Command Zed

The holidays are upon us and while many people are trimming their trees, wrapping presents, carefully planning lengthy family dinners and air travel to wintery places, we are planning our own celebration that includes none of those things — and I am so excited about it! It has nothing to do with not wanting to spend time with family or celebrate Christmas with loved ones, rather we wanted to do something that was a little out of the ordinary and uniquely ours. So, we are going on, what I like to call, a great American road trip. Specifically, a great American road trip into the Southwest.

I admit — when we decided to travel for the holidays, our first choices were Mexico, Central America, or South America (even though we just returned from there). Somewhere warm where we could sit on a beach on Christmas morning and sip on a cocktail while getting sunburned. Alas, lesson learned, you can’t make that decision at the last minute unless your pockets are deep. Travel during the holidays can be very expensive, especially if you want to head to a warm location.

And so we opted for staying Stateside. It is a fantastic idea, (as I pat myself on the back) because we travel so infrequently inside of the US, except for places like Northern California, Oregon and maybe New York. There are limitless options for beauty, culture and the unknown available right here in this country, and I think sometimes we take that for granted. So we asked ourselves, “Where can we go that A: we’ve never really been before, and B: will blow our minds?”

The American Southwest it is — a place where the oldest known settlements in the US occurred and still thrive today, even after thousands of years. A place where the landscapes are arguably, the most dramatic in the world.

We’ll get to stay in the Navajo Nation, sleep in a hand-crafted original ‘hogan’ or mud hut, explore ancient cliff-dwellings made by the Anasazi civilization, and hopefully track down the hundreds of wild mustang horses that roam these lands. Not to mention, we’ll also get our Spanish fix since they did invade this area too and left behind a strong imprint in the architecture, language and religious beliefs.

Our trip will also take us into Monument Valley, to the edge of the Grand Canyon, up into the snowy wilderness of the San Juan Forest and a train ride on the Historic Durango-Silverton train.

While it isn’t going to be warm, (quite the contrary — we are expecting below freezing temperatures) it will be a grand adventure, and one we won’t soon forget. We’ll get to discover all kinds of places previously unknown to us. Our twelve day drive will take us through California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado and we’ll do our best to keep you updated with some of our findings along the way.

My new surroundings here in Lima, Peru challenge me daily - language barriers, nasty pollution, terrible vino peruana and limitations on where I can go in the city by myself. No matter how strong, independent or fearless one may be, it absolutely does make a difference when you are a tall, white female that speaks very little Spanish in a city that is quite rough around the edges with little to no English skills. In some places I stick out like a sore thumb, but because I know to expect this I am quite cautious about where I will go and how I will get there. No cabs for me, and no I won’t be crossing into that barrio to the east. I consider myself a smart, seasoned traveler and not to worry - I’m doing just fine. As challenging as it is, I’m enjoying my time here immensely.

This afternoon while I was in Spanish class, the walls and table started to shake. “Temblor de Tierra” my teacher said to me and she grabbed the wall and looked at me like we were in big trouble, and then mentioned something about this never happening in winter, usually only in summer months - i didnt know the time of year made a difference. During that full minute of the rumbling peruvian earth, it occurred to me that Lima is most certainly not the city I want to experience a big quake in (of course I want no big quake ever, but…). I’m alone in Lima, I barely speak Spanish, the buildings are already falling over in many parts of the city and I don’t know where the safe areas are, nor do I have any kind of resources to rely on. I became pretty frightened at that moment.

Alas, the shaking stopped. My teacher continued the lesson and everyone went about their day like nothing had happened. I had a delicious lunch in Miraflores, then walked to what might be the only Starbucks in the city.