Day 4: The Border

 


Hey everyone! Today was a very full and exciting day for the El Paso group. We started off the morning with a visit to the Las Cruces farmer's market (see photo below!) where we had the chance to interact with small business owners and purchase some souvenirs. We enjoyed the opportunity to experience downtown life with the community members. Some of our group revisited our favorite restaurant, Matteo's,
for las aguas frescas and lunch. 

Next we did some volunteer work at the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger food bank (see first photo). Over the course of 2 hours, we packaged over 500 monthly meal kits for senior citizens, utilizing the idea of an assembly line at its best. It was interesting to see how much food is required to support the population and hear what it is like to live in a food desert. 

Throughout the trip, we have been able to visit different parts of the border. In some places, we saw mostly barren land on the other side, but today, we interacted with two families through the bars separating the United States from Mexico. Collectively, we agreed that this was one of the most valuable experiences thus far. Seeing an image that is so commonly portrayed in the news with our own eyes evoked a variety of emotions that is hard to put into words. 




Overall, our experiences together have brought the group closer and allowed us to challenge our prior knowledge and assumptions surrounding immigration. We're looking forward to our final days in El Paso and can't wait to share everything we have learned with our families!  

- Madison and Ryan



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