So do I have a great series of photos to share with you. Last weekend, Mr K and I went to Santa Fe, NM to check out the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. Or, as it's more commonly known here, the Santa Fe Indian Market. About 100,000 people come to this market/festival annually, coming from all over the world for the two day event that showcases the most beautiful hand crafted Native American arts I've ever seen.
It was a beautiful day and we were excited. Our first event! Of course, we hadn't planned on the fact that there wouldn't be enough parking. But, lucky for us, after about an hour and a half of driving around and getting stuck in LOTS of traffic, we found a free parking structure by the courthouse.
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| The Santa Fe Courthouse |
Nice photo op, I think.
Then we walked towards the historic plaza of Santa Fe.
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| Entering the plaza |
As you can see from the above pic, it was starting to get crowded, but it was nothing. We were only on the farthest outskirts of the market.
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| This building was too pretty to pass up. |
And of course, there were wind catcher sculptures too!
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| It doesn't make sound, but it does make waves. |
Anyway, we made our way to the center of the plaza, admiring the various stalls of pottery and jewelry we saw before getting a map. They had all sorts of food there too. Mr K and I had already eaten, but we may have shared a small paper bag of mini fried doughnuts in cinnamon sugar.
Mmmm....cinnamon...
They also had roasted corn on the cob and Horchata (basically a cold milky drink made from rice with cinnamon, sugar and vanilla). We almost got some horchata, but we decided that water would be better for us, as we were pretty thirsty.
Another time. Another time...
Well, while meandering and munching on the mini snacks, a performance began. I believe it was a young man from the Apache tribe (please correct me if I'm wrong!) that performed some flute songs he had written based on some Native American stories that he told his children.
His flute playing was gorgeous and created a spell over the audience. Haunting and floating. I loved it.
Then he called up another person and the other man performed a wind dance to tell the story of the trickster coyote.
It was pretty neat.
He called up a sweet little boy, only six years old, his nephew to dance a hoop dance. It was so hard to catch good photos of that little dynamo. He moved so quickly!
Just look at that happy face! I was very impressed with his ability to hold four to eight hoops in one hand.
Following the boy, the flutist called up his father to share a story while he played.
The father told a story in two languages. The version in his native tongue had such expression and such emotion behind it, made me sad that I didn't understand it. But I'm glad he translated it in English too.
After that, Mr K and I decided to stretch our legs and see some of the longer stretches of tents.
We saw all sorts of crafts, but my favorite was the tent with the circle quilts. The colors were absolutely astounding. So beautiful that I forgot to take a picture!
On our way back we happened across another performance. It looked like it was a closing ceremony to the four directions (North, South, East, and West).
The dresses the girls wore were lovely and everyone danced in time. It was incredible to watch.
But, as with all good things, it came to an end and we headed back to our little car. However, we managed a few detours.
I love detours. They're so much fun.
If we hadn't stopped, we would have missed this:
For right now, this is very New Mexican to us.
The hanging chiles, the statue, the buildings.
All of it.
It just says New Mexico and Southwest culture.
And of course, I did see this:
Those carpets are pretty, but they don't hold a candle to the ones I saw in the market.
Well, we headed home and I finally got my favorite photos of the day.
I know, I know. All the photos were my favorites, but these last two really were just perfect with the light and the timing. I was pleased that they turned out!
Exhibit A:
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| That is Camel Rock Monument, what you see going from Santa Fe to Los Alamos. |
And Exhibit B:
I love the Southwest!
And on that note, goodnight all!
Until next time!
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