--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote:
>
> Just a few sitting-in-a-Borders thinking about being in
> Santa Fe again after 6 years away impressions:
>
> * The most striking thing is how genuinely friendly most
> people have been. I had forgotten about that New Mexico
> openness and hospitality and just plain courtesy. That's
> a pleasant change from Europe, where people tend to be
> more reserved, especially those in "service professions."
>
> * The most shocking thing has been working in my hotel
> room from time to time with the TV on and seeing commer-
> cials for literally the first time in over six years. I
> simply don't understand how you people stand for the
> *number* of them, much less the content.
>
> * The content is really revealing about the state of
> America. Endless commercials for competing insurance
> companies ("A 15 minute call will save you 15%"), end-
> less commercials for drugs and medicines to cure what
> ails you, equally endless commercials for companies to
> get debt collectors off your backs or reduce the amount
> of money you owe the IRS. This is not a healthy country,
> or one in good economic shape. Spain is one of the least
> healthy economies in the EU, and we don't see fear-based
> panic pitches like this; it almost feels as if all of
> these ads are generated by people trying to make a last
> buck from panicky people before it all falls apart.
>
> * Shopping, although I don't really need much of anything,
> is interesting in that it's like going to Hong Kong. The
> difference between the Euro and the dollar is so great at
> this point that I look at a price and have to think "40%
> discount" to figure out how much it really costs me. But
> to be honest, about all I'm going to pick up while here
> are some new jeans (still overpriced in Europe for some
> reason) and a big bagful of New Mexico green chiles,
> which one simply cannot get in Spain, or elsewhere for
> that matter. And maybe a couple of bottles of good
> sippin' tequila, which one also cannot find in Spain.
>
> * Overall, the women of New Mexico have had my eyes
> poppin' out since I've been here, but that's more a facet
> of New Mexico than the US. Very little makeup, no need to
> play dressup, no attempt to conceal who they are, and
> instead a level of comfort with who they are that I find
> very refreshing after France and Spain.
>
> * On the other hand, it being Santa Fe, sitting in a
> restaurant forced to overhear the conversation at the
> next table had me close to puking. Endless repetitions
> of New Age Crapola spoken as if the person saying it had
> never noticed that she'd been spouting the same bullshit
> for decades without it affecting her life in any way. I
> finally had to get up and move to another table.
>
> * One pleasant thing has been the amount of attention
> paid in Santa Fe to healthier living and sustainable crops
> and GM-free foods. Got to go into my first Whole Foods in
> six years, and found it a pleasurable experience, although
> WAY overpriced.
>
> * And, of course, the best thing about Santa Fe when I
> lived here is still the best thing about Santa Fe now. The
> sunsets. Santa Fe still does sunsets that make you sigh
> and be thankful you're alive. Makes the whole trip worth-
> while.
>
> Maybe more later, but now I've got to head out and soak
> up a little sun in today's T-shirt weather before the next
> snowstorm rolls in. That, too, is part of what makes Santa
> Fe so unique and wonderful. I'm looking forward to tomorrow
> night's Art Walk along Canyon Road, to see where the art
> scene is at these days.
>
> Later. Maybe.
>
I went to Santa Fe with a friend some years ago [maybe 20 yrs back] to attend a
meeting with a Swami Dayananda, a traditional teacher of Vedanta
http://www.dayananda.org/ with whom I had had some very meaningful acquaintence
and correspondence. Beautiful man. Wonderful meeting.
I found Santa Fe to be a lovely, laid back and very pleasant place. My only
complaint in the few short days we were there was that we got hopelessly lost
one night and there were no fucking street lights in the town to see the names
of the streets.
Santa Fe just isn't that big but I remember we floundered driving around in the
dark for what seemed like hours trying to get back to our motel.
I never realized how we take for granted something as simple as street lights.
I don't recall going anywhere that they didn't have them. Maybe these days it's
different in Santa Fe.
