Amaryllis' Story: Sunday to Wednesday

Hello, everyone! I'm sorry I couldn't keep up with the blog posting daily, writing/editing with just your phone can get very time-consuming and annoying. Luckily I'm well rested and back home from my trip and able to give a recap! This will be a master post of all the notes I kept throughout the week by the day. If you want to see a more detailed writing in terms of location of our trip you can check out the itinerary here to help guide this reading. Just as a disclaimer, my goal through this writing is to share how this trip affected me and not so much a report of the lives and history of El Salvador and its beautiful people... in no way am I an expert or can even attempt to be a reporter of a story that isn't mine.... this is my Salvadoran story, not theirs. 

Sunday, August 6
It still hasn’t hit me that we’re en route to El Salvador. I’m feeling all sorts of emotions right now; nervous, but calm but also excited, as well as a tad bit tired. I think I’m mostly nervous because of my extremely embarrassing lack of Spanish skills (and the fact that TSA wouldn't let me bring my hairspray). A Puerto Rican who doesn’t know how to speak Spanish… years of being a possession of the US will do that to you. I think the calm is coming from this new found confidence I’ve grown to realize as an ABL Writing Leader. Because ABL has been apart of my life for almost more than half of it I tend to forget the impact that ABL really has on me and education and the youth in general. I’ve grown to love and trust ABL so much that I’m willing to travel above and beyond to share this family of mine with the world.  The excitement is my natural caffeine and it’s keeping me going, for now, …or maybe that’s the anxiety. Speaking of lack of sleep, probably nothing I’m writing is making sense or grammatically correct but that’s ok, this blurb, this trip, and ABL, in general, is all about the process and the message. And now here I am waiting for the flight and the message and process that El Salvador will gift to all of us.

Monday, August 7

Today we spent the day at Ingeniero Guillermo Borja Nathan in Apopa. I learned that schools in El Salvador usually work in two shifts, one in the morning from about 7-12 and the other from 1-5. Since they had last week off for vacation they begin school today and opened with a civic act. This act included their national anthem, pledge, a mini talent show, and awards for poetry, vocals, and art were rewarded. We spent the day observing classrooms. I had an 8th grade class for the whole day. The kids in the first session were very shy. But during lunch, a group of 9th-grade kids invited me to their table. Dennis (pictured on the right) was my first friend on campus. He won first place in the school's poetry contest! We communicated through broken English and Spanish and the glue that held these stories together was our love for poetry and music. Did I mention that he raps too? He even got me to sing with him during lunch. They asked me about where I'm from, how old I am, etc they got to know me and I got to know them. I showed them pictures of my boyfriend, family, and friends... I felt like I was catching up with old friends. I asked them about their feelings towards school and what their plans were after graduation. Before I knew it time was up and the first shift of school was over and I had to say goodbye to my friends. The second shift brought on a new vibe. The students seemed to be more outgoing. A group of girls came up to me before school had even started and asked me who I was and where I came from. Their friendly smiles made me feel so more at ease. They all wanted a picture and so came one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. 5 minutes after meeting we all had a recuerdo we could hold onto forever. After their civic act, where Daniela and her friends performed a funny parody of a typical class, they came up to me and showered me with so much love. They

wanted me to follow them the whole day, sadly I couldn't but did meet up with them whenever we had breaks. They asked lots of similar questions like the first group did. They were really fascinated by my hair and ask lots of questions about it. I told them about my curly hair journey and routine. We talked a lot about societal pressures that we feel and ways that we've grown to love ourselves including the good and the bad days. They were really curious about the kinds of music I listen too and dance moves as well. We got a cup, put my Spanish playlist on shuffle and went straight to dancing. The whole classroom was filled with smiles, dancing, and the voice of Romeo Santos in the background. I didn't realize it but at the time I actually had to be in a meeting to talk about how to day went with ABL and ConTextos in the next room. At this point, the whole class was teaching me how to dance cumbia... the steps were pretty confusing... but I promised them that I'd go back home and practice and when I return in the future I'd be a pro. I didn't want to leave, the party was just getting started.

Tuesday, August 8

We returned to Borja to put into action the lesson that we had co-planned with our Contextos teacher and trainers as well as the Borja teacher that we observed. Under the guidance, translation, support, and love from Enrique and Lorena we were able to transform and implement that ABL love and vibe right in their classroom. We ended up teaching about 3 classes that day... one 5th grade class, one 8th, and one 9th. I always start each class with an I Am poem and knew that I needed to share this poem format with the students I met yesterday. During our co-planning we came up with this brilliant idea of combining the I Am and Where I'm From poem together based off one of my favorite poems from Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta called Wonders of the City. I introduced the 6 ABL principles (which I'll go more in depth about in Thursday's journal entry) and Lorena did this really cool activity that let us all get to know each other a little more and bond. She asked the class to think about the common phrases you hear all the time and to write it on a piece of paper. We then posted our little phrases
(we had a range of very funny phrases like "why haven't you cleaned your room yet" to others grounding but relatable ones like "be safe, don't be on the streets for too long".) Enrique then connected this activity by explaining that we hear a lot of things that people will say about ourselves and the places we come from, some good some bad, but at the end of the day we have the power to create our own authentic narrative based on our experiences and lives. He stressed that our experiences, and poetry, are valid and undeniable. I then shared my own I Am poem I wrote a few years ago that I translated in Spanish:

soy una estudiante

soy maestra

yo aprendo

yo coleccionó historias y antecedentes mucho antes de nacer.

soy de donde es mis abuelas

de palmeras y el coquí

yo soy Amaryllis

soy la que ama

soy la que sacrifica

soy de sábados en la mañana llenos cantando junto con Marc Anthony
le juro que el es quien me dice que limpie y no mi mamá.
vivo en un lugar bien divido, Los Estados Unidos
yo so importante por qué vengo de un lugar que otros no lo ven así.
vengo de manos que curan
corazones abiertos
y brazos que abrazan
yo so Amaryllis

As a class we analyzed why I wrote certain lines the way I did and asked questions like "why didn't I just say I'm 19 years old from Lawrence, MA?". The more classes we taught the more we adjusted the lesson. We started incorporating a volunteer from each class to practice writing a Yo Soy poem from little funny facts that we gathered from them to show to the class that this wasn't as intimidating or formal as a regular school assignment. This activity really helped create an environment that was creative, inviting, and friendly. Once the students voiced that they understood and felt comfortable with the assignment they went to writing. Enrique and Lorena went around the room answering any questions and confusions while I wrote with the students as I had promised them. I find that writing while the students are writing helps them focus more on their own writing. It helps them see and feel like this isn't a regular writing assignment. After 10 minutes of writing we did a little open mic right in the classroom! There was a mix of kids in the room, some were so ready and excited to share their pieces while others just needed a little extra support and encouragement. The pieces were so moving and powerful. I was blown away by the talent in each class. I wish I could share every piece but here are a few by some students that really wanted their poetry to be read. I left Apopa having to say goodbye to a new home and friends that I knew stole my heart.