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The Stuff of Dreams Christian
Joaquin Cruz
recently left Alice Springs after working at the US base at Pine Gap.
Here, he reminisces about the creative opportunities that life in Alice
afforded him.
Australia was the stuff of dreams for me, so when the opportunity
to work here arose, I grabbed it with both hands, not even consulting my
family before accepting the job offer. The Lucky Country, the Land Down
Under would no longer be that exotic place I had dreamt of for so many
years but our new home.
The first thing I remember seeing when we stepped off the plane
into the crisp, clean air were the MacDonnell Ranges. They looked
beautiful, silhouetted against the deep, blue skies of Alice Springs.
The winter day was pleasantly cool, the people were friendly, the
lifestyle was laidback and I thought to myself, I
could get used to this. And
I did.
As the years went by and we saw more of this huge country, we
realised how special Alice really was. Not that the rest of Australia
wasn’t special but Alice was even more so. This deceptively small
place in the Centre was a land of opportunity. I’m not just talking
about the fact that it gave me the chance to see Australia but that my
life has been enriched in ways that I could not have imagined. There is
a vibrant artistic culture here. It’s as if people come here to live
out their creative fantasies.
In a big city, you have to spend much of your time in traffic.
It’s even a fight to find a space to park when you finally get where
you want to go. Small towns, on the other hand, don’t usually afford
people much in the way of cultural activities and entertainment. However,
the Alice does provide creative avenues, and plenty of them. Friends of
mine have become thespians, musicians, barbershop quartet singers,
quilters, potters, pilots, stand-up comedians, toastmasters and whatever
else suited their fancy and budget. I chose to learn jewellery-making
and have gone fossicking for gold and gems that eventually were cast and
cut into rings, pendants and charms. Before coming here, I would never
have seen myself doing that.
Working on the lapidary machine, cutting garnets, zircons,
amethyst, tourmaline and aquamarine, was a bit technical but it was
brilliant. After two evenings’ work, you had a stone, cut and
polished, top and bottom. I made a lot of jewellery for my wife, who
heartily approved of my new hobby. The
most amazing thing was the generosity of my teacher Max, who charged so
little for his time and expertise. As I look back at my time in Alice
Springs and see how it enriched my life, I know the little town will
forever be a part of me. When I go back to America and show people my
cut stones, I won’t hesitate to let them know that the real gem was
the Alice. |