Classes started last Tuesday, and so far they've been pretty interesting. All of us are taking classes together, which is nice, but somewhat strange I suppose. Our trip leaders are teaching all three classes, which makes it somewhat difficult to consider the classes to be college courses, but they are all really knowledgeable and fun to be around. The classes are: Research Methods, which is essentially our forum for conducting our own research project this semester, Roots & Routes of Migration, which studies how and why people migrate, and Identity, Privilege, and Social Change, which...is pretty self-explanatory. So far we've had a lot of reading, and we're beginning to look into our projects/papers that we have assigned for later in the semester.
I have also started working at my field study! We are all working in a number of different organizations in the borderlands that address various social, political, and legal concerns. I am working for the Florence Immigrant Rights and Refugee project, which is a nonprofit organization that provides legal information/aid to people in detention facilities. Essentially, while FIRRP does not actually represent anyone in court, we conduct "know your rights" presentations and educate the detainees about their legal rights and the various forms of relief for which they can apply. It's a wonderful organization and I absolutely LOVE the work I do there. Last week, I sat in on immigration court, which was both fascinating and disturbing, went to a judges' meeting, met with a group of detainees who were learning about how bonds work, called family members in both the U.S. and in various other countries in an effort to urge them to write letters on behalf of their detained family member, translated declarations of asylum, and much, much more! It's really gratifying work, and I am learning so much about immigration law and detention facilities. This is definitely something I could see myself doing in the future...but I don't think I could live in Arizona. FIRRP is also an hour and a half drive from Tucson, which is pretty draining. The drive is gorgeous, though! see below:
Today we met with Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Nina, a researcher from the Southwest for Research on Women, both of which had a lot of interesting things to say about the borderlands and various realms of immigration. Rep. Grijalva spoke of the difficulties he's experience in Congress in terms of passing comprehensive immigration legislation. Nina researches the conditions for women in detention facilties. It was shocking to hear some of her stories about pregnant women who are detained, or women that have miscarried while in detention. She is doing a lot of really important work, and she has done quite a bit of research for FIRRP as well.
I moved in with my host family just over a week ago, and I absolutely love them! They have 17-year-old triplets, who are really great. The kids don't speak much Spanish, but the parents do, so I'm speaking a mix of English/Spanish/Spanglish with them, which is nice. They have been more than generous and they've even adapted to feeding a vegetarian! :) On Saturday, Ozela, the daughter & I made a DELICIOUS chocolate oreo cake:
Yesterday, we went to San Xavier mission, which was built by the Spanish in the 1700s. It was really cool to see the parts of the building that hadn't been restored, and to see how deeply religious and spiritual it was and still is for many people. The church still has Mass every Sunday, and visitors come from all over to light a candle for the Virgen de Guadelupe, or just to see the beautiful sanctuary.
Outside of academia and my field study work, I'm having a lot of fun! I went to see Amos Lee last night with a few friends, and he was phenomenal. It was a nice break from everything, and he never ceases to awe me. =)
love,
carmelle
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