Santa Fe's Sharp Soft-Lines

For me, the Thai Café was an inevitable stop. The obvious excuse was comparing their menu to a real Thai meal; the truth was I missed Thailand.

Location

A couple of minutes away from the central plaza by foot, and near the Santa Fe Hilton Hotel, the Thai Café enjoys a central spot in downtown. As most structures in downtown, it is located within a one-story, heavy, down to earth, adobe-mud structure, instead than in an airy traditional Thai wood structure atop flowing waters.

Hours

Thai Café is open Monday to Saturday between 11:30am to 3pm and 4:30pm to 9pm and on Sundays between 12:30pm and 8:30pm.

Owners

Sagol and Tavee Yaparwong own the place; they arrived from Sukhothai more than thirty years ago.

After the meal I joined Tavee for a short chat about Thailand; she told me about her village and provided a delightful addition to the whole event. Unluckily, she successfully proved that my Thai is rusty.

Setup

The contrast between the bright altitude sun of Santa Fe and the dark inner space created an instantaneous feeling of relief once inside. When my eyes adapted to the relative darkness, a soft Thai deco was revealed; but that wasn't all. The relief exchanged itself to a slight horror when the colors became clear.

Chairs were violet and yellow. The walls were bright red, yellow or orange. The sky - sorry I meant "ceiling" - was deep blue. The tablecloth was violet and was covered with a sheet of white paper; despite its strangeness this last arrangement become handy when the owner handed the four kids in our company crayons, they spent the rest of the evening drawing on the table.

However, the effort to create a truthful Thai environment was obvious; over the piano was a harp shaped as a Royal Thai Barge which transferred us to Bangkok, or was it Ayutthaya?

Dishes and Cutlery

The main discrepancy I found between Thai Café and its counterparts in Bangkok was related to the dishes and cutlery.

The spoons were not Asian (those are deeper and shorter than Western ones) and chopsticks were not offered. The Tom Yum and Tom Ka dishes were not served in the specially designed dishes used in traditional Thai restaurants but in simple dishes, which gave the experience a small, dismissible dissonance.

Prices

The Thai Café is reasonably priced. Main dishes reach fifteen dollars, while entrees and desserts do not cross the seven dollars. The place offers lunch specials for nine dollars during weekdays.

Spices

Tavee asks the guests regarding the amount of chili they like. My answering in Thai lead her to the (very wrong) conclusion I can eat as spicy as Thais do, and I got an extra spicy Tom Ka.

Moreover, by the end of the meal, she measured up my consumption of the additional " nam prik" (chili sauce) I had requested while attempting to qualify the food. "You hardly touched it," she remarked showing concern and care. My burning tongue prevented a verbal explanation.

Beyond that, each table featured ground chilies, ground peanuts and soy sauce with chilies.

Menu

Tom Ka Goong

One of the main attractions in the menu was the soup, which included two variations. Tom Yum is one of the better-known Thai dishes and is based on a hot and spicy soup; Tom Ka is very similar, but it includes coconut milk. Thai Café serves two versions of each; one adds "Gai" at the end of the name and chicken into the soup, while the other adds "Goong," shrimps.

I chose a Tom Ka Goong; the dish includes also lemon grass, lime leaf, galanga, mushrooms, onions and cilantro. The amount served was generous and the soup was very tasty, despite the fact that the counted shrimps were successfully hiding in the depths of the bowl. Considering Santa Fe is above 7000 feet high, the hide-and-seek game is understandable.

Mussaman Curry

This curry is a very unusual dish in the Thai cuisine because it includes potatoes and carrots. These swim in a yellow curry of coconut milk together with peanuts and onions, the dish was excellent.

Pad Cashew Nuts

All the dishes beginning with "pad" are related to the nowadays-infamous "Pad Thai" type of Thai fast food. These are sir-fried dishes, which are served here with jasmine or brown rice. The Pad Cashew Nuts included garlic, bamboo strips, mushrooms, snow peas and cashew nuts.

Kao Niew Moon

One of the flag dishes of the Thai cuisine, the Kao Niew Moon is served in the Thai Café as a dessert and not as a main dish. I may be the only exclusively sweet dish and is seasonal due to its dependence on fresh and ripe sweet mango. A chunk of sticky rice is bathed with coconut milk and covered up with sweet mango; needless to say, it is delicious.

