Somos Mejores Amigas
They say you should never look for love and love will come and find you. Perhaps to everyone’s disappointment, I do not mean it romantically or to insinuate I had found my soulmate in New Hampshire. Rather, I found another soul sister.
I read a blog post, “As Latinas, we are Taught that our Lives Should Revolve Around Men” by Alex Zaragoza. It discusses the lack of Latina friendships portrayed in media. Novelas and other Latinx T.V. shows / movies typically display two or more Latinas within the same space as rivals --with a man in the center of their rivalry.
However, I was never taught to see another person who identifies as a Latina as my rival (or anyone else). As mentioned in my last conservation journal, I was taught to become independent and confident--with an emphasis on not depending on my partner should I decide to marry. I was never discouraged from making friendships with other individuals even when I independently learned certain friendships will come and go.
I also learned some friendships can last a lifetime.
I have five best friends from high school that are always there for me. They inspired me to keep pushing myself and to go beyond my potential. I have eleven line sisters and many hermanas from Latinas Promoviendo Comunidad / Lambda Pi Chi Sorority Incorporated that show me unconditional love. I missed being surrounded by individuals who embrace being part of the Latinx community, and through them I was able to reconnect with my roots and find my voice. I have friends and best friends scattered in NYC and NJ that I’ve met throughout my college career that remain important to me because we supported each other and made meaningful memories that I still hold close to my heart.
To me, friendships are like family. It doesn’t matter if they’re far away or close by, I genuinely love and care for each of them.
So, when I came to New Hampshire and met Karen from the LRCC Newfound Lake Program, I realized that I met my best friend from Memphis, Tennessee. It was the fact that we both love anime, K-pop, and think so much alike that we are convinced we are practically twins. I think the main difference between us is that she can speak more Spanish than me, but it is always interesting to see how much our cultures differ from each other (she being Mexican and myself being Dominican and Puerto Rican).
Regardless of our differences, we became close friends and had many fun adventures together.
We went to the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, Moulton Farm, Funspot, Meredith Sculpture Walk, Polly’s Pancake Parlour, Littleton, Conway Railway, Castle in the Clouds, Screemfest, and many more places. We went out of the state twice to explore Portland, ME and Salem, MA. We also took a selfie (we call it our selfie series) in almost every place we went to remember our adventures.
During the times we did not go out, we watched reality T.V. shows and anime, made pizza and apple pie, stargazed with others, and enjoyed talking to each other about random things like colleges we could possibly go to together and places we could travel together with our partners in the future.
It was fun when our programs joined together for service days. I remember one of the times our programs joined together, we were rerouting a pathway to the docks at the SLA. Karen and I are both petite and have moderate strength so it was funny when we tried to pull roots and or carry heavy things that looked like it was going to overpower us. She actually was surprised with the amount of labor our program does, but I joked back saying that’s how we have stronger bodies by the end of our service in October. I was not wrong because my arms and legs are more defined thanks to the SLA, but Karen remains surprised with the daily tasks I tell her I do such as getting in the lake to remove docks, trail work, and etc.
Aside from becoming better at communicating and becoming more confident in my skills thanks to many of the SLA staff, the SLA program has given me the privilege of meeting my best friend. I am grateful for having opportunities to explore New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine with someone who has been there for me and made an impact on my life.
