out in the sun and the dirt a bit, which sounds like fun. I feel like I have just moved to the Garden of Eden, population 20,000.

Oh, and the house is made out of adobe. Is this like I won The Oregon Trail or what? I hope the moving guy comes tomorrow with my stuff and hasn't died of dysentary or drowned in the river or something.

So the lease agreement had on it a clause that I not silversmith in the house once I move in. I asked if that was a common problem in these parts, and Charlene answered that she and Joe don't like renting to Navajo because when they move in, they will move several generations of relatives into the house and/or set up silver smithing facilities inside the house for the purpose of jewelry making, Gallup being a major center of American Indian jewelry. Charlene also mentioned a distaste for the Navajo and "east coast liberals" who don't understand that the Navajo (perhaps) overindulge in the liberties afforded to them that are provided by the Federal Government.

This brought up a good point; first and foremost that I have a ways to go in the pursuit of educating myself about the complex issues surrounding the coexistence of native peoples and foreign settlers in this region.

I have decided to continue this blog. I may change the name once I figure something out (which shouldn't change the status of the people who are following my blog--thank you very much, by the way. That's really nice of you and makes me feel very special), and I also may have longer intervals between postings, but the content should remain the same.

I wanted to thank everyone who's read the blog; I have gotten a really positive response to it, which has been greatly appreciated. It's been a lot of fun, which is why I'm continuing it.

Perhaps go see Section 9 tonight? I am, after all, a mere 5 hour drive from Roswell.