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Day 5: Sand Dunes

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Hey everyone! We just finished our fifth full day and we had a lot of exciting activities in our itinerary today. We started off the morning in our kitchen with local activist, Carmen Hernandez, who taught us her traditional recipe for her homemade gorditas. We mixed and shaped the dough with our hands and then filled them with meat, potatoes, onions, lettuce, and tomatoes.   We then sat down with Carmen where she told her story of how she immigrated to America in search of medical care for her daughter. She touched upon themes of spirituality, socio-economic deprivations, and the faults of materialism. This connected back to the gordita making because we didn't use any machines to make the gorditas, only the tools we needed, our hands. Then, we drove out to White Sands National Park. The views of the sand dunes were breathtaking and they looked like something out of a movie. We all bonded over sledding down the dunes and watching the sun set over the landscape. Needless to sa...
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El Paso Day 2!

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Day 2 of Borderlands El Paso is in the books!  After a good night's sleep, we started the day with a delicious breakfast. Although the night temperature was certainly variable, the air mattresses were quite comfortable. We then drove to the border wall and heard a presentation from Hope Border Institute Formation and Engagement Coordinator Abi Ray about the uphill battle asylum seekers face. It was interesting hearing how much of a role religion, especially Christianity, plays in providing asylum seekers faith and shelter. The groups also interviewed Abi for their final projects relating to the border.   After that, we headed to Cafe Mayapan for a tasty Mexican lunch. We enjoyed enchiladas, flautas, and salsa, along with a variety of Mexican candy, even if it took a while to come.  After lunch, we traveled to an undisclosed location to visit Ruben Garcia at the Annunciation House: a local shelter for asylum seekers. Garcia spoke about his journey as the director of Annunc...
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Day 3: Perseverance

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Today was a day filled with eye-opening experiences and memories. We started off with a naturalization ceremony, filled with about 112 new American citizens. We were privileged enough to watch these new citizens through their new journey — with the help of Judge Strickland— accepting their U.S. Citizenships with wholehearted joy and happiness. Additionally, we were lucky enough to hear stories from Señor Carillo about his experience immigrating through the harsh conditions of the border, inspiring new immigrants to persevere through their future experiences as a new American citizen.  After a life-changing morning, we headed to Matteo's for some Mexican Food (P.S. they are moving to California so follow their instagram @matteosmexicanfood!) We all highly recommend their variety of agua frescas especially the blue ocean. We all are happily contended and eating extremely well here in Las Cruces. Our happy faces post lunch:) Lastly, we listened to Dr. Natividad— a professor from ...
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