Pueblo Cultural Center

 Before we made our way to The Grand Canyon on Day 3, we spent the morning in Albuquerque at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.  I found it to be super interesting and quite moving to learn about the Pueblo people and their history and culture.  While there, we were able to wander through the museum and watch a few dance performances before admiring the offerings of some local artists and picking out souvenirs at the gift shop.

One fun fact that I discovered on this leg of our trip is that Alex is apparently a big fan of museums.  And that's not sarcasm!  Hahaha.  I don't know why it surprised me so much, but it certainly tickled my fancy to see him eagerly checking out the exhibits and reading the plaques.  

This was Grace and Isaac's favorite part of the museum -- the interactive play area.  ;)

I loved this beautiful thought:

In most Pueblo languages, there is no word for goodbye.  Because we believe in the cyclical nature of our existence, we know we will meet again, whether in the near future or at a time far off.  As we part with you today, we prefer to say "See you next time," "See you later," or "Until we meet again."

We only spent a couple hours at the Center before getting back on the road, but I'm glad we made the stop and were able to learn about the Pueblos.  It may be uncomfortable and really heart breaking to learn about the history of the people and the horrible injustice they've experienced from the beginning  of our country, but I think that's what makes it so necessary to know.  "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and I think that's true even if the injustice is in the past.  Or maybe what I'm trying to say is that pretending that bad things never happened in the past -- or simply being ignorant of the truth -- is perhaps the greatest injustice of all.  And those are my deep thoughts for the week.  ;)

Coming up next is the epic grandeur of The Grand Canyon, and -- spoiler alert -- there will be TONS of pictures of our visit.  Stay tuned...