Access

The chapel is open daily between 9am and 4:30pm and on Sundays between 10:30am and 5pm;the entrance fee is $2.5. A shop is attached to it as well as the Baleen restaurant and the Loretto Inn. Santa Fe’s central plaza is nearby, thus the best way of reaching the chapel is by foot from there.

Moving Westwards

In the fall of 1852, the Sisters of Loretto left Kentucky and reached Santa Fe through St Louis. They built a convent under the guidance of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1873 and 1878; it was patterned after the Sainte Chapelle in Paris.

Loretto Academy of Our Lady of Light

In 1873 they began the construction of the Loretto Academy of Our Lady of Light in the shape of a Gothic Chapel, the first one west of the Mississippi. It was designed by architect P. Mouly to be 25’ by 75’ and 85’ in height with a choir loft at the rear.

An Old Man, a Donkey and a Tool Chest

However, in 1878, when the structure was almost finished attention was paid to the fact that there was no way of reaching the choir loft. All the carpenters consulted on the issue said a staircase could not be constructed since it would take up too much room in the chapel.

Being Ladies of Faith, the sisters made a novena to Saint Joseph. On its last day an old man with a donkey and a tool chest appeared and asked for the Sister Superior – Mother Magdalena at that time – and offered help in the building of the staircase.

There are different versions regarding the time it took him to build the staircase; in any case he finished the job using only a saw, a T square and a hammer; soaking wood was seen by the sisters resting within tubs of water. When Mother Magdalene attempted to pay him, he had already disappeared.

The Staircase

The staircase is circular, consisting of 33 steps and two complete turns of 360 degrees without any type of support, it resembles a coiled spring. People who had climbed it – like Sister Ludavine, the present superior – give testimony of a vertical movement of the staircase while climbing it.

The impressive banisters were added in 1887 by Philip August Hesch, and are a work of incredible beauty by themselves. The curved stringers have been put together with great precision. The wood is spliced in seven places on the inside and nine on the outside, with each piece forming a perfect curve. The wood is of a hard variety not native of New Mexico and of unknown source; the local lumberyards have no records of wood being purchased for the project.

It rests against the choir loft at the top and on the floor at the bottom, where the entire weight is supported; no nails were used in its construction, wooden pegs were used instead.

The frail and elegant structure seems to defy any normal principles of construction; more than a century afterwards, no works of similar craftsmanship can be found. Built by a great mind with simple tools, it poses a worthy example to all of us.

Name

Originally, Santa Fe was founded as Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis (Royal City of the Holy Faith of St Francis of Assisi) in 1610; accordingly, its main Catholic temple is named the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

Location

The basilica is located on the Cathedral Place, near to Santa Fe's central plaza and to the Loretto Chapel. Visiting both during a single day is possible and recommended. The imposing stone structure is the exception in adobe-oriented Santa Fe and thus truly stands out in its surroundings.

Visits

Masses are held on:
Sundays: 8am in Spanish, 10am, noon and 5:15pm.
Weekdays: 7am and 5:15pm
Saturdays: 5:15pm

Special Reconciliation Masses are held on Saturdays between 3pm and 5pm.

Franciscan Friars

Franciscan Friars entered what is now New Mexico in 1598 as part of a group of Mexican colonists that were migrating from Mexico City. In 1610 the City of Santa Fe was founded together with a church on the basilica's actual location.

In 1630 a larger church replaced the original one; the last was destroyed during the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680.

The Third Church

The Spaniards returned in 1693, but the building of a new church was delayed until 1714. This adobe church was named in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe's Patron Saint.

The Chapel of Our Lady La Conquistadora is the only part of this church still in existence; it is dedicated to an image brought in 1625 from Spain. The statue is considered to be the oldest representation of the Virgin Mary in the US.

Truncated Church

Father Jean Baptiste Lamy of France was the first bishop of Santa Fe. He ordered the construction of a new church, fit of the new Archdiocese, and brought French architects and Italian stonemasons to build the modern Cathedral. The stained glass windows depicting the twelve apostles in the lower bay were brought from France.

