My School Trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico

My trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico was a cultural experience that I really enjoyed. It was a 5 day trip with my school, and my first time traveling without my parents. On the trip, I got to experience Hispanic/Indian culture in a way that I couldn't have done in the classroom. Plus, I got to become better friends with some peers that I hadn't interacted much with.

It all started on Tuesday morning when I went to the airport. I met up with my school group, and we flew to Albuquerque. When I arrived, I saw how different New Mexico was from Baltimore. The airport had a Mexican feel to it, with a brown tiled floor and fancy seats. When we went outside, I saw how different the buildings were too. A lot of the buildings were made out of material called adobe brick, which was brown and hard. When we went to the hotel, it also had a Mexican style, with wooden bedposts and a Mexican-style carpet. When we went out to dinner that night, I tried a dish called the New Mexico Pasta. Little did I know that it was going to be very spicy! That was when I learned that foods in New Mexico were spicy, and that they put chili and jalapenos on a lot of their food. They even have an option at fast food places like McDonald's to put chili on food there. After dinner, me and my roommate went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Our hotel room had a flair of New Mexico, and lots of natural light.

New Mexico Pasta. It was too spicy so I traded it for some other pasta.

The next day was our chance to explore Hispanic culture, as well as the area that we were staying in. In the morning, we went onto a trolley called the HOHO. (Hop On Hop Off) This not only acted as a tour bus, but as a way to get around Albuquerque. We saw many sights, such as local museums and points of interest, and also learned about New Mexico. For example, did you know that Breaking Bad was filmed in Albuquerque? While on the tour, I noted some differences from where I live in Baltimore. For instance, the climate is very dry in New Mexico, and they rarely get rain. They also have 310 days of sunshine. Plus, their skyline doesn't have many skyscrapers, as Albuquerque's tallest building is 350 ft. tall. We got off of the trolley at the Hispanic Cultural Center, and went on a docent-led tour. The Hispanic Cultural Center has one of the biggest campuses for a cultural center in the United States, with lots of buildings and even an education program! While on the tour, we got to see a Mexican watch tower that was used during the Spanish civil war as a safehouse. Inside there was a mural covering the walls and ceiling, but sadly I couldn't take a picture of it. After that we went into the art museum section to see some of the Hispanic art, and then we had lunch at Pop Fizz, a restaurant on campus. I had a Cubano sandwich, which had pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mayo, and mustard on a buttered bun, and it was delicious. After this we went to go see the Rio Grande river, and then went back on the HOHO bus to go to Old Town. This is the main town that you can walk to from my hotel in 15 minutes. It has lots of shopping places, and I had fun exploring it. There were a variety of places to get souvenirs, such as places selling traditional Indian goods, gift shops, basket shops, and rug shops. Some of my friends got soft blankets and sweaters and really liked them. On this day I was not sure what I wanted to get as a souvenir, so I just walked around and looked at shops. After that we went back to the hotel to chill out, and then we went to dinner at Backstreet Grill, where I just ordered a burger. Then we started the trend where we would stay up at night and go to the pool and hang out, which was fun.

This is one of the locations that Breaking Bad was filmed at.

The Albuquerque 'skyline.' The tallest building is 350 ft. tall.

The watchtower that had a Spanish name that I forgot.

The Hispanic Cultural Center.

DELICIOUS CUBANO!

Old Town Albuquerque

The next day explored Indian culture and life. After breakfast we left for a long car ride to the middle of nowhere (because you know you're in the middle of nowhere when there's no phone service) to go to the Acoma High School. We had to drive to the Acoma Pueblo to get there, and this was the high school that they go to. We went on a student-led tour of the school, and got to see what kinds of classes they take. One course that students take is a defense force class to train students to serve in the local Indian army. The students learn many things, but the thing that stands out to me is that the get to use real rifles. I mean how cool is that!! The school also offers regular classes, as well as Spanish and an Indian language as foreign language classes. We also got to have lunch with the students in their cafeteria and get to know them. After visiting the school we went to the Pueblo Cultural Center, where we saw an exhibit about the history of the pueblo, and then we went to Sky City. It is called Sky City because it is a Pueblo up on a mountain. We got to see Indian houses, an Indian church, and street vendors selling handmade art. It was amazing going to this place because I got to see how a different culture lives. We went back to the hotel and hung around for a bit, and then we could split up into groups and pick what restaurant we wanted to go to. Me and a couple of friends decided to go to Blake's Lotaburger, a fast food chain exclusive to New Mexico, and was rated as having the best green chili cheeseburger. I liked the food, but didn't put chili on my burger because I didn't want spicy food. I also really liked their milkshakes, and I think it is better than Burger King.

