So the week of the 6th through the 12th was our first week with our host families in Nogales, Sonora. On Tuesday evening we had a party dinner downtown and met our families. Eva Gonzalez is my mom, and
she's really nice and very involved in border issues in Nogales. Today it came out that she makes strife in the house by bringing female migrants home to bathe every so often. Eva's husband Victor is an electrician and a secret master analyst of the US presidential election, so it's really entertaining to hang out with them. Their son Victor is 10 years old and a really sweet kid who loves his pet chihuahua named Puppy.
Wednesday we visited the border artists Alberto Morackis & Guadelupe Serrano in their shop and split up into groups in order to complete some tasks overthe next week gathering materials for our Day of the Dead altar. The artists are very cool and open with us, which is really nice. Alberto did get very sidetracked talking about typical mexican meals though, I think it may have been dinner time for him.
Thursday we had Amy's and Paty Bar
ron's classes at the Pedagogical University of Nogales. Amy's class is now starting into the Human Rights section, and Paty's class is about interculturality and historical formation of Ambos Nogales. Friday was Heather Craigie's Identities, Myths & Realities in the Borderlands class, which is a really great space for reflection and development every week.
Things are pretty good here in Nogales, we'l
l see how our families pan out in the next couple weeks.Best to all,
Eric Holman
