Pavit Kaur, Grade 12
UWC-USA
I remember with certainty that we woke up at 8:00 that morning. It's hard to forget because the night before, when Graham had announced this, it was met with shouts of joy after having been woken up at 7:00 each day. So the day was off to a brilliant start with us rolling out of the tent into the morning air warmed by the already risen sun. It was our first day at the new campsite: Oliver Lee Campground, and it was also the first time we actually got to take a look at our surroundings. We had arrived last night, bellies full of mcdonalds under the cover of dark and had spent most of our time twisting and struggling with setting up our tents. Now we had the chance to notice the sloping mountains on our left and sprawling flatland on the right, a new mexico staple as I was beginning to learn.
We got ready and piled into the bus and I remember being very excited. After all, the white sands were what I was looking forward to the most, and they did not disappoint. Dune after dune stretched in every direction that just made you itch to run over all of them. I remember stepping onto the sand and being shocked by the cold. The sunny day gave an illusion of heat but the white sands were still cold to the touch. Climbing up each dune felt like it should have provided a view of the ocean but there were only mountains in the distance. Maybe it was some remnant of the sand- or should I say gypsum, a mineral left behind when the shallow sea of ancient New Mexico evaporated. Over millions of years the harsh elements of nature reduced the mineral into tiny pieces forming the white sands of today.
We had two sleds and spent the rest of the afternoon covering ourselves in the sand as we sledded down the dunes, played games and just lay in the sun. Far away from people and the stresses of daily life at UWC, for that afternoon we just rested.
At about 1, we retreated into the shade of the bench near our bus and ate sandwiches while laughing about the fun we had had that day. We trailed our sand back into the bus as we took off again, the day still young.
The next stop that day was an impromptu addition, suggested by one of us the night before- pistachio land. A definite oddity of new mexico, it fit with the description of our trip and graham and elise were on board with the plan. As our bus pulled up in front of a giant pistachio in front of a building, we knew we had made the right decision. From t-shirts, to mugs and keychains, the store had everything pistachio you could ever imagine, but our favourite was the display with an array of different pistachio samples of every imaginable flavour, and even better, the FREE SAMPLES sign above it. We went crazy, and I can now say that I have tried garlic pistachios, chilli pistachios, bbq pistachios and bacon ranch pistachios among the many other flavours there. After some negotiating, we managed to get the adults to agree to buy us icecream as well, under the condition that we all tried the pistachio flavour (to some’s delight and other’s dismay). We sat scattered on the beaches under some trees, the giant pistachio keeping us company as we finished (or discreetly threw away) our ice cream.
The day was already so much fun and we still had the space museum scheduled for that evening. We piled back onto the bus, ready to get going again when Elise walked on. We had overshot time and would not make it to the space museum before it closed. It was a damper on our spirits but they were quick to assure us that we would find time somewhere else in the trip to make that stop, and that tonight, as compensation, we would make hot dogs for dinner. By the time we pulled into Walmart to buy the ingredients, any disappointment had been replaced by excitement for dinner. And that excitement was only compounded when graham and elise walked back onto the bus with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate poking out of their shopping bags.
We retired back to the campsite and got a chance to relax and clean off the sand. It went well except for a brilliant idea for a game, eight aggressively competitive UWC teens, a bleeding knee and a fall into a cactus bush - a story for another time. And the sequel later on of a card game, spoons, a rough concrete table, the competitive teens again, and scraped knuckles, because as someone said “if I don't see bone, you're not playing right” but I will let you connect the dots.
The end to the day was otherwise perfect. Fourteen of us around a blazing fire, hot dogs and smores being passed around as we laughed and joked. There is one thing that I really realised from this trip and that is that the things you do matter so much less than the people that you do it with.
We got ready and piled into the bus and I remember being very excited. After all, the white sands were what I was looking forward to the most, and they did not disappoint. Dune after dune stretched in every direction that just made you itch to run over all of them. I remember stepping onto the sand and being shocked by the cold. The sunny day gave an illusion of heat but the white sands were still cold to the touch. Climbing up each dune felt like it should have provided a view of the ocean but there were only mountains in the distance. Maybe it was some remnant of the sand- or should I say gypsum, a mineral left behind when the shallow sea of ancient New Mexico evaporated. Over millions of years the harsh elements of nature reduced the mineral into tiny pieces forming the white sands of today.
We had two sleds and spent the rest of the afternoon covering ourselves in the sand as we sledded down the dunes, played games and just lay in the sun. Far away from people and the stresses of daily life at UWC, for that afternoon we just rested.
At about 1, we retreated into the shade of the bench near our bus and ate sandwiches while laughing about the fun we had had that day. We trailed our sand back into the bus as we took off again, the day still young.
The next stop that day was an impromptu addition, suggested by one of us the night before- pistachio land. A definite oddity of new mexico, it fit with the description of our trip and graham and elise were on board with the plan. As our bus pulled up in front of a giant pistachio in front of a building, we knew we had made the right decision. From t-shirts, to mugs and keychains, the store had everything pistachio you could ever imagine, but our favourite was the display with an array of different pistachio samples of every imaginable flavour, and even better, the FREE SAMPLES sign above it. We went crazy, and I can now say that I have tried garlic pistachios, chilli pistachios, bbq pistachios and bacon ranch pistachios among the many other flavours there. After some negotiating, we managed to get the adults to agree to buy us icecream as well, under the condition that we all tried the pistachio flavour (to some’s delight and other’s dismay). We sat scattered on the beaches under some trees, the giant pistachio keeping us company as we finished (or discreetly threw away) our ice cream.
The day was already so much fun and we still had the space museum scheduled for that evening. We piled back onto the bus, ready to get going again when Elise walked on. We had overshot time and would not make it to the space museum before it closed. It was a damper on our spirits but they were quick to assure us that we would find time somewhere else in the trip to make that stop, and that tonight, as compensation, we would make hot dogs for dinner. By the time we pulled into Walmart to buy the ingredients, any disappointment had been replaced by excitement for dinner. And that excitement was only compounded when graham and elise walked back onto the bus with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate poking out of their shopping bags.
We retired back to the campsite and got a chance to relax and clean off the sand. It went well except for a brilliant idea for a game, eight aggressively competitive UWC teens, a bleeding knee and a fall into a cactus bush - a story for another time. And the sequel later on of a card game, spoons, a rough concrete table, the competitive teens again, and scraped knuckles, because as someone said “if I don't see bone, you're not playing right” but I will let you connect the dots.
The end to the day was otherwise perfect. Fourteen of us around a blazing fire, hot dogs and smores being passed around as we laughed and joked. There is one thing that I really realised from this trip and that is that the things you do matter so much less than the people that you do it with.
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