The Latest...

The group at the border in Sasabe.
At CCAMYN, the migrant shelter we stayed at in Altar, Sonora. From left to right: Program Director Riley, me, Berit, Mary, Harmony, Rachel, Leif, Sam, Mary Jeanne, and Assistant Director Brook.
Berit and I trying to get some perspective on the height of the wall. We did it quickly so the Border Patrol wouldn't think we were trying to jump the fence.
Making tortillas with Rosalva!

It's a rainy day in Tucson. My host dad, Blake, and I just shared a yummy chicken, spinach crepe in a little cafe downtown. Now we're sipping coffee and typing away on our computers. I'm trying to catch up on emails before I head out on Monday for a month-long travel seminar. Thursday was my last day of classes until we get back from the trip and I turned in a paper on neoliberalism yesterday...I'm pretty excited to be done with structured school for a while.

A lot has happened since my last blog. I've been so busy I haven't gotten the chance to update you all! So what's new.... Well, I have moved in with a new host family. My first one just didn't work out. I am very, very happy to be living with my new family. They are involved in immigrant and refugee issues and do a lot of work in rural Guatemala, teaching acupuncture as a form of health care. I am learning so much from them and I love talking to them about their experiences. They have two awesome cats (Guje, which means bob cat, and Zahava), a completely edible garden, and a fire pit where they sometimes cook dinner. I have only been with them for a week and am sad to leave for this trip when I am just getting to know them. But, I will feel like I am coming home when the trip is over.

Work at Derechos Humanos is always interesting. I have been taking on my own abuse cases which is really difficult but also important. We have all been working really hard on organizing the annual Corazon de Justicia Awards Dinner which is a huge banquet to honor people in the community who work on a variety of issues including human rights, women, youth, LGBT, etc. Over 250 people came and everyone said the event was a success. I spent all day setting up the tables and helping with the food. It was nice to be in the company of so many amazing people.

Tomorrow I'll be packing up and getting ready to travel. We'll be flying from Tucson to Guatemala City. In Guatemala City we'll visit a migrant house that takes in people who have been deported. We will also meet with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala. Then we bus to Xela (where I studied for two summers in high school!) where we will meet with several organizations involved with immigration. On February 27th, we head to Mexico where we will be accompanied by Witness for Peace. We will arrive in Tecun Uman and then travel to Tapachula. We stay in a migrant shelter, visit a shelter for migrants injured by the train, and hopefully meet lots of people. Then we travel to San Caralampio where we will stay with host families. Here we will meet several farmers and learn about agriculture and migration in the community. Then we're off to San Cristobal for a few days. Then Oaxaca until the end. On Friday March 19th I fly to Portland for Spring Break! I am super excited to travel and learn about migration along another border. And I can't wait to be back in Portland for a week to see everyone!

This is just a glimpse of what I've been up to. Here's a couple of links that you should check out if you are interested and have time.
1) The Border Film Project: http://www.borderfilmproject.com/en/index.php
This is a really interesting website. Disposable cameras were given to two groups of people on the U.S.-Mexico border--undocumented migrants crossing the border and Minutemen who try to stop them. Many of the photos are incredible and shed light on the journey across the desert and the type of actions the Minutemen are taking.

2) The Border Studies Blog: http://spring2010borderstudies.blogspot.com/
This is our group blog. All eight of us contribute to this blog. It is interesting to see how we each interpret the things we witness. Also, since I don't blog about everything we do--or even most of it--it might be interesting to check this out. We also post photos on here. We will be updating this every few days on our travel seminar so if you are interested in seeing what I'm up to during the next few weeks, read it!