Desert Inspiration by Kelty

Day 1
Today was our first day in Arizona, and it was very intense for nearly all of us. We started our day late since we were all incredibly drained from our previous day of travel. We woke to our first glimpse of the desert. The large rocky mountains, and rolling sand dunes were so different from the green, pine-covered slopes of home, and as the sun rose we could feel the frigid twenty-degree night melt away into a scorching desert day. We went for a hike to get acclimated. We saw cactuses that were a foot around and thirty feet tall, and others that were an arm’s length around and topped with fruit that some of us tried eating. We had fun crossing the many streams that crisscrossed the trail surprisingly. By the end, Tucker was giving piggyback rides across in his waterproof boots so people didn’t have to take off their shoes.
After lunch we met with Isabel Garcia, a lawyer and huge figure in the immigration debate. She was incredibly passionate and very moving. We heard stories from here about crimes and abuses committed by the Border Patrol. They were very moving and opened our eyes to the seriousness of the situation. It didn’t feel like just a political debate anymore. We heard how real people were having their human rights ignored. Hearing the actual name of someone who is held for days without food or water adds such a sense of reality to the border situation. It was a little embarrassing because she is such an important person, and since we had learned about her before we came she almost felt famous, and we faltered over our questions. Thankfully, Dan and Alex were stirred enough by what she was saying that they were able to come up with great questions despite their fatigue. By the end of her talk, some of us were moved to tears and all of us had so many thoughts reverberating in our minds…
It was getting late by the time we finished talking to her, and we were all in a daze from her passion and intensity, so we went to a small Mexican restaurant around the corner. The menu was our first experience trying to decipher Spanish, and we all had fun with it. Some people were a little surprised by what they ended up getting.
Finally we made it back to our camp after a very long and incredible first day.

By a very tired Kelty