The cathedral was constructed between 1869 and 1887 around the adobe church; when finished, the old church was dismantled and removed through the front door. The Cathedral's spires were never completed due to lack of funds, creating its very distinctive, truncated look. In 1967, new sacristies were added and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was built. In 1987, to commemorate its 100th anniversary, an altar screen depicting famous saints of the Americas was mounted. Lamy and six other archbishops are buried in the sanctuary.

Basilica

In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI recognized the cathedral as a Basilica, meaning the church has a particular and historic importance, in this case the spread of Catholicism in the Southwest. The Vatican noted the Cathedral especially qualified for being a cradle of Catholicism in the Southwest and crucial in the establishment of dioceses from Denver to El Paso, Phoenix and Las Cruces. It is one of fifty-six minor basilicas in the US and the only one in New Mexico.

Several symbols mark the church's new status. An umbrollino, or canopy, is the distinctive emblem of basilicas, it origins in medieval times when it was used to shelter the pope during his visits. The umbrollino was brought from Belgium, is held on a bronze pole and features red and yellow stripes and the hand-embroidered coats of arms of the Pope Benedict XVI, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. The church received also a Vatican flag and silver bells known as a tintinnabulum, used to announce the pope's arrival. These items are kept in the sanctuary.

Kateri Tekakwitha

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha lived between 1656 and 1680 and was the first North American Indian to be recognized as a saint; her statue stands at the very entrance of the cathedral. Her life is a source of inspiration and may be a true base for a much needed reconciliation.

Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother was a Catholic Algonquin, she was born in Ossernenon, Iroquois Territory (Modern Auriesville, New York) and died in Canada. When she was four, her family died of smallpox and she was left scarred and partially blind; thus she was named Tekakwitha, which means "The One Who Walks Groping for Her Way." Her uncle and aunts adopted her, and they moved to a new settlement.

When she was eighteen, a Jesuit arrived at Caughnawaga and established a chapel. Tekakwitha’s mother had been Catholic and that pushed her into attending his religious classes. The following Easter, when twenty, she was baptized and given the name of Kateri.

Following that, her family outcast her and in July 1677 she run away. She crossed more than 320km to the Catholic mission of St. Francis Xavier at Sault Saint-Louis, near Montreal, where she became famous for her gift of telling stories. Her poor health led to her death at the age of 24, in 1680.

Kateri is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks" and was declared venerable in 1943 by the Catholic Church and was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II. Kateri is the first Native American to be declared Blessed; her feast is celebrated on July 14th in the United States.

At the very entrance of the cathedral, her statue is a constant reminder hat a different and better world is within our reach.

Location

Located at the Paseo de Peralta corner Old Pecos Trail, the capitol can be reached by foot from Santa Fe’s central plaza; several restaurants and shopping areas (like Sanbusco) are nearby. If arriving by car, free parking (a rare luxury in Santa Fe) is available.

Round and Round

Formally the known as the State Capitol, the New Mexico State legislature and government building is widely and unimaginatively known as the "Round House" due to its circular shape.

The Seal

The main feature on the building’s façade is the Great Seal of the state. The American bald eagle shielding the smaller Mexican eagle within its wings symbolizes New Mexico’s change of sovereignty in 1846. The bald eagle clasps three arrows in its talons. The Mexican brown – or harpy – eagle grasps a snake in its beak and cactus in its talons; it illustrates an ancient myth in which the gods ordered the Aztecs to settle where they saw an eagle eating a snake on a cactus. This portion of the seal didn’t change from territorial times. Below it appears the motto "Crescit Eundo" or "It Grows as it Goes;" the date 1912 was added when New Mexico was admitted as a state.

Zia

While looking at the building from the outside or the inside, its circular shape is obvious: however, the bulky additions matching the compass directions are less conspicuous, but they give the building the shape of a Zia sun, which appears also in the state’s flag.

It was found on a 19th century water jar from Zia Pueblo and it represents a circular sun with four linear rays – the two central ones longer than the other – extending in the four directions.

In their culture, the number four represents the directions, the seasons, the four times of the day (sunrise, noon, evening and night), and the four periods of human life (childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age). These are bound to a central circle of life, without beginning or end.

The Zia believe also that man has four obligations: to develop a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit and to care for the welfare of his people. The symbol is strikingly similar to others appearing elsewhere in the Americas, especially notorious is the Aymara’s symbol in Bolivia.

