The Borderlands

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Greetings from Tucson! And Yes, I'm in Tucson...not Nogales right now. It's been a crazy couple days since I arrived here in Arizona on Tuesday. U.S. Coordinator at Compañeros en Misión, Sue Thomas, greeted me at Tucson International Airport and immediately we headed to lunch to meet my Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) Tucson site coordinator, Brandon, and another one of the other YAVs, Maren. It was great finally being able to put a face with Brandon's voice, since we'd been in communication for so many months in order to make this all possible! We squared away some details for the next year of my life, especially the retreats and special events that I'll be participating in with the YAVs. We're (Dave, Sue, Dr. Pazos, Brandon, and I) all committed to finding a nice balance between Compañeros commitments in Nogales and Sonora and YAV events in Tucson and beyond!!

I crashed with Dave and Sue the first couple days because Sue and I decided to be ambitious and paint my new bedroom. The theme we're going for is bright and Mexican, therefore the walls will be splashed with YELLOW!! And we're talking YELLOW! The kind that makes one feel perky even if one doesn't feel very perky! As with most painting projects, it seemed like a one day thing when we started...but after a full day's work and only having completed the ceiling and round ONE of trim work, we're now fully aware that we'll be splattered with paint for more than just a day.

My participation in painting was put on hold on Friday when I headed up here to Tucson to (finally!) meet all the other YAVs. We kicked off our "orientation" with storytelling...telling our personal stories, answering the questions 1) Where do you come from? 2) How did you get here? and 3) Why are you here? It was great hearing everyone else's reasons for committing to the Borderlands for a year and I'm very excited to watch all of us grow and evolve as the year passes by.

The house here in Tucson is like none I've ever lived in. It's located at the base of "A mountain," appropriately named for the giant letter A that sits on the top of it (thanks to the students of the University of Arizona). The house is located in an intentional community, which means that many resources are shared by other residents of the community. However, the house - as the YAV house - is no longer a part of the community, but the idea behind an intentional community still exists, therefore allowing the two people who still live on "our" property to use the kitchen, library, and bathrooms here in the house.

My identity down here has been set in stone...partly out of convenience, partly because I don't want to be confused with a toliet. Hmm, let me explain..... First, it's been decided that I will be called Liz. As many of you know, I have NO problems with nicknames...which is probably why I have about 20 plus names. However, to avoid confusion, I will strictly be Liz while down here, pronounced more like "Lees" in Spanish. And I will definitely NOT be ET while here in Tucson...mainly because that's what our outdoor compost toliet is now called!!! ET, or The Epiphany Toliet, is just one of the many ways that we try to help out the environment and cut down on unnecessary waste.

For all of you that haven't heard from me and feel that I have "dropped off the face of the earth" since leaving Kansas, know that I am alive, well, and happy. I'll be returning to Nogales on Tuesday and will continue to paint, learn more Spanish from Dave, and figure out the ins and outs of the tough work that Dave, Sue, and Dr. Pazos do daily! I'm super excited for the year ahead and can't wait to share more with you all!! :-)

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Photos

Hiking up Tumamoc
7 of 8 of us YAVs as we hiked up Tumamoc Saturday evening at sunset!

Picnic!
We had a picnic of PB&Js and chips and salsa half way up the mountain!

As the sun goes down....
One of the MANY gorgeous views of the Tucson area at sunset!!

Comments

[Kristine]

blog
FYI-I'm printing your blog off for my mom so she can easily access and read it. Excited to here more about your travels.

[Jay]

Go go go Elsbivaneff!! hmmm ... go go go lees !?!?