Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tesoro Cultural Center- Nicole Mittelstadt


            We went to the Tesoro Cultural Center as a class for IS 201.  The whole place was really neat.  There were several little shops, booths, and even a tipi.  A couple of my roommates got their faces painted with designs Native American women would have worn in that time period.  The artifacts in the tipi were very interesting.  It’s so hard for me to imagine only living off the land and having to use animal parts and other natural objects for everything from clothing to tools.  On the other side of the fort there were several booths set up.  Each one was selling a different type of art or jewelry.  Their pieces were so original! I had never seen anything similar to any of them.  The Spanish style is so unique and colorful.  Most of the pieces were a tad pricey for my college student budget, but if I had the money I would have bought several items.  One of my favorite parts of the trip was watching the flamenco dancing.  The guitar and percussion instruments had to maintain a complex rhythmic beat while keeping up with the pace of the dancer.  Her beautiful costume was an authentic flamenco dress with a bright pink design on the skirt.  Her feet seem to be moving a mile a minute.  She must have to practice very frequently to stay in such great shape.  We also listened to a real cowboy talk about his experiences with being on the range and dealing with the other cowboys.  He had told some pretty fun stories.  We even got a picture with him.  While browsing around the authentic clothing, a couple of us had a conversation with the man who handmade everything he was selling.  He said that he has been making his living creating these items for 45 years.  He definitely knew what he was doing.  He also told us how long it took him to make some of the pieces.  Some simple pieces took only a day, whereas other more complicated pieces could take up to eight days to finish.  That’s a lot of work, but it was obvious that he loved what he did.  Overall, I think we had a wonderful time being immersed in this vibrant culture.