Having grown up mostly in the south my whole life I had never really experience anything different, besides of course vacations which didn't let you encounter everything about life there. I didn't realize how real culture shock was until I moved to New Mexico my junior year of high school. Once I fully immersed myself into the place, it was something truly amazing.

I was originally born in New Mexico and moved a little bit around till I was 6 and stayed in the Carolina's since. We, of course, took trips to New Mexico to visit family but they lasted a week at most and it was over almost before it started. Moving there I actually got to meet friends besides my cousins and experience many new things. The beach was no longer just a 3-hour drive, but instead 10 hours away.

Being surrounded by mountains it really was something shocking because the sky was so open and the sunsets and rises so beautiful. Gone were all the trees, humidity, and frizzy hair days. If just the climate of the desert wasn't shocking enough (I couldn't wear short sleeves outside at night), life there was.

Albuquerque is surrounded on all sides by reservations and after that, there is lots of land that is used for farming and rodeos. It was all so new to me.

It was really interesting to be able to see the Native American culture and how they are expanding and growing still from when their land was taken so long ago. The tales that were told to their young children passed on outside of the reservations walls and intertwined with the Mexican and Spanish stories that are passed down through multiple generations.

The ditch witch and skinwalkers were things I had never heard of but were a common occurrence that most wouldn't care to admit but did believe in. The multiples cultures mixed together were not just to make amazing stories but make a place like no other.

The art, especially in Santa Fe, had all the vibrant bright colors but held deeper stories of the Natives that lived there before. The food was a blend of rich Spanish flavors, Native dishes, and with Mexican spices.

As for the people I met, they were just like any other teenagers, but what they did for fun was so much different than home. Instead of going to the same parties, at the same houses, with the same people we would go up and hang out at the bottom of the Sandia mountains or go Sonic and wait for other people to show up you might know. This was of course when a rodeo wasn't happening.

I never really thought that rodeos were anything big (except in Texas) until I got down there. Bull riding and barrel racing were just as normal as soccer and football. Getting up at 6 am to feed the horses and cows was so casual to everyone yet it blew my mind because I couldn't think of me or any of my friends from home ever waking up that early to clean horse poop or chicken coops.

After staying in New Mexico for a year and coming back it really, truly changed me. After getting such a different perspective on life it made me itch to find out more about places much farther away, that I never wanted before. No longer was I just content to stay in the southeastern part of the United States for the rest of my life I wanted too see so much more and learn so much more.

I truly believe it shows you the beauty of life and how people live it.