A visit from my family.

As I hinted in my last blog, my whole family came down for a visit last week. None of them had ever seen the Southwest before, or had even seen a desert until now (just like me before I moved here). They drove the whole way down, stopping at a couple of places along the way including Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they went whitewater kayaking. 

Ghost town!

Finally, on the afternoon of July 2, they arrived in our city. I met them for a visit to the Border Patrol Museum first. The museum was pretty interesting. I'll admit that I hardly knew anything about the Border Patrol, and what I did know I wasn't too thrilled about because of the way immigrants have been treated in our country. However, I discovered that the Border Patrol does more than apprehend immigrants--it often comes to the rescue of people facing death in the harsh desert. I also had no idea what a dangerous job working in the Border Patrol actually was. As I leafed through hundreds of names and photographs of Border Patrol people who had died in the line of duty, I came to appreciate the fact that you never hear about these men and women who are killed trying to rescue others in the desert. Although I may not agree with some of the INS's policies, I can appreciate the sacrifices these men and women make to keep people safe.

Parents at Old Mesilla :)

After the museum I took my family to our apartment to show them around. Of course there wasn't much to see, but they were still impressed. It made me happy to know that my parents were very pleased with where their married daughter is living now. After listening to them relive their kayaking experience (which sounds hilarious), I went to class and they met AJ for a tour of the scenic drive and dinner.

On Wednesday we got up bright and early for a drive to Hueco Tanks State Park. Hueco Tanks is kind of like an oasis in the desert, where you can actually find standing water and lots of plants. As a result, the site has become a refuge and sacred site for local Native American tribes. We went on a guided tour that included climbing over rocks, learning about local plants, and seeing lots of rock art left by different tribes over the past few hundred years. Our tour guide was great, and we learned so much about the local culture. My family agreed that they would have spent the entire day there if they could!

After that my parents dropped me off so that I could prepare a presentation and get to class. AJ took them out for a relaxing dinner, showed them the border, and that was the end of the evening. Finally, AJ and I both had the Fourth of July off to spend with my family. We drove out to the middle of nowhere New Mexico to see a real ghost town. And when I say middle of nowhere, I'm so not kidding. If you think Illinois is rural, you haven't seen the Southwest!

The ghost town was actually very interesting and worth the long drive. We got to learn all about the town and see the place exactly as it was left. Once we finished we drove to Old Mesilla, New Mexico to browse the historic buildings and shops. My dad bought me a Navajo sand painting, which has yet to find a special place in our home. That night AJ and I treated everyone to a steak dinner and we went to check out the laser light show on post, which was actually pretty lame :( Still a great day though.

Brother and sister.

On Friday morning we took everyone on a tour of post and stopped by the museum to do...what else? Take pictures with tanks. ;) We finished our time together by eating at Taco Tote, a fast food restaurant that has migrated over from Juarez, Mexico. It was really sad to say goodbye after lunch. I keep holding on to hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to come home for Christmas. But of course when you're in the Army you just never know!

The men in front of a tank of course.

Army folks.

Life as a graduate student.

Let me tell you, this past week has been a crazy whirlwind. I started school on July 1, and my family arrived for a visit the very next day. I'm really looking forward to telling you all about my family's vacation to the Southwest, but first I'm going to start off with my impressions of graduate school. 

For starters, I'm currently taking two classes that meet at night from 5:30-9:15pm. Thank goodness the latest I've been kept is 8:50, because none of us could make it until nine! One class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the other meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This means that AJ and I have breakfast together in the morning, and then we don't see each other until sometime around nine at night. So far, after I've gotten home each night I've simply pulled out my books and continued to do homework, so I don't get to enjoy AJ's company even at night. It means I miss him a lot during the week.

The first class I'm taking is largely a review course focusing on the key things we should have learned in college. The first two weeks are focused on direct practice (mostly with individuals and families), and after that we get a new professor who spends three weeks on research (my least favorite for sure). This class is for those of us in the accelerated program, so that we can review and catch up to the other students who go for two years. This class has been absolutely insane regarding the work load--even my professor said so! We have to cover so much material in just four classes (of the first segment), which means I have a crazy amount of work to do.  

The second class keeps the same topic and professor for all five weeks, resulting in it being very fast-paced but not quite as much as the other. This class focuses on sociocultural concepts of working in the U.S. Southwest. We talk about theories of oppression and diversity as well as the nuances of working with minority groups. I love diversity stuff, so this class is really interesting to me. 

Thus far grad school has consumed all of my free time. I always have my nose in a book or my eyes glued to the computer. I definitely enjoy what I'm learning, but the sheer volume of reading and work is tough to keep up with. Hopefully the fall will be a little more reasonable, but I'm not holding out hope. As long as I survive with a B average for the next three semesters, it'll go by quick at least! Yes, you need a B average to graduate. Well, time to go...I'm off to prepare a biopsychosocial assessment with a group and then to class I go!