Within Domestic Lands

This past school year I realized that I had not made the most of my time here at my alma mater. I have hardly given a second thought to calling Amherst my home but I have also barely given back to my second home anything it gave to me.

With that in mind I began researching on campus internships and elected to apply for the Pioneer Valley Citizen Summer (PVCS) run out of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE). Through this program I was able to apply to particular internships related to community development and engagement.

The internship site that I now call home is based in Holyoke, MA. CONNECTIONS After-school and Out-of-school programs offer a sort of after school activity program for the youth of Holyoke.

PVCS offered us a chance to explore Holyoke as a part of our orientation week. We visited the Flats and made our way up hill.


This was near one of our first stops. A mural painted by the kids of that building. This was across the street from the newly dedicated Carlos Vega park. The park needs work but it was still inviting.

The mural has a bit of an interesting story behind itself. While it may be difficult to see in the photo the Puerto Rican flag seems discolored and rather long. As it turns out there is flag etiquette requiring the US flag to be above any other flag. The kids weren't aware of this but a city official (or horrid woman who was running) threatened to vandalize the mural if the Puerto Rican flag was not fixed/removed. In order to avoid conflict the kids ended up extending the Puerto Rican flag.

We then visited a community garden run by Nuestras Raices. The lot is beautiful with tons of vegetables sprouting or in full growth. It was sad to know however that the organization did not actually own the lot they were growing on as indicated by a lot for sale sign that hung on the side. Nonetheless their efforts are admirable and I wish them the best of luck.

What'd you say about my mama?

On another note we went to City Hall and awaited our public Zumba lesson in the middle of the farmer's market. We stopped in a little shop that had a ton of breakfast and sandwich type food. The spice was the highlight for me.


We then hit up Fernandez's Family Restaurant and got a hearty helping of what would appear to be deliciousness in a couple of crazy forms.

 They had fried platanos, stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon, platanos lasagna, and all sorts of awesome Puerto Rican cuisine. I can't say any of it was very healthy.

After our meal we tried to meet up with the mayor at City Hall but ended up missing him just barely. We ended up walking to Heritage Historic Park and passed the carousel. We didn't get a chance to explore it beyond the outside.

We then hit up the renovated canal/riverside walk. The view was amazing despite the dilapidated mills, factories, and other such buildings. 

After this it was time to bid adieu to Holyoke and head back to Amherst where we shared our adventures with our Amherst halves.

Amherst presented a stark contrast to Holyoke. The community efforts seem more effective and the differences in the youth populations are astounding. The racial makeup of Amherst is not as diverse as Holyoke in any sense.

In other words, Holyoke was a breath of reality fresh air while Amherst kept us swaddled tightly in our safe bubble.

Horse Trekking!

Mama Naxi/Noxi (can't remember) was kind enough to set us up with a horse trek into the neighboring cliffsides. 

Sadly the horses already looked so tired and this was in the morning...

Nonetheless, we all were thrilled by the prospect of a chill horse ride through the wilds of China.

I was more concerned with staying on my horse....

The hills were treacherous but the horses were relatively steady despite the insane incline.

Of course the landscape was absolutely gorgeous.

They also provided a meal of an original hot pot... though it lacked flavor. Still we were happy to get some food.

We were then taken to a lake with horses in the front yard of this boat house type deal.

The sunflowers were huge and were all over the place!

This man acted as our tour guide of the lake. He also was the engine for the boat.

Lots of vegetation and sadly little dead fish that floated along the surface. Saw lots of beautiful dragonflies and other bugs that skittered along the lake.

Last on our day's schedule was a trip to a traditional Naxi village.

Few photos taken because the place was chock full of goods that we all got carried away in bartering.

A place to rest my head...

and to dance until I drop ;)

New destination... We finally caught up with our other half after our shenanigans in Guilin.

We spent the better part of the sunlight hunting down our hostel and finding some sustenance that wouldn't horribly upset already delicate stomachs...

The area was decorated here and there with these wall murals that were quite massive. You couldn't quite get a full capture of them because the streets were randomly narrow with tiny bridges over the vast waterways that weaved through.

A dear friend and I went hunting for some food and we stumbled upon this adorable restaurant that catered to a multitude of tastes.

Dancing, singing, karaoke, club, bar, and good ol' fun.

Most importantly... burgers.... :DDD

Water Buffalo Pools

After our river adventures, the group split up into two parts; one to get tattoos while the other went on a bike ride to hopefully go swimming.

We found a few water bison/buffalo just wading around in these pools with their nose rings tied with rope to a nearby tree.

They seemed so chill, which really fit the atmosphere.

This was our final destination. When we arrived a couple of people had just gotten out to leave for some other fantastic location. Everyone but me jumped in, which I now regret but I didn't want to swim that day. Perhaps I'll return to this amazing locale at some point in the future.

The bike ride was long but filled to the brim with amazing views of the landscape.

After our day in the sun we were forced to separate and choose once again as a problem occurred with train tickets. Either we could stand in a 17 hour train ride or wait a day and hope for tickets on another train( or two). Seeing as I felt horribly sick (contributed to my not swimming earlier) I elected to wait a day. I was a little heartbroken because that meant I would miss out on Cormorant fishing and potentially another site that was absolutely gorgeous.

Instead we had an early birthday celebration with lots of drinks, dancing, and awkward stories to tell the other group once we met up later on.

I even got roses out of the whole shebang :D