Team Trinidad: Week 1

The first week has already passed, which is hard to believe. Before I know it, the exhibit will open and the summer will end. Taking care of the basics for the program, like learning about the classroom and getting to know names, is always a little stressful and time consuming, but we’ve transitioned to thinking about our neighborhoods and getting to know each other better. That’s the enjoyable part of the program.

The Trinidad team consists of: Bryant, Josephine, Cynthia, Keenan, Kareem, Lindsey, Al’Asia, Cierra, Zac, and Arianna. Their first site visit to Trinidad went well. We survived the walk from the New York Avenue Metro , mainly because it was not as hot or humid as it had been in past weeks. Next week, we are going to take the X2 along H Street to get to the neighborhood. The group primarily focused on the southern part of the neighborhood this time. We’ll visit the other parts on the next few site visits. We even had a chance to go to Conner Contemporary Gallery of Florida Avenue and explore some of the artwork on display. Overall, the team’s first impressions of the neighborhood are that it’s historical, unique, friendly, and a little noisy.

I continue to be amazed at how friendly and open people in Trinidad are. In three years of doing this program, I’ve never had so many people actually ask to have their photos taken. Usually, I feel like we are hunting people down to get their photographs. I can tell that the residents care about their community because they are so aware of who is in it.

I’m looking forward to exploring more of the neighborhood with the rest of the team!