Although I am in NYC for the summer and have called it my home for the past eleven years, I have always been a homebody. As such, I have a lot of things left to do in the city. That is why I have been creative this summer to still push beyond my boundaries of comfort in the city. I have tried to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar (as good ethnographers do best). To make that happen, I use my free time to go to cultural events in the city like food markets and to visit the different ethnic enclaves that bring cultural texture to the city. For instance, last week I went to a Puerto Rican Day Parade event where they were selling food and different local artists performed. The event allowed me to experience Puerto Rican culture in a way that I had never experienced before, and I confirmed how similar both their culture and cuisine are to my home country, the Dominican Republic. 

I also love to visit New York Public Libraries around the city. They are so incredibly beautiful, and it has been special getting to visit a good number of them (I want to visit them all, so I am checking off as many as I can this summer). Here's a picture of my favorite so far, which is in a remodeled church building.

Also, I have to mention how special it was to be in the city during the NBA finals, with the Knicks bringing the championship HOME! I have never, and probably will never, see the city like this again. People often say that NYC is the city that never sleeps, but until last Saturday that has never been more true. The city was electric, and the joy it brought to all New Yorkers is indescribable. KNICKS IN 5!!

Lastly, one of the most special community moments I've had happened last week when the NYSYLC (where I work) hosted a graduation party for their community members. There I met someone who had graduated from their UndocuAcademy a few years ago and had come back to support the newly graduated high school seniors. When I was talking to him, I asked him where he went to school, and he told me that he had just finished his first year at Yale after spending two years in community college. Then we started talking about his journey to Yale, and I felt so incredibly inspired by his ambition and vision for the future despite the limitations imposed upon him by his juridical status in the country. In his story I understood that he did not make it to Yale “despite” his status, because in many ways it was all the limitations in his journey that fueled him and allowed him to see opportunities in ways no one else could. I really saw myself in his story, and we really bonded over our aspirations for the future. However, our conversation was also marked by an extensive discussion of the culture shock of going to an Ivy League institution and the struggles we have faced and continue to face. To continue the dialogue we are getting coffee this week!