As I mentioned yesterday, Phoenix is hot. At that time I did not realise quite how hot, til I looked at the weather report today. The temperature yesterday as a staggering 43C/110F. At this temperature, the breeze does nothing to cool one, it`s simply like opening an oven door and being blasted with hot air.
I had a fairly lazy day because of that, involving buying a new camera, driving around downtown, and an afternoon in the Heard Museum. This is a private collection detailing the plight of Native Americans in the area over the years. The content and the material were nothing ground-breaking, but the presentation was first class. A really well-designed museum that kept my attention. I even had the time to complete all the children`s activities, such as cutting-and-glueing to make an Apache basket or a Hopi-style garment of woven beads.
I was not aware that one solution to the `Indian Problem` was to destroy Natives` culture through strict military-style education. Children were removed from families and sent to boarding schools for 5 years, where they were fully Americani`z`ed though ridicule, dogma, and routine.
In the evening I chilled in the hostel garden, with some cheap cold beers and a wet towel over my shoulders. After dark I went to a bar with a French girl, Solenne, and listened to some jazz among some very cool cats.