My 50th Post and Counting: SOA Watch 2006

We left Grinnell a little before 11 on Thursday night. Leigh lent her Volvo wagon to the cause and Sarah, Evan and I were fortunate enough to get to ride in her car. It's the perfect protest ride because it's a little hippie but still really comfortable and safe. She drove the first four hours and a few inbetween and both Evan and I took turns the remainder of the way. Our car followed Sara Lu's van the entire way- we had no map, crappy MapQuest directions, and absolutely no common sense. Emily, who caught a ride home with us, wondered how we managed to follow someone for 1,100 miles. Ha, honestly?... not sure. We drove through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and through a bunch of Georgia. Columbus is practically in Alabama so one wrong turn and we were there too. The drive was a bit more than 18 hours. We stopped almost every hour because every hour at least one person had to use the restroom. We hit mostly truck stops. The one in Kentucky where we stopped at 9 AM smelled like clean trucker and sausage gravy.

The campsite where we slept was in Pine Mountain, about 45 miles from Columbus. I hope we got a good deal on the site because it was a pain in the ass to drive to and from the protest. Also, the camp ground was not especially enthusiastic about hosting a group of college students. We had showers (I kid you not, I was the only person to take one in the four days we were gone) and GORP, the college's outdoor recreation group, gave us tents and sleeping bags. Ryan let me borrow his but while I was in the bathroom, Evan fell asleep in it. SICK. I was really freezing and uncomfortable on the ground so I slept in the front seat of Leigh's car the second night.

Our first night, we walked a mile from the conference center to a concert at the HoJo. I bought a Peace flag and hugged Dotty Dale and her son hello. I met her second granddaughter, Lucy, on Saturday at the rally. Half of Columbus, Georgia is historically preserved and charming while the other half is a typical army town. Saturday morning we attended an orientation session at the convention center and listened to several speakers, including the Venezuelan Ambassador, who discussed the current needs of the people of Latin America and steps many countries have taken to withdraw officials from the SOA. Each of us was given a bright pink piece of paper with our legal rights printed on both sides. We were instructed to keep them in our pockets throughout the weekend should we run into trouble with the police. People who intentionally cross the line and people who accidently step over face the same legal reprocussions.

Most of the action takes place right outside Fort Benning. Saturday's rally consisted of speakers and musicians and I must have hit every vendor and organization's table four times. I got some really good resources, a shirt and some buttoms. The only food on site was a few tables of BBQ and Beans and Rice set up by people living in the low income apartments on the base. The New York chapter of SOA Watch also had a table offering fresh bagels and cream cheese. Dotty pointed me in the direction of the bagel stand- just two down from the "pee standing up, for women" booth. In addition to the "pee standing up, for women" tool, they were selling the "Diva Cup." http://www.divacup.com/. I was really impressed with the idea and according to Christena, they were big in Grinnell this summer. The rally lasted nearly six hours and in the early evening, each car split for dinner. We found a really awesome Mexican grocery and deli where the waitress encouraged us to speak Spanish. I had two really good, really authentic tostadas. I bought Susan's dinner because she didn't have her money. She owes my $9. Ima email her tonight.

I was barely standing by the time we got back to the convention center for workshops. Susan and I took a nap instead and then encouraged our group to head back to the camp site. Sunday's vigil was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. There were over 20,000 people at the edge of the line. In addition to several speakers, Emily Saliers from the Indigo Girls sang us a song about revolution and Susan Sarandon's sister, who is a nun, read a statement about achieving peace with justice. The actual vigil started at 11 AM. Each person is encouraged to carry a white cross bearing the name of a victim of the human rights violations committed by graduates of the school. Everyone present marches in a circle eight people deep. One person on the stage sings out the name of an individual and after each name, people raise a hand or a cross and respond with "presente" meaning the spirit of the person lost is present among the people gathered at Fort Benning. Some names that were sung were not names at all but instead "Unidentified person from _____" or "Unborn child of _____ from _____." When our part of the procession made it to the wall, I placed my cross among the thousands of others on the fence. I watched several people cross over. They were immediately handcuffed and taken into custody. One of the hardest parts of the whole experience was feeling the presence of the military and civilian police. Everyone was filmed upon entering the site and a watch tower was erected between the fense and the main stage. We left the vigil just as the helicoptors began to fly overhead muffling the speakers on the main stage and looking for people crossing the line.

I am so so glad I was able to make the trip. I know I'll travel to Columbus again next year and I'd love it if I could get a few Bellingham friends to come along. I ran into Dotty several times and I sat with Chris, the older woman I sit next to in Gender and Women's Studies after the procession. The night before she had the opportunity to reunite with the women with whom she shared a cell last spring when she served her sentence for crossing. Two of the women were crack addicts now clean and working in the city.

Grinnell has afforded me many great opportunities already- it's only been three months. I got a packet about a possible trip to NOLA during Winter Break. I'll have to discuss it with my parents.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I prepared the napkins for the tablescape this evening as Adriane, Britt, Kathleen, Les, and Christena chatted and cut veggies. I'll post Thanksgiving Day pictures.

I got a package from Grandma and Papa today- dunkers and sugar cookies. YAY! Old people write the best notes. I think it's because they were really forced to dig deep back in the day when telephone and email was not an option. They're getting two corgi puppies in December, just in time for Christmas. I'm coming home in three weeks regardless of whether or not my finals are done. Hamilton Travel is picking me up at 5 AM on Saturday, December 16.