The flags of Spain, Mexico, the Confederate States of America, the United States and an earlier state flag preceded New Mexico’s current flag. Nowadays, the Zia flag features a red Zia sun on a field of gold. Red and gold were the colors of Queen Isabela de Castile and represent the colors of Spain.

Two Capitols

At the northern side of the central plaza of Santa Fe is the original Palace of Governors, built in 1609. It was the seat of Spanish, Mexican and American governments, though today it was relegated to be the New Mexico State History Museum; accordingly, it occupies a typical and humble low adobe building.

The modern State Capitol was inaugurated on December 8, 1966. It was designed by W. C. Kruger and constructed by Robert E. McKee in what is known as New Mexico Territorial style – a mix between Greek revival and Pueblo adobe architecture.

It was renovated in the early nineties and re-inaugurated on December 4, 1992 as a healthier structure (the asbestos was removed) and a friendlier one to handicapped people. The Capitol Art Foundation was added at this occasion.

The Capitol Art Foundation

Established by the New Mexico legislature in 1991, the foundation assists in the acquisition of art for permanent public exhibition in the State Capitol.

The collection features contemporary works by artists who live and work in New Mexico and is displayed within the building as well as outdoors on its grounds. The collection includes a wide variety of mediums and styles – among them handcrafted furniture. A complete catalogue can be purchased at the information desk, near the main entrance.

The Governor’s Gallery

On the fourth floor, the Governor’s Gallery is an outreach facility of the New Mexico’s Museum of Fine Arts. Though technically not part of the Capitol Art Collection, the gallery’s curator works for the Capitol Art Foundation as well.

The Building

Most of the building is open to the public except for the basement, which is called here First Level. On this underground level are the House of Representatives (with seventy members) and the Senate (with forty-two senators). The New Mexico Legislature convenes in Santa Fe each year on January’s third Tuesday. Oddly, sessions last just sixty days in odd-numbered years and thirty days in even-numbered ones. The legislators receive no salary and are elected from districts of approximately equal population.

Visitors to the building enter through the Second Level. The Rotunda in the center measures almost fifteen meters in diameter and is inlaid with a turquoise and brass mosaic of the Great Seal. The Travertine marble is native to the state. Upwards, the thirty-three flags of the counties can be seen hanging from the Fourth Level balcony. Eighteen meters from the floor, the skylight represents an Indian basket weave, the blue represents the sky and the pale pink the earth. The senate and the House galleries are on this level and are open to the public.

The Third Level is where the committees’ rooms are; most of the art collection is scattered here. The Fourth Level houses the offices of the Governor, his deputy, the Legislative Council Service and the Governor’s Gallery.

Trivia

It is impossible to complete such a tour without collecting some funny trivia. New Mexicans seem obsessed with Official State Symbols. Some of them – to state it diplomatically – are quite unusual.

Here is the list:

Nickname: Land of Enchantment
Cookie: Biscochito (Bizcochito)
Fossil: Coelophysis
Gem: Turquoise
Grass: Blue Gramma
Insect: Tarantula Hawk Wasp
Poem: "A Nuevo Mexico" – Luis Tapia
Slogan: "Everybody is Somebody in Mew Mexico"
Bird: Roadrunner
Fish: Cutthroat Trout
Flower Yucca
Mammal: Black Bear
Tree: Piñon
Vegetables: Chile and Pinto Bean

Rumors claim an Official Traveler of the State is about to be chosen.

Beyond the nearby central plaza, the Guadalupe area in Santa Fe provides the highest concentration of attractions in downtown. Being the arrival point of the railway, it created the perfect background for a shopping district. The Santuario de Guadalupe completes the picture.

Santa Fe Southern Railway

By the end of the nineteenth century a dramatic event shaped the future of Santa Fe; Amtrak decided to skip the city in favor of Albuquerque. Consequently, the last is the biggest city in the state, while Santa Fe kept its status as the state’s capital. Early in the twentieth century it was decided to create a tourism industry by building Santa Fe mainly of adobe in the Pueblo Revival style.

The hamlet of Lamy - roughly eighteen miles southwest of Santa Fe - houses the nearest Amtrak station and from there, the Santa Fe Southern Railway brings passengers and cargo to the city. Currently a direct railway is being constructed between Santa Fe and Albuquerque – the first Amtrak station south of Lamy.

