It appears it is almost impossible to go anywhere in the USA without running into some idiot who thinks it uplifts them to spout anti-immigrant crap.
You would imagine too that in 2022, in a country where 99.9%
of the population is either an immigrant, or possibly a descendent of one
of many who have blood on their hands, having murdered the native people and
stolen their land, you would find that type of nonsense receding, but the
very opposite seems to be the case!
I was reminded of this during what should have been a carefree
and pleasant camping outing arranged by our fearless, super organizer of Meet-up
fame, Jennifer, at Camp Chowenwah near Jacksonville.
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| Jennifer prepares the campfire |
So highly anticipated was this event that Beth from Guatemala
even organized to spend her vacation in Florida with her friend and countrywoman
Rosie, in time to coincide with the event.
I have been on many Meet-up events and really enjoyed them so
will be writing a few blogs to record the wonderful times we had this time, but
had to get this off my chest.
On this camping trip, there were nine of us, two from Jamaica, two from Guatemala, four from the USA and we were joined by Dania from the Dom Rep. She had really come up to enjoy the peace and serenity of the area with her husband who works with NASA at the nearby Cape Canaveral.
On the first night, we gathered around the campfire to bond
and exchange stories, but one participant tried to make it into an unpleasant
affair. For when Beth and Rosie introduced themselves, her snide remark was
to the effect that they should not speak lest they be sent to Massachusetts
by Governor DeSantis!
Unbelievable.
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| Rosie on her trusty bike |
For those who are not up to date on Florida news, Republican
Governor Ron DeSantis recently had some Latin
speakers from Venezuela who had applied for amnesty in the USA, sent packing to
Martha’s Vineyards, where they were told there were jobs and milk and honey
waiting for them.
Of course, it was a lie!
What was especially repulsive is that the speaker who tried
to spoil our camping trip, had a very thick foreign accent herself,
although she claimed to have come from Colorado!
Thank heavens, our new friends, though hurt by the mocking remark, were in such high spirits that they simply ignored her for the rest of the time and enjoyed themselves with the other more civilized participants.
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| L-R; Dania, Rosie, Sonia, Beth (behind) Joan (in front) |
It was really wonderful having them around and even when we were ready to depart, Rosie rode over to our cabin to invite us to breakfast.
We five, put all our surplus food together, cooked breakfast, ate, bonded, laughed, listened to music, exchanged stories and had a wonderful
morning together.
And we will be friends for years to come, thanks to Jennifer
who organized another enjoyable trek into the great outdoors.
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