LOS CARROZAS
SPANISH CHRISTMAS RONDA

Interior of "San José Apache mission church". Henrietta is one of Tularosa's collaborators in the organization of our activities. She is an expert in Apache culture and offered to show us an interesting church in the Mescalero Apache Reservation. "Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, bless your people". Offerings for Saint Kateri. The "San José Apache mission church" is full of paintings, photos, statues and objects of interest related to the history of the Mescalero Apaches in the area. One of the statues is of Santa Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint of the Catholic Church. Listening to Henrietta's explanations. The representation of Christ in the abside is as a Native American. Santa Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, in one of the stained glass windows of the church. From the Mescalero Reservation, we returned to Tularosa on time for the performance in the church of San Francisco de Paula Enriqu

On stage of the gym and auditorium of Tularosa Intermediate School. One of the most grateful and enriching experiences we had during the trip was at the Tularosa Intermediate School. The kids, from 10 to 12 years old, behaved very well, were very interested in our music, and actively participated throughout our program. They watched with interest, and accompanied us to the rhythm of the Christmas carols. When we finished singing, they approached us to see and play our instruments. More than one was surprised to see the arrabel, all made of bones. For many of them, it was the first time they saw a zambomba... and it's not so easy to play it! Then, we left for the south, passing Alamogordo, to enter White Sands Natural Monument, a very peculiar dune system, with surreal landscapes, as if we were going through the snow. Just seeing this landscape, anyone would think that it is snow... ...and the truth is that this fine gypsum sand also serves to

Between Santa Fe and Tularosa we enjoyed spectacular panoramic landscapes. The previous day had been exhausting : early wake up, breakfast, transfer to the senior center, presentation, lunch, trip to Abiquiu, presentation, dinner, trip to Santa Fe and intensive night visit, ending up with a late bedding down. So it was not surprising that many members of the group fell asleep like little angels in the almost 4 hours of travel we had to Tularosa. When we woke up that same morning, outside it was... -9ºC! (16ºF) We were impressed by those roads with tens of kilometers of pure straight stretch. The anecdote of that morning: technical stop to not pee. Zambomba and cazalla, road companions ... David Greenwald, historian and archaeologist of Tularosa, had recommended that, if we had time during the trip, we should visit some petroglyphs along the way before arriving, so there we went. Carved on volcanic rock, there were many of them all around.

Afraid of being late, because the vans had no GPS and we might get lost on the way, we arrived too early at Abiquiu, so we dedicated some time to visit the pueblo, walked along the streets, and visited an antiquities store. At the main square of Abiquiu, with the church of Saint Thomas in the background. Much to our surprise, a Spanish thresh was offered for 1,800 US$ amongst the antiquities . Isabel Trujillo, director of the Pueblo de Abiquiu Library and Cultural Center and very active woman with her local community, had organized the logistics of the event, including a dinner with delicious local gastronomy. We repeated the morning program: the talk of Enrique... ...and the Christmas carols, duly explained by Edmundo and translated by Natalia. The most impacting instrument for the public in all performances was the zambomba. Traditional clothing also caused a sensation. The subsequent visit to Saint Thomas Apostle church of Abiquiu was