Day 2 was beyond adventurous! Erika and I had a free day (as Orientation starts today, June 2), so we decided to make the most of the day and explore around the city. Erika went onto Google and outlined a map for us with most of the main streets and circled locations that we had talked about visiting. We left the house around 9:30 a.m. and headed for downtown area. It was a beautiful time of the day for a walk! Although it was bright outside, the sun was not directly shining on us and there was a great breeze. We took a longer route so that we were able to see more houses and neighborhoods. We stopped at this park that overlooked the city and Mexico. You could tell that the city was starting to wake up and come alive from the overlooking area. As we continued downtown, a stray dog came up and tried to get our attention multiple times. It was a cutie! As we kept walking we noticed that stray dogs were a thing in the city. We were wondering if it maybe had to do with the culture.
We first stopped at the Museum of History. It was a cute, small'ish museum with many different displays. I took some pictures and posted them on my facebook, since there would be too many to try to put on this post. The staff working were more than friendly and loved that we were visitors to the city. We were there for probably an hour or so walking around and looking at the exhibits. The Mexican culture is such a beautiful, family-oriented one. My personal favorite exhibits were ones that had audio recordings of family members sharing their favorite memories as children growing up in Mexico or El Paso. Time seemed so much more carefree and enjoyed back then. The exhibits with the traditional Mexican clothing were also gorgeous! All of the clothing was so intricately made and flowed so gracefully off of the people wearing them.
After the museum, we ran into two other BSC members Greer and Claire. They were heading to a festival that showed and sold local clothing, paintings, jewelry, belts, purses, and yarn. All of the items were handmade, so they were pretty expensive. Neither of us ended up buying anything, but it was great that we attended and were able to see what kind of items were showed. The festival is every Saturday afternoon, so maybe after I have more money I will attempt to purchase something! The children who were at the festival were sups adorbs as well. They were so interested in every single stand and had much enthusiasm for the people who made their stands more kid-friendly and hands-on. A woman who makes her own yarn, baskets, and scarves had two children make their own yarn. It was so cute!
Erika and I parted from Greer and Claire and made our way closer to the Art Museum. Ok, coolest museum ever. All of the displays were breathtaking and shocking all at the same time. The man who was working at the entrance of the museum was very kind as well. He had us introduce ourselves to him and when we told him that we were there with Border Servant he became more eager to hear about what our placement sights and jobs will be. Erika and I explored the entire museum, and it seemed like we were there for almost 2 hours. The exhibits ranged from paintings to sculptures to abstract to religious paintings from the 13th century. Again, I posted pictures onto my facebook :)
By the end of our museum visit we were pretty hungry, and had mapped out a place that sounded pretty good to both of us! Tacos, of course! As we were leaving, the man working at the entrance suggested that we go to this one restaurant (drawing a blank on the name at the moment) and told us the type of food that was served. Food in general sounded good to us by this point. We parted from the man (now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure his name was Mark) and went on our way in the direction that he told us. After walking a couple blocks we realized that we may have (or did, actually) take a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Erika whipped out her Spanish and asked a cute elderly man if he knew where the restaurant was. He told us that we were heading in the wrong direction, but told us to go Los Jarrones instead because the food was very, very good for a very reasonable price. We took up his advice and he was dead on about the very, very good part!
Los Jarrones is a quaint, family-feel, Mexican restaurant with the most authentic and delicious Mexican food I've had in awhile. Although any Mexican food down here is more authentic than what you find in the Midwest, haha. Our plates were FULL too. Erika tried ordering in Spanish, but the waiter just responded to her order in English (silly man). I had asked the waiter what Green Chili Sauce was, and he said that it was very spicy but that he would bring me a free sample to try! I'm glad he did because now I know to never order it anywhere, or at least from there :) If you haven't tried it before, it is spicier than Jalapeno. It's super good, but my mouth had no feeling after trying it :) After eating, Erika and I sat and talked for a long time and had many conversational topics about being brave and figuring out who we are in life. They were much needed topics and by the end I left the restaurant feeling like a different person. Erika bought us sweet bread with fruit filling inside-way delicious, and you could tell that it was homemade.
Here comes the fun part of our day. We got lost for about 5 minutes. We eventually walked in a rectangle and found our path back to the house. It was good to be lost for a little bit because then we both knew that we were capable of finding our way and navigating in this city. Plus it was a good bonding moment to both freak out and picture ourselves never getting back to the house, haha :) While we were walking back, the sun was at its worst. Erika was pretty solid and doing well, but me on the other hand...first time I almost passed out due to heat exhaustion. It was a little scary at the moment but now I just laugh about it :) We would periodically make jokes about Hannah, the intern coordinator, driving by us both passed out or sitting on the curb somewhere. You have to laugh during times of questioning! We stopped a couple times and Erika offered to take my bag so that I didn't have to carry anything. We made it up the, what seemed like, a never ending hill and took a quick break. The beautiful view of the city was off to the right of us, and definitely rejuvenated my spirit to keep going. Sidenote: that sentence probably sounded way more dramatic than what actually happened. We finally made it back to the house and collapsed on the sofa and chair. It felt really great, and accomplishing to finally be home after 6 hours!
Erin (from Le Suer, MN) and Lily (from Madison, WI) arrived about 15 minutes after we got home. It was SO GREAT to finally meet them and talk with them in person! Lily was pretty tired when she arrived, so Erin, Erika, and me talked out in the living room. To put it kindly, we definitely hit up all of the random roommate/personal conversation topics asap. That's when I knew that I was pretty darn lucky to be calling these women my family for the summer.
Hannah cooked everyone dinner, and we ate with the year-long BSC members. It was delicious! We all sat and talked for awhile and then decided to go for a walk. We walked up to one of the walkway paths that overlooks El Paso and Mexico. It was a beautiful view because the sun was setting and the lights were sparkling away below us. The group took pictures (which I posted on my facebook) and we did a quick geocach because Claire had located an item that was up on the path. It was so funny seeing everyone so enthused about this. It was my first time geocaching and I would definitely do it again with these guys.
After our lovely walk outside, Justin (another year-long BSC member), Erin, Erika, and me sat in the living room and just chatted away. Justin works at Cristo Rey, so he gave Erin and me some advice about our jobs and positions when working with the children. Although I have experience working with children, it was so relieving hearing Justin's advice and his experience since I am a little nervous for the first day. Justin really lightened the mood and helped Erin and me feel more confident and comfortable. I really like Justin a lot. He is so goofy and has so much spirit in him. He graduated from St Olaf, so I thought that was a cool/random connection we had. We talked for a long time about border control, the Mexican population, our lives, and where we all want to go in life. That is one of my favorite things about BSC, you can easily have the most indepth and meaningful conversations with these people, even though you've only known each other for a day or 2.
Today we have BSC Orientation that starts at 11:00. We will be driving to Cristo Rey for 11 a.m. mass and then the day kicks off from there. We do not stop until after dinner time, but for some reason I feel like I'm still going to have just as much energy towards the end of the day. One of the events that takes place today is working with the Cristo Rey youth group! Well, one of the youth groups. We will be with the middle schoolers, and they will be working with Erin and me during the summer as our helpers. I have a really great feeling about this summer as the days progress. I am sunburned and always thirsty, but this city and trip down here has, so far, been the best thing that has happened. As Erika put it, we will definitely all be growing together in many ways, and figuring out who we are in our stances on immigration, border control, education, faith, and personal beliefs.
I apologize for this lengthy post, but really appreciate it if you took the time to read everything! I miss everyone and hope that the summer has been treating you all well so far!
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