This is a tourist railroad featuring vintage coaches (most of them built during the 1920s) and offering tourism related trips and activities.

The Guadalupe Station in Santa Fe features a souvenirs shop offering paraphernalia related to the railway history. The Depot operation hours are: Tuesday to Thursday, 9AM to 4PM, Friday 9AM to 6PM, Saturday 9AM to 5PM, Sunday 11AM to 5PM; it is closed on Monday. Nearby is the Sanbusco Market Center.

Sanbusco Market Center
500 Montezuma Street
Guadalupe Historic Railyard District
(505) 989-9390

Santa Fe Builders Supply Company was one of the first businesses built on the ATS & F railroad station in Santa Fe. Shortened to Sanbusco, the center reached its peak by 1942, when the warehouses and sheds area reached five acres. By 1984 they were practically abandoned; then Schepps New Mexico bought the area. The company removed the layers of plaster, which had transformed the original building into a pueblo revival style structure, and a western warehouse was bared. Subsequently, many shops occupied the area that was transformed into one of the main shopping venues in downtown Santa Fe. Moreover, the Sanbusco Market Center is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The New Mexico Register of Historic Places and The New Mexico Register of Cultural Places.

Santa Feans are slightly xenophobic and ethnocentric, they dislike foreign – non-local in their jargon – businesses. That is reflected in the list of shops occupying the place. With the clear exception of an awesome branch of Borders there are no major brands in the area. Two shops are worth mentioning: The Reel Life strangely sells fishing equipment at an altitude of over 7000 feet, and El Tesoro, a coffee shop offering Central American treats.

Santuario de Guadalupe
100 South Guadalupe Street
(505) 988 2027

Built with adobe in 1781, west of the Santa Fe Plaza and east of the future location of the Guadalupe Historic Railyard District, the historic Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe church is one of the main sanctuaries in town.

It contains the Santa Fe Archdiocese’s collection of New Mexican sacred arts; including carved saint images, Italian Renaissance paintings, and Mexican baroque paintings. The most treasured works is Our Lady of Guadalupe, painted in 1783 by Jose de Alzibar, one of Mexico's most renowned painters. Mass is held here once a month; cultural events are hosted throughout the year including art shows and musical programs.

Santa Fe is a small town; it compares in population to Oruro in Bolivia, or Chiang Rai in Thailand. Yet, it was built in a very dilapidated fashion. All the buildings are low and placed at long distances from each other. Thus, the distances within the various attractions and commercial centers are huge. I was there for too long for hiring a car, but not long enough for buying one. Buses were supposed to offer a solution; instead they offered a fascinating view into the fast changing America.

The Big Box

Between the front door of the bus and the driver, was a big box. It had several methods of accepting money - coins, paper, and cards would do - but it never gave back change. This cannot be due to technological limitations.

Once, I was feeding the big box with coins, when it confused a dime for a penny - the big box is not very smart. Lacking any other coins I added a quarter and began walking into the bus.

"Wait!" shouted the driver in a tone that convinced me he was about to pull out a weapon.

He pushed some buttons and gave me a magnetic card with a printed value of sixteen cents.

"It's for your next trip," he added (what would happen if it was my last day in town?).

The fares for adults are a flat $1 per trip; a 30 days pass costs $20 and a one day pass $2. Special fares apply to other populations.

Bikes, Wheelchairs and Seats

Bikes can be attached to a special device at the front of the bus; a special lift at the back door allows access for wheelchairs.

Once aboard, a significant characteristic of the Santa Fe buses is that they have too few seats. Moreover, most of them are along the vehicle's side facing the windows.

"Would they be enough for all passengers?" I asked myself the first time I saw them. However, I never saw more than a dozen people on any bus.

Choosing a Route

There are few routes and their partially overlap. Most of them leave from the Downtown Transit Center, one block away from the Plaza. Here is the whole list:

Route 1 - The Agua Fria line connects the Downtown Transit Center with Santa Fe Place, going through the airport and Agua Fria Road.

Route 2 - The Cerrillos Road line travels from the Downtown Transit Center to Santa Fe Place through the Cerrillos Road.

Route 4 - The Southside line begins at the Downtown Transit Center and reaches the Santa Fe Place, passing in the way through the Rodeo Plaza and St. Michaels.

