Mexico / US 2008-2009

Originally written July 12, 2009

I held my breath as I

crossed the border. Which in retrospect, is not at all what I predicted my reactions to be.  Quite sadistically humorous in fact, since the only other time the split second autonomic reaction had occurred was when childishly scuttling through a graveyard.

Mental health has always been a long ignored and overlooked topic in our health delivery system. Recently, I was given the opportunity to visit with the El Paso Mental Health and Mental Retardation (EPMHMR) Agency. Though this is somewhat of a digression from my formal duties at my internship, I felt it was important to observe different areas of health services to acquire a more wholesome understanding of the system.

Disclaimer: I was not completely sure how to approach this blog. I don’t feel like I have a full grasp of what I am witnessing. My intentions were simply to live with the poor, and if possible to make a connection from my observations to the state of Urban Education in the United States, today.

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I'm going to break up this entry with some more pictures from the border tour.  This is Monument 1. That rope is the border.  This is also the spot where Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico meet!

Hey guys, sorry it’s taken me so long to blog!

Time seems to by since I’ve been here, which I’m assuming is a good thing, right? So much has happened – where do I even start?

Yesterday a couple of the other Las Americas interns/law clerks went over to Border Patrol headquarters for a Border presentation.  They gave us a little powerpoint about the organization for about an hour.  Apparently, El Paso is "Where the Legend Began," as it says on like every piece of furniture in there. They've been going at it "since 1924 with Pancho Villa," (at this point, a few of the interns glance at each other).  It was all around an interesting presentation, however.

Since the moment I came here I promised myself no expectations. After the group of amazing speakers came in to SCB and spoke to our trembling and tapping toes of what not to fear, I knew expectations would not be on the list. However, arriving upon scene, wild with passion with out expectation, leaves you walking on a road to no end. I needed an X to mark the spot, to reach into this ancient chest of fear and insecurities and lift up the true vitality that lay within its depths. Being with these women allowed me to raise the bar for myself, to form expectations of an unchartered kind.