i recently got an email from a friend in new mexico. it said,
So the impressions I get from reading your blog is that you're not really a New Mexican anymore. Your family has all moved on and your ties to NM have been broken.
i was totally shocked to read that. i absolutely still think of myself as a new mexican! whenever people ask where i'm from, that's always my response. i was born there, i lived there my whole life, then i came to utah for college. i guess i've been here almost ten years now (ten years in june, yikes!) but i still don't think of myself as a "utahn". my oldest sister still lives there and i would visit every chance i got if i ever got any chances...it's a long drive on two-lane highway and noah cries every second he's in a carseat, so it's not always an option for a 3-day weekend. i feel like albuquerque will always be my home, no matter where i live. so in honor of albuquerque, here are a few things i love about new mexico.
i remember going to this as a little girl and being so cold i ended up sitting in the van with my grandma. it's held in the beginning of october every year and you have to go early (like 4 or 5 am) so it's freezing. it's amazing to watch all those hot air balloons go up in the air. the funny shapes are so fun to see and i absolutely think this is something everybody should see before they die. one of my favorite memories as a kid is riding on the bus to school in october and seeing the horizon FILLED with balloons. hundreds of them. it's amazing.
there is no chile better than the green chile grown in new mexico. it is delicious. they put it on everything. mcdonald's, sonic, burger king, all have green chile cheeseburgers (sooo delish) and the mexican food is even better with it. i crave green chile, especially on a stuffed sopapilla at garduno's.
the tram is a few miles from our house and is a lot of fun to ride (also a little scary). you can ride up and ski down the other side, or ride up and eat at the restaurant and ride back down. you can also drive up the back side of the mountain and hike over, or at least you used to be able to, the trail might be closed now. it's amazing and fun and everyone should try it sometime. here are some little known facts about the albuquerque tram:
Total Horizontal Length: 2.7 miles
Total Vertical Rise: 3,819 feet
Elevation of Lower Terminal: 6,559 feet
Elevation of Tower One: 7,010 feet
Elevation of Tower Two: 8,750 feet
Elevation of Top Terminal: 10,378 feet
i know it may seem strange, but i loved high school. some of my favorite memories of new mexico involve my time at manzano. the pictures on this website are very different from the school i attended (apparently they've seriously upgraded it...we had outdoor lockers and our books got ruined every time there was a little bit of wind when it rained or snowed). not necessarily a must-see on your next trip, but a place i love.
i've never been to white sands or carlsbad caverns, two must-see's if you ever visit, i've heard. so why didn't we ever go there as kids? who knows, except i know my dad was always very busy and our vacations were usually to the cabin or salt lake for general conference.
i love the new mexico state fair. we got out of school early to go every year. the food was great (especially the indian fry bread) and i always liked going, every year.
i love my memories of elementary school and the principal, dr. carillo. he would get on the announcements every day and say, "if it is to be, it is up to me." and "A smile costs nothing, but gives much..." (for the rest of that saying you can click here).
i love that the state flower is the yucca and the state bird is the roadrunner (they really do run that fast!). i love that the big ditches are called "arroyos" and that's just what they're called by everybody, even if you don't speak spanish. i love that when we moved to maryland when i was 10, people thought i was from mexico and didn't speak english and we'd have to say, "oh no, new mexico is a state. right next to texas and arizona." and they always seemed surprised. i love new mexico and i hope i'll always feel ties to it.
the new mexico state song:
O, Fair New Mexico
Written by: Elizabeth Garrett
Under a sky of azure,
Where balmy breezes blow,
Kissed by the golden sunshine,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
Land of the Montezuma,
With firey hearts aglow,
Land of the deeds historic,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o'erflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.
18 comments:
Ive been to New Mexico--on drives to and from Texas to Utah! It was really pretty. I think wherever you are raised will always hold a place in your heart. It's part of home.
LOVED this post and I was surprised at how many memories are tied with my "New Mexico" home. Plus, we were just there in Oct. and did a whole bunch of the must-do's - the balloon fiesta, the tram, lots of green chile. Too bad we missed Carlsbad caverns growning up huh? Maybe I'll take my kids there someday.
Who was the email from???
I think you should have put Manzano fight song on instead of the State Song. Go, Manzano Monarchs Win this game today.With the banner flying high We'll cheer you all the way Rah! Rah! Rah! After 31 years I still remember it! I am old!
Are you homesick now? I have to admit that I think of you as being "from" New Mexico but settling in Utah--is that wrong? (I didn't write the email!!) :P
stacy, i guess you're right, i just never thought of it that way! and i also don't think we'll be here forever.
i remember the fight song too peggy, so weird.
email was from jimmy, sara.
Thanks for this post! It brought back good memories of my good old days. We haven't visited in years, but I have several family members that still live there - we should make that our next family vacation!
Will you move to NM? I love BYU but after graduating, it felt weird for us to stay in Utah (like that has been "a stop on our journey" kind of thing), but you've got lots of family there. Where's your ideal place? NM, I guess? :P
i don't know if we have an ideal. i think we'd both love to live in benicia. i love it there and there's so much to do. for me, i would go almost anywhere as long as the pay was better than it is here (which it's not in NM), and for dave it would be somewhere that he could actually do epidemiology. i think he loves california and missouri both, we'd both go to texas...who knows. but it would be sad to leave my parents and brother that are pretty close to us.
LOVE NM, it'll always be home I think. Coulda guessed it was jimmy.
I love NM too, and James and I even could possibly have the option to move to Albuquerque in a year or two. Guess who wanted to move there? ME! Guess who doesn't want to move there? James. Seems to me that I like it better than he does. I miss Albuquerque. I haven't been since before Caleb was born!
-Holly
gym, HOW COULD YOU?
Hey, NM is one of the worst states for schools (and that is the only negative thing I have ever said about NM) and I have this thing that I want to go and do things that are new. I want to live new places, vacation in new places and try new things. I do miss NM and probably the green chile more than anything...but I want something NEW!
-gym
My family moved all the time and I consider myself "from" New Mexico as well. I also remember the Manzano fight song! But I remember the school song for Temple Texas High School as well...so that is kind of weird. I didn't even go there!
I loved your post. Lots of good memories. We went to Carlsbad on our way to Albuquerque when we moved there from TX. It is definitely a must see!!
I don't know if you go back and read comments to older posts, but. . .1) I loved your tribute to NM. I know the feeling. I've now lived longer in CA than Utah, but I still consider myself a Utahn living in CA. 2) I love NM, especially Albuquerque. I used to go there as a kid with my family. Good memories. 3) I Love that you like Benicia and I'd LOVE for you to come here. Our grocery store now stocks Hatch green chilies from NM and Nation's has a green chile burger--does that help?
I travel to NM for work all the time and I have never really liked it--but maybe that's because I am stuck going to places like Zuni, Gallup, Pine Springs, and Las Vegas! Plus I never really knew what there was to do and I was always there for business anyways. Too bad I don't really travel there anymore because I think I would like it better after gaining this information.
you never went anywhere fun while you were there? bummer! you and sean should seriously do the balloon fiesta sometime, carter would go crazy for it.
vivian, i never knew you went to albuquerque as a kid. what did you do there?
gym you could send your kids to the Academy
ellen, i don't make that much money!
-gym
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