Day 6: Program Conclusion

From students Jackie, Sonia and Katie:

Today was the last day of programming here in El Paso. We enjoyed a visit to a Farming & Agriculture Museum, and to Mesilla, NM (a cute little old town with cool shops— this was a highlight!). We continued seeing the diverse and unique culture of the Borderlands. Finally, we ended the night with a last dinner together at a Mesilla restaurant before coming back to our retreat center to reflect on all our learnings from this week. 

We travel to SFO tomorrow! (The group reflected on how cool it’s been to be away from our phones and living in the present with peers.)

Picture highlights below:

 

Enjoying our last dinner in the Borderlands together!

Hanging out in Mesilla’s central plaza

Cool store where students bought souvenirs 

At the Las Cruces Farming & Agriculture Heritage Museum

Museum and chess all at once

Learned all about a famous outlaw named Billy the Kid

EP: Pickup tomorrow at SFO

Dear Parents,

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at SFO to pick up your children returning from Borderlands El Paso. The flight, currently on time, is scheduled to arrive at SFO at Southwest arrivals at 8:10 pm. See the flight itinerary below. 

Because the trip leaders cannot leave the airport until all students have been picked up, we appreciate your promptness. 

Thanks,

PB

Tuesday, May 30th

Southwest #964: El Paso (ELP) 1:20pm - Denver (DEN) 3:10pm
Southwest #365: Denver (DEN) 6:30pm - San Francisco (SFO) 8:10pm

PS: We'll begin on Wednesday, May 31, at 10:00 am in the EP classroom. This is an hour later than the usual 9:00 am start, allowing for some extra sleep and recovery time.

Day 5: Carmen’s story and White Sands National Monument Park

From faculty chaperones Ms. Dominguez and Mr. Nelson:

Hello everybody! 

Slightly delayed blog here. Yesterday was a FULL day of activities, which left no time in the evening for the usual blog posting by our students. We sent the kiddos straight to bedtime when we arrived back at the retreat center! 

The students had a great day of learning how to make gorditas, practicing their Spanish and learning about an amazing immigrant story told first-hand by a brave woman named Carmen Hernandez. The students were super impressive with their undivided attention,  thoughtful questions and hugs to their new “Abuela” Carmen. :) 

Our students have shown great respect and an inquisitive spirit to all the guests they’ve heard from and we are so proud of them. We ended the day with a visit to White Sands National Monument Park and a surprise stop at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Tons of pictures below.

Take care!

-Stefie and Matthew

Day 4: Farmer’s Market and the Food Bank

From students Sabrina, Jacob and Arthi:

Wassup! El Paso in the house!

Today, we had a fun and exciting adventure throughout Las Cruces and El Paso.

It all started with breakfast while Arthi, Katie, and Lauren slept in. Hash browns and egg wiches were on the menu.

Then, we traveled to Las Cruces farmers market, one of the biggest on this coast. Almost 5 blocks! Some highlights are Claude buying a beautiful chain, Julie’s 5 foot long wood puzzle, Arthi’s chocolate macaroon hamburgers, Ashford’s periodic table inspired rock, and a few matching tattoos (check the pics parents!). Menlo students drank 32 oz Frescas and ate dozens of mini donuts. 

Our adventure continued after an hour and a half drive (thanks to beautiful navigation on Ms. Dominguez’s part). We had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at El Paso Food Bank, the only food shelter in all of El Paso. We packaged all sorts of foods in cardboard boxes to help residents in need. We did 11 palettes — 100 boxes of foods. 

Then, thanks to Sonia and Lauren, our group made a pit stop at Dairy Queen where many members experienced their first blizzards. Thanks to the dairy, on the hour car ride, many students found themselves drowsy (they call it the Dairy Drowsies) (see pictures below). 

For dinner, we participated in the intake of hamburgers and fries. After dinner, Jacob, Arthi, and Sabrina had an amazing ANCHOR speech as the leaders for the day (introducing cold calling for the first time). 

Then Jacob and Arthi beat Claude in basketball  

Signing off to play basketball with the neighbors,

-Sabrina (the wonderful scribe), Jacob, and Arthi

“Tattoos” at the Las Cruces Farmer’s Market

After some serious assembly line work at the El Paso Food Bank

Dairy Drowsies pt. 1

Dairy Drowsies pt. 2

Dairy Drowsies pt. 3

In action at the Food Bank

Playing with the neighborhood kids

Day 3: Court, Border Patrol Agent, and Local Politician

 From students Julie and Claude-

Hi everybody!

