NRES 285/ 499

We have entered the final stretch of our trip to Alamos, and there is a bitter-sweetness that permeates our activities. Sweet because our families have been missed, and they have missed us. Bitter, because in a short time our class developed from a group of strangers' voices across the Internet to a kind of familia, although temporary, forged by the cobbled streets of Alamos and the swaying whispers of the palms. Ours has been a journey of discovery about ourselves and a small portion of the world we live in.

The bitter-sweetness was especially acute for me as I packed up my belongings and entered the bus going to Obregon to catch our plane that would bring us one step closer to the places we call home. The trip has been a kind of awakening in which I not only learned about palms, but also about the development of friendships and camaraderie that coincides with living with others for an extended period of time. The sheer pleasure of people's company and the exploration of ideas were intoxicating (although, now that I think of it, I have a funny feeling alcoholic beverages aided in this phenomena).

The tears that etched streams down my face were short-lived in that like every family a small amount of dysfunction punctuated the solemnity of our silent descent toward home. Arun, as we were standing in line to check in with Aero Mexico, realized that he had not only lost his cell phone, but he had also misplaced his passport. In a rushed excavation of his luggage, Jeff and Dr. Endress aided in a fruitless search for the magic document that would open the US-Mexico border for Arun. Luckily, the authorities at Aero Mexico allowed Arun to board the plane to Hermosillo, but a solution to his lack of documentation would need to be found before he could enter back into the United States.

Once in Hermosillo, while many of us scrambled to use up our excess pesos with breakfast and novelties, Dr. Endress located the US Consulate in Hermisillo. In what Endress described as a "movie-style taxi ride," he and Arun rushed to the consulate seeking their assistance. Like any good capitalistic venture, after charging a hefty fee, the consulate issued Arun an emergency passport that would allow him to reenter the United States as a fully documented citizen. Unfortunately, although the return trip to the airport in Hermosillo was as movie-style as the trip to the consulate, they still were not able to make the plane from Hermosillo to Phoenix. Instead, they spent an extra night in Mexico, and I assume are now back in the United States reunited with their family and friends. Although the humor of the situation was not evident at the time, once Arun's documentation had been secured, and he and Dr. Endress' fate more clearly defined, the trepidation of the moment faded. This capstone episode of our trip to Mexico has the potential to offer memorable laughs for years to come.

Once the rest of us entered Phoenix, we had to pick up our luggage and recheck it for the final leg of our trip. The majority of our group saw Zack off to his final destination, while I, in nervous excitement went through security. Once secure near the gate, I began to panic because none of my classmates were following. I had my ticket checked and a page sent to the Endress clan all while a US Airways employee tried to entice me with a MasterCard that supposedly would pay for my trip. Giving the MasterCard pusher the slip, I finally saw a few of my classmates exit security as the plane was boarding, and my sense of equilibrium returned. The security folks forced Stephanie to traverse the security line a second time due to her full bottle of water. It is a shame that hydration appears to be a punishable offense.

After a relatively benign and boring plane trip to Chicago, except for a few bouts of turbulence and a hydraulics test that seemed to echo loudly throughout the plane cabin and go on forever, all of us scurried to baggage claim. Here many of us reunited with our families, and we began a series of sad goodbyes and the exchange of contact information. With so little time alone to consider the impact of our trip and the formation of our group identity, I wonder what the future will hold for us as we reintegrate ourselves into the lives we left behind to take this great adventure amongst the palms and cacti. Will the sense of connection continue as we enter into a new semester, or will it simply remain a pleasant memory of warm sunshine, tortillas, and biting black flies. Signing out--Julie D.



photos from Stephanie L., Nathan S., Julie D., Lenna O., and Bryan E.