Route 5 - The Crosstown line advances from the Downtown Transit Center to the St. Vincent Hospital, passing through De Vargas Center and St. Michaels.

Route 6 - The Rodeo Road line surprisingly connects the Downtown Transit Center with Santa Fe Place; however the task is accomplished this time through the Rodeo Plaza.

Route 21 - Santa Fe Community College and Route 24 - Vista Primera connect the Santa Fe Community College with the Santa Fe Place and the Paseo del Sol West - Country Club.

Route M - Museum Hill line connects that place with the Downtown Transit Center.

Route P - CHAD Park & Shuttle (CHAD means City Hall And Downtown)

This lines makes a small loop from the central plaza around Paseo de Peralta, Old Taos Highway, Murales Road and Washington Avenue.

Schedule

The normal hours of operation are Monday through Friday: 6 AM - 11 PM; Saturday: 8 AM - 8 PM; Sunday 10 AM - 7 PM. On weekends only lines 1, 2, 4 and M operate

Routes follow a Sunday schedule on the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.

A Saturday schedule is followed on Martin Luther King Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

The bus company (named Santa Fe Trails Transit) does not operate on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.

Service

Over time I recognized several unfriendly peculiarities of this service:

Once the doors are closed - even if the bus is still standing at the station - passengers would not be allowed to board.

The bus never begins to travel until the last boarding passengers had paid the whole fare.

There are long distances between the stations and due to the convoluted design of the streets' grid sometimes it is complicated to figure out how to travel from one place to another, despite the schematic maps and schedules featured on every stop.

In 2008, Cerrillos Road is enjoying a major re-construction; as a result several stops along Santa Fe's main commercial artery are not in use.

Big Brother

The Santa Fe buses were the first city buses I used in the US. I was shocked to find 3(!) cameras in every bus. Later - in Oakland and San Francisco - I saw buses with yet another camera facing the street ahead of the bus. Stickers warned that the surveillance included audio.

Had any aspiring Genghis Khan ever kept his headquarters in a bus?

In no place was stated that the cameras were a clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically of article 12.

Yet, I am confident I won't be allowed to enter the bus company offices with a video camera and film a meeting with its employees.

The data illegally collected (and broadcast in real-time to the company human rights violation center!) can be manipulated and used against the passengers. For example, thieves accessing the data can learn the specific pattern (time and places) used by a given passenger, they can learn where he keeps his money and then wait for him around the corner. Would the bus company take responsibility for such an attack?

The Weirdest Event

One day, someone boarded the bus with something looking like a long sword (or maybe it was a medieval pike), with a funny box at one end.

"Is that your medicine box?" asked him the driver.

"Yes," he answered.

Only then I understood why Santa Fe is sometimes called Fanta See.

Inexplicably, the same people preaching against pollution, were unable to understand the polluting effect of noise; by the end of the day, the drums’ vibrations were strong enough to destabilize my camera even 50m away from the main stage. However, everything began 6 hours before that.Once a year, on the April 22, Santa Fe celebrates the Earth Day next to the Ecoversity site, at 2639 Agua Fria Street. An hour before noon, the events began a couple of hundred meters from there, with a gathering and a big parade.A colorful pagan rite was performed at a dusty esplanade; its circular dance around smoking ashes defined the mood for the rest of the day. Tall birds danced to the beat of a local band; the art of walking on sticks was graciously performed by a talented group bearing disguises. A speech by the new mayor declared the date to be the All Species Day.Around two hundred people, most of them carrying representations of animals constructed with organic materials, watched the event and walked through Aguas Frias Street to the Ecoversity site to the obvious delight of the surrounding cars.The stalls were arranged in three plazas connected through a pressed dirt path and were mainly advertising services connected to the themes of pollution and preservation. Natural dye for fabric and yarn, concerned citizens for nuclear safety, adobe building, community composting, sun power, killer bee honey, wildlife organizations, massage stops, face painting and the Green Party were all there. A Children Village kept them busy.Under the flag of consuming organic products, the food was extremely overpriced; the sellers failed to explain why food grown saving the costs of nutrient chemicals and pesticides should be more expensive. The tired brewed coffee waited for hours in thermoses and was sold lukewarm at three times the price of the same bad coffee at the nearby convenience store. The same ice-cream given away as a free sampling in any supermarket, was sold here at 5.5 dollars. Pseudo-Asian food got a similar treatment.In the late afternoon the stalls were dissembled and the main stage became more active. An African band gave place to belly dancing, and a French singer was a prelude to the drums. The last began with a grandiose plan to create a drumming circle around 6pm, but even its humble beginnings caused the troubled earth to shake with uncontrollable vibrations and me to get an epiphany regarding the best way to celebrate Earth.

