Borders & Border Crossings: Adios Arizona!

Hi everyone...it's Maggie and Autumn. We are currently in the Columbus airport after arriving back in Ohio at 1:30 A.M. (2:30 A.M. if you take into account daylight savings). Our bodies and minds are finally ready to relax and truly internalize the events of the past week. It's been a whirlwind of emotions, as well as intellectual rigor that has brought to life all the material we have studied for the last seven weeks. Yesterday, we wrapped up our journey with a morning visit to the community house of the Tierra Y Libertad Organization (TYLO), and a "leisurely" hike up Mt. Tumamoc. At TYLO, we learned about the power of community organizing and its differences to the notion of activism. We were also briefed on the positive effects of environmental sustainability within a community that liberates them from their reliance on corporations.

After this engaging and informative discussion, we traveled to Mt. Tumamoc, where we would hike two miles to the top of the mountain to oversee the beautiful city that served as our home for the last week. Before embarking on our hike, we stopped and briefly reflected at The Luminous Mother, which was a site of offering to ensure our safety on our adventure upwards. We all lit a candle while sitting in silence and taking in our surroundings. We then commenced our treacherous hike at a nearly 90 degree angle until we reached the top (several asthma attacks later...joking!). The view from the mountain peak was breath-taking, and served as the perfect space to contemplate the week's happenings and bring closure to our experience. To finalize our time together, we each placed a hand on a pot and offered a name of someone we met on our trip that we wanted to carry with us after our departure. On the count of three, we simultaneously thrust the pot onto the rock beneath us and each gathered a broken piece in remembrance. Our hike downhill proved much easier, and was a peaceful ending to our time in Tucson, Arizona.