A few Short Notes About AZ
Driving to Arizona--
Our driver is going about 80 mph. I see about 100 McDonald's whizz by, 25 Wal-Mart's (and 25 more being built), and countless of big American flags flying high over said establishments...
Crossing into a different state does not make me feel different. The desert is not as hot as I had imagined, but still hotter than L.A. Everywhere on the horizon there are mountains...
Although it is dark I can still make out the shapes of the cacti that live in the desert. I look up and see the millions of stars that evade the big cities. Invisible to me, at the moment, are the stars on the ground, the wildflowers that have blossomed with the recent rains...
Driving to Douglas, AZ--
Driving towards the border town of Douglas, AZ hundreds of plastic water bottles can be seen in the desert. Some are small empty bottles and are barely visible. Others are large gallons, full, untouched and leaning on the barbed-wire fence.
How many of these will quench the thirst of someone we don't know? How many will not reach the dying lips of an immigrant who's last thoughts will be about his wife and children and the guaranteed job he was heading to in Florida picking tomatoes...
Somewhere along the border, a retired, ex-Marine from Missouri stands in front of his campsite and American flag. He holds a 9mm handgun and looks towards the Mexican border...
(Dear readers,
Doesn't having to work suck! I was going to call in sick today and didn't, and now I regret it because I had to stay for a couple of extra hours! Therefore, I was able to be at this Internet spot for only a bit, and now I have to go. That's the reason for this short entry. The good new is I'm on my way home to transcribe all these interviews I did across the border. We will definitely have a good article in the next issue of the RW, (or the Rev). So come back soon--porfavor).
posted by Nikolai Garcia @ 6:06 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, I thought the blog entry, so far, had this beautiful imagery of the connection between the larger beauty of the universe and the (seemingly) minute and (by no means less important) smaller beauty of the wild flower blossoms. Can't wait to rad more about your experiences in Arizona.
Hi Nik--
I'm going to start posting up the interviews with the maquila workers, peasants from Guerrero, and other people I met at the demonstration in Agua Prieta. Please feel free to add to the post.
I think the imagery you're developing is both beautiful and has a hint . . . I can't describe it now, but something that struck me about driving through the desert is how beautiful the landsape is, but also how unfriendly is it must be-- the cacti and dry brush are familiar companions for the migrants, but also look like claws that represent a real death . . .
Anyway, I'll post up some more of the latest and a summary of events.
Dear Nikky,
You know during the DP someone wrote a piece about traviling to the Arizona border, I think if you go to the rw site you can find it. You guys might want to post it on your site.
Also really like the imagery a lot can't wait to read the whole thing!!!
Quetzal
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