I'm finally here! After a delay with the flight from Dallas to El Paso, I arrived here around 3:30 p.m. Mountain time. I just want to say right away that El Paso is the most beautiful, diverse, colorful city I've ever been to that's in the United States. The (natural) grass is absent, and the flowers/trees/plants are not the most becoming, but there is something about the architecture and colors of the houses and buildings that make this city very unique and stunning. The people are also wonderful :)
The very first feature that I saw upon arrival were the beautiful mountains. I still can't get over that they are actually right there, being surrounded by El Paso and Juarez, Mexico. It was for sure the perfect view to see out the plane window! Hannah, the intern coordinator, and I met outside of the airport with a hug and exciting "Hello!!!"...she is such a hoot. Right after our warm embrace, however, I definitely felt the dry heat. It was a huge slap in the face due to all the wind. Hannah replied with, "Yup, welcome to Texas! You'll get use to sweating a lot. It'll be fun!" We had some time to kill before heading back to the airport to pick up Erika (one of my roommates), so Hannah drove around for a little bit to show me the area. We also stopped by the church she works at (Peace Lutheran).
Erika is one of the roommates (a summer intern as well) who has already arrived. I have a feeling that we are going to get along very well! She is from Ohio and is a Spanish major and Arabic minor (I know. Legit. ) at Ohio State. Just a little fun fact about one of the people who I'm going to be spending A LOT of time with this summer :)
Hannah educated Erika and me little bit about El Paso's unique layout and all of the border immersion programs that the city offers. This city of about 700,000 is unlike any other, mainly because it is a border city. I am not sure how to fully describe the layout without an image...so I will give a short/simple description. There are two mountain ranges. The mountains on the left side are a part of Mexico (Juarez), and the mountains on the right are in Texas. Both of the cities wrap around the mountains. The two cities are divided by the border (which is a fence), and it runs between the two ranges and through major parts of both cities. In fact, I am currently living about 4 blocks away from the border (don't freak out, mom and dad, I'm perfectly safe). El Paso also does not have any suburbs. They have communities outside of the city that are, unfortunately, filled with poverty and are primarily (if not all) immigrants from Mexico. We will be visiting some of these communities during our service times.
Hannah took Erika and me to this really great bistro and bar in downtown El Paso for dinner. We met up with three other year-long BSC members (Greer, Amy, and Claire). They are very, very nice and welcoming. It was a great time, and the $1.00 chicken tacos with THE spiciest salsa I have ever had hit the spot. The restaurant is only a 15 minute walk, so I can definitely picture this outing occurring again.
All of us summer interns are staying in the year-long house with the six members. It is such a cute house and is very much southwestern style; long, one story, quaint, I definitely love it. It is also very open with a living room and kitchen in the center and all six bedrooms surrounding. We will be moving over to Cristo Rey Parish after June 7.
This is probably a "duh" comment, but I feel like this is going to be a lot more eye-opening than I realized. We haven't even started working at our sights, but have already gained a handful of new insights in regards to the city, people, history, and cultures! Well, it is 10:11 p.m. here, which means it is 11:11 at home, which also means that it's time for this tired traveler to pass out. Erika and I will be spending our free day tomorrow exploring more of the city, taking pictures, and possibly going hiking if it's not too hot outside. Should be fun, if neither of us let the heat get to us! :)
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