The name El Dorado immediately suggests dreams of vast, hidden fortunes and has mobilized people for centuries all over the Americas. Those quests created treasures of traveling experiences and very little else.

However, the name became a synonym of an unaccomplished, unattainable dream. Soon after my arrival at Santa Fe, I was invited to Eldorado, a tiny settlement twenty miles south of the city. Was the name misspelling a casual error, or did it indicate an attempt to change history’s course?

Before I could properly tour the place, we entered a vast, low house and I found myself with a steaming cup of coffee in my hands.

"What was the dream behind this Eldorado?" I asked my host.

"We want to be a self-sufficient community."

My question was in place. Suddenly my host was a blur of quick movements dragging me out, to the yard. I made a mental note: next time ask such a question only after finishing the coffee.

In the yard, while standing next to a monstrous 4x4 vehicle, my host tried agitatedly to explain all the dream’s details at once. Shutting off his voice, I relaxed and began looking around at the five or six houses arranged around us. Despite being part of the Santa Fe County, all the houses were built of thick adobe bricks and coated with a pastel-colored cement layer; as per the city’s regulations.

All the houses had a water collection system which led rain water from the roof into big black plastic tanks, which were tightly closed. Later, I learned this water was mixed with the one provided by the county and re-filtered before consumption due to the heavy and radioactive metals polluting the area. My host told me it there wasn’t enough rain in the area and thus they couldn’t be autonomous in that aspect.

Most houses had expensive photovoltaic solar panels. At $30000 each, they supplied all their electricity’s need and enabled selling the surplus to the county’s network. "It saves me $30-40 per month," my host said with shiny stars in his eyes. "It would take you a thousand months to cover the expense – I countered and continued – why don’t you use cheap thermal solar technology and cover the expenses within one year?"

He seemed puzzled by my unsophisticated, primitive, reaction. After a second or two, he replied slowly, so I would understand:

"Oh, that’s too old; we want to be on the technological edge," he dismissed my weird idea. I corrected his earlier definition: they want to be an ultra-modern self-sufficient settlement.

The houses were surrounded by huge yards; most of those were empty while others featured a few trees. I recognized young Ponderosa Pines, which held the promise of turning into majestic trees. On the sun spots among them, lazy lizards tried to shake-off the residues of last night coldness. "Why don’t you grow vegetables and create self-sufficient salads?" I asked while calculating the slim probability of taking a good photograph of the nearest lizard.

"Because they will be polluted," he answered patiently.

"I still do not understand – I continued nagging – how people live here. Do they work in Eldorado?"

"We have around five thousand houses and most residents work in Santa Fe or Albuquerque."

"Are you self sufficient with the gasoline or with the cars?"

"Even if there was oil under our land, it wouldn’t be ours due to the local laws."

At this time I decided to show mercy and drop the topic. After a quick meal prepared with products brought from all around the planet we toured the little commercial center by the settlement’s main entrance. The attractive garden at its center was half-covered by a wood pavilion and surrounded by several shops. Beyond the compulsory supermarket, the pizza and the coffee shops there was little else. What caught my attention was that local products and foods – like roasted chilies – were completely missing there.

From Canada to Chile, endless versions of El Dorado were founded, each fuelled by its own dream, which invariably turned out to be just another Utopia. However, in the era of the Global Village, we are all part of one vastly complex human matrix. Nobody is completely independent of society and society is – to some extent – dependent on each one of us.

No society is independent from the rest of humanity. Any gadget in our pockets enabling a dream of autonomy had been probably produced with parts designed and produced in a zillion factories. Enjoying the productive force of the whole humanity creates the responsibility to care for the weak parts of it.

Our fellow writer, SkewedStyle, is providing a fine example by caring about children in Malawi finishing their education.
The noble dream of self-sufficiency would never be accomplished while a single child across the earth cannot finish his – or hers – education, please visit our website and help transform that dream into reality.