Day 4 Revitalization of Ajo and Desert Art
Today started with the group hearing about the history of the Curley School in Ajo. A few of the locals who actually attended the school many decades ago when it was still open informed us about the detailed and interesting history of this building. In fact, the Curley School which was shut down in the mid-1980s is the same building which we are staying in now. It has been heavily renovated and has been converted into a fully-functional comfortable hotel.
After lunch we visited Pam and Cathy at the Curley High-school auditorium. We all made desert art using designs like cacti, scorpions, and views in Ajo. We used methods like print making and carved out stamps.
Once we finished creating our wonderful art projects we went on a trip to an old mine in Ajo. We learned about the great importance of the mine and what it meant to the town. Essentially Ajo was a company town, they deeply relied on the mining company and the resources they provided. Eventually the mine closed, the town was heavily affected and many people decided that they should leave.
After eating dinner, we met an old time local named Lorraine. She discussed the change in Ajo over the years. Her observations were that Animals were showing up in town due to the lack of water elsewhere. Her final message was that you need to adjust to situations that you’re not comfortable with.
Angelina, Bella, Mary Margaret
Our second day in Ajo was super fun! For the first part of our day, we got this cool tour around places near our inn. One cool thing about the inn, is that it was a school that got repurposed as a hotel! Later, most of us went to the gift shop to buy food and souvenirs. But here’s the catch…the store has two kittens!! The first cat was orange and named Fredrick. The second cat was dark grey and was named Richard! After lunch, we went to do some arts and crafts. This included creating our own stamps, drawing and creating print drawings. After this, we continued our evening by taking a half hour walk around the plaza. It was so hot out that everyone made a beeline for a nearby cafe. We all orders some cold drinks to refresh us. Our last activity of the day included a visit to the once active mining pit. It looked like a massive hole in the earth. All the different edges in the mountain created a beautiful scenery. Dinner was a home cooked meal which consisted of steak, tofu, zucchini, and bread. After dinner, we got to have a discussion with a local about life in Arizona!