Today we had an early morning waking up at 6am to prepare for the courthouse. Upon arrival at the district courthouse, we had a brief discussion with a public defender in which we talked about difficult cases and his experience and knowledge of immigration law. 

After, we entered the court room and braced ourselves to hear roughly 18 defendants presenting their cases. These cases ranged from re-entry, harboring undocumented citizens, distribution of drugs laced with deadly substances (fentanyl, ketamine, etc.), and sexual assault. It was striking to see the effects of these cases on family. For example, one woman was trying to visit her daughter, a citizen, and was arrested for a re-entry offense.

Later in that day, we got to meet up with a border patrol agent in a park. As a lot of you may know, border patrol agents receive a lot of hate from the media. Getting to meet a with a border patrol agent in person cleared up a lot of the negative stereotypes around being a border patrol in America. At the same time, it was also really helpful to compare and contrast this border patrol’s agents opinions with those from earlier on in the trip.

We then took a quick pit stop at a local coffee shop to unwind from the heavy content we had just absorbed. We then finally got to go Walmart, where we got to buy LOTS of cortisone for all the bug bites (jk! Mrs. Barada don’t worry everyone’s safe).

Finally, we ended our day with a discussion with a local politician, where he gave an inspiring chat on doing the right thing. 

We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in all these remarkable experiences. Can’t wait for tomorrow, but for now we get the opportunity to cause IMMENSE chaos around the campus ;)

-Julie and Claude

              Having a delicious lunch in downtown Las Cruces, NM after visiting the district courthouse

               Listening to a Border Patrol agent

                 A little break at a coffee shop

Day 2: The Wall, Border Patrol and Asylum

From students Paige and Brady:

Hi everyone,

First we woke up and then had some great breakfast and made our way to the vans to El Paso. We then listened to Abi Ray who works with unaccompanied minors in helping them seek asylum and more. We thought her perspective was quite eye opening because she actually lives in El Paso and helps immigrants entering the US. We learned about the difficulty of entering the United States even as an unaccompanied minor with a sponsor. It was impactful that as we listened and asked questions to her, the wall was right behind her, about 50 feet away. 

We then went up closer to the wall which was even more insane and then saw a border patrol agent. Even though he was on the job, he was very willing to talk to us even though we could not record. He told us stories from his perspective and about keeping an open mind. He explained how hard it was to be professional, kind,  yet firm with everyone. He also explained the effects of Title 42 from a border patrol perspective. 

We then had a picnic lunch and proceeded to a museum where we learned about the Rio Grande and shared land along the border. We then got some spectacular coffee and further stimulated our minds by playing chess!! Very fun. Then, we went to the hospitality center where asylum seekers are given a temporary living place where they are provided with guidance and support. Again, it was quite impactful seeing first hand what we hear about and see in the news (the wall, etc). 

We often hear about a lot of the negative sides of immigration and while those are definitely present, the Hospitality Center we visited next demonstrated there is good in the system. They provide people with clothes and kids toys etc. While in that Hospitality Center, we listened to Leo Castañeda who clarified specific policies regarding border control, ICE, and detention centers. He provided many facts rather than his own opinion which allowed a lot of room for personal interpretation. He also showed us what detention centers in New Mexico look like which was quite shocking and inhumane. Then we returned, grubbed, and now will play games. Some pictures from today are attached below.   

Thanks everyone, 

Paige and Brady 

                      Right next to the border wall

                   Group shot in front of the border wall

Having fun at the Chamizal National Memorial Museum

       Leo Castañeda from the ACLU teaching us about borders, detention centers and the asylum-seeking process 

Day 1 El Paso Trip

 

                    Arrival @ El Paso Airport and meeting our 

                             local trip leaders

Written by students Arjun and Ryan:

Hello everyone,

We are writing after dinner at the Holy Cross Retreat Center in New Mexico. We spent most of the day traveling, preparing, and getting acquainted with our living space for the next week. We started the day off at 7AM at SFO and arrived in El Paso at about 2.30 PM after a brief layover in San Diego. We had an incredible lunch of tacos when we landed and drove about an hour to the retreat center in New Mexico. We had a lively singalong to Bruno Mars in the van so the time passed quickly. When we arrived to the retreat center, we learned our room assignments and settled in. The boys + Paige threw around a football in the courtyard while the girls relaxed in their rooms. We met the program coordinators in the gazebo who briefly went over norms for the trip. Then, we played a few ice-breaker games with our trip leaders, Andres and Leah before heading to the kitchen for dinner. We had a fabulous dinner of lasagna and salad followed by a debrief + norm skits for the rest of the week. We are excited about tomorrow and are about to head on a walk around the retreat center!

-Arjun and Ryan