The Pueblo Cultural Center

Sky City is a very unique place and I am so glad I went.

This is the church of Sky City. They only use it for major holidays.

There were street vendors selling handmade art.

This is a kiva. The Indians discuss things here as well as practice their religion. There is a ladder on top of it because it looks like a regular building, and so they can tell it apart. It is like this because during wars they would need a secret place to do these things.

This is an oven that the people in Sky City use.

View from the top of Sky City

On the fourth day we took a train to Santa Fe. The train went through the Rio Grande Valley, which I am told looks very pretty, but I took a nap on the way there so I didn't see it. (whoops lol) When we got there we went on a tour of the area. We saw art galleries, museums, and different styles of architecture. We saw one of the oldest houses in Santa Fe, and what rotting adobe brick looked like. After the tour we could go in groups and pick where we wanted to have lunch. Me, my roommate, and another friend went to a pizza place, and then walked around the town of Santa Fe. There were lots of places to shop, including shopping malls, street vendors, and stores. The town of Santa Fe also had a plaza square where there was a mariachi band that we listened to. After our shopping time, we went to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, where we learned that there are more than 20 Indian Pueblos in New Mexico, and we learned about all of their differences in their art and way of life. Afterwards we went to the Thunderbird Bar and Grill, where I tried an enchilada and liked it. When you order food with chili on it in New Mexico, you are asked the question "Red or green?", which relates to what kind of chili you want, red or green chili, and if you want both you say "Christmas." I've heard that green chili is more spicy than red chili, so I had red chili on my enchilada. After dinner we took the train back to Albuquerque, but it was too dark for me to see the Rio Grande Valley. Me and my friends hung out in the pool again and then we went to bed.

This is one of the most popular art galleries in Santa Fe.

Pretty decorations

This is one of the oldest houses in Santa Fe. Can you see the adobe brick rotting?

These fences are made out of juniper wood because the scent scares away wolves.

The major church in the town of Santa Fe

The plaza in the town of Santa Fe

During our tour, we were following the Santa Fe Trail, which was originally used as a trade route. It took people 3 months to travel the whole thing.

The last day of the trip had more free time than any other day. Usually we would get a couple hours to ourselves, but we had so much time! In the morning we went back on the HOHO bus to go to the zoo. My roommate loved animals and knew a lot about them, so when I went around with him at the zoo, he was like my tour guide because he was always telling me cool facts about the animals. The zoo in Albuquerque was referred to as the BioPark, which included not only the zoo, but the aquarium and botanical gardens. After exploring the zoo for a couple hours, we took the BioPark train to the botanical gardens to have a picnic lunch, which was a burger. After this, we went back to Old Town to do some shopping. When we got there, there was a big festival going on celebrating the day that New Mexico became a state, and not a part of Mexico. There were lots of street vendors in the plaza, as well as a mariachi band. All of the other students had already bought a ton of things and didn't want to shop anymore, so they walked straight back to the hotel, even though there was a festival going on. I wanted to stay and find a souvenir, which ended up being a t-shirt. I also looked at what the merchants at the festival were selling, and listened to the music. Around that time, something bad happened. One of my friends broke the mirror in their hotel room, and they had to pay the hotel back some big bucks. I wasn't there when it happened, so I wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but this person was rooming with someone who he liked to play around with, so I can imagine them fighting and breaking the mirror. When this happened, everyone's key cards got deactivated, which really ticked us off because we couldn't get in our rooms until an adult came back to the hotel to sign some forms, and all of the teachers were out shopping with me and a couple of other friends. Fortunately, when I got back from shopping I was able to get a new key and go to my room, but my roommate was still annoyed. For dinner we could go wherever we wanted, so me and my roommate ordered room service pizza. We had about 4 hours in our hotel room, so we mostly just watched TV and I played on my phone, as well as socialize with my roommate of course! I also went back to Blake's with a couple of friends to get another milkshake.