this blog is nothing to the experiences I have had in El Paso

I learned so much this summer, more than I think I realize. I have seen for myself what happens along the border. Of course some of it comes from the media but a lot of it comes from talking directly to the people here and seeing things for myself. I can’t believe the 2 months have come to an end. I participated in protests, such as protesting Border Patrol for their abuses against immigrants like Sergio Adrian Hernandez and Ezequiel Hernandez; protesting Obama’s decision to send the National Guard to the border; and of course, protesting SB 1070 (and celebrating  the judge’s decision last week). It was great to see how readily many members from the Border Network gathered to execute the protests. It was a lot of fun making posters too; it put my creativity to good use. Every poster I made I knew had to send a message that many people would see and that gave me a great thrill.

The latter half of my internship I spent helping a coworker on a civil engagement project with regards to the upcoming election. The point of this project was to research figures and make flyers to distribute to the Latino community in an effort to get more people to vote. The intention of this campaign is simply to get people to vote, regardless of any party affiliations. In this way, both Republicans and Democrats will regard the Latino vote as an important ally they need and perhaps then Democrats won’t take the Latino vote for granted and will hold their promises in order to sway those voters. Nonetheless, this project gave me a lot of experience on how to get people to vote and the importance of voting, which I want to continue doing outside of my internship in an effort to get more Latinos nationwide to be more educated on the importance of voting.

When I wasn’t working, the girls and I spent time together either out exploring El Paso or watching movies or Law and Order (or listening to Justin Bieber). We kept busy as often as we could and that made this summer go by super quickly.  Everything is still processing. I have written a lot in my journal and I need to process everything but that will only happen when I’m away from this great border town.