Section 2: Exploring Literacy
I have always been a little ashamed that I am not fluent in Spanish like my parents and the rest of my family.
Corazon Montanio
Instructor: Mandy Macklin
Mexicali
Every year my high school, Village Christian, takes a trip down to
Mexicali during Easter Break to help out churches and to teach children about
the word of God. I am Mexican American and can speak a little Spanish but
not enough to carry on a conversation. This was a problem for me because
everyone who came back from Mexicali in previous years would brag about
how they had connected with the children there. Year after year, I would hear
testimonies from my classmates on how their lives had been changed because
of the kids. I wanted to experience these life-changing relationships.
While in Mexicali, I helped out at Agua Viva Church. I was on the
music team, which meant that three other people and I would lead the kids in
Spanish worship songs. After our performance, the kids would be dismissed
and go over to the arts-and-crafts team. During that time, the music team
would hang out in the church on the pews. One afternoon, after worship was
over, all the kids ran over to arts and crafts except for one boy. I walked over to
him and asked him what his name was. “Me llamo Manuel,” he said. “My name
is Manuel.” I shook his hand, smiled, and introduced myself.
“Me puedes cantar una cancion?” he asked. “Can you sing me a song?”
I hate being put on the spot to sing so I politely declined.
“Adele? Tu saves la cantante Adele? Adele?”
I had no clue what he was saying to me. I panicked and called over
a translator. But before the translator could reach me, Manuel began to sing
Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” He was singing in English! I sat there mesmerized at how well he was singing in English. I joined in and we began to have a
little jam session. We ended up singing four Adele songs together, all in English. He also taught me the chorus to one of his favorite Spanish songs.
Singing with Manuel was incredible; with just one song we instantly
made a connection. In that moment of singing with him, it did not matter that
I did not know how to talk to him in Spanish, or that he could not ask me a
question in English. What mattered was how quick and easy it was to relate to
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him over something as simple as music and lyrics. We came from two completely different worlds but were able to share the same common interest, and
that was mind blowing to me. Even though Adele’s song was about a bad break
up and Manuel and I had never gone through one, it did not matter because
we shared a bond over Adele’s hit song and nothing in the world could replace
that moment. In the essay “Language and Me,” by Ling Yin, she starts off by
writing, “In the world of language, everyone is different but equal.” I now realize just how true that statement is.
During my last few days in Mexicali, I was introduced to a young man
named Eduardo; he was thirteen years old and could speak very little English.
I explained to him that I was not very good at speaking Spanish. He then
said to me, “You teach English, I teach Spanish.” He started pointing at different things and saying what they were in Spanish: “Iglesia, columpio, bola…”
(“Church, swing set, ball”). Touched by his sweet gesture, I went along with
his Spanish lesson. I returned the favor by teaching him a few conversational
phrases and we ended up learning a lot from each other. Eduardo and I would
teach each other every day for ten to fifteen minutes, and by the end of the
week, we had improved our skills in English and in Spanish. I have always
been a little ashamed that I am not fluent in Spanish like my parents and the
rest of my family. Sometimes they teased me about not knowing Spanish and
jokingly called me “gringa,” which basically means “white girl.” My family also
got mad at me for not being motivated to learn how to speak Spanish. I did not
really care until going down to Mexicali and meeting Eduardo.
Through broken English and Spanish, Eduardo and I were able to
learn from each other. Even though we were limited by what we could say, we
could still communicate and help each other out. We were both eager to teach
one another, which made learning the language more interesting and fun. It
was very rewarding to know that I could help someone who was so enthusiastic to learn. Not only did Eduardo teach me Spanish, he also reminded me of
how proud I am to be a Latina. I know that I am very Americanized but that
does in no way mean that I do not acknowledge my Mexican roots. In the essay, “Dona Aida, With Your Permission,” Julia Alvarez talks about how she
is Dominican-American and she does not favor one side over the other. She
writes that even though she does not speak her native language, it does not
make her less of a Dominican. This is exactly what I felt when I read her essay. I do not want to be called an American or a Mexican, because I am both.
Just like Julia, I am a mixed-breed and proud of it. She even goes on to write
how being a part of two different cultures makes her a better writer. Being a
Mexican-American can give me new ways of reading, writing, and analyzing
essays. I know now that I can read or write from not one, but two different
perspectives, which can be very beneficial.
Section 2: Exploring Literacy
My week in Mexicali was a life-changing experience. I embraced my
Mexican heritage, but most importantly, I learned how powerful and impactful language can be. Often, there are language barriers that stand in the way of
building relationships. Fortunately, using simple words in different languages
can beat down those barriers and can start something amazing. In Mexicali, I
built two wonderful relationships with two very special boys with a little Spanish and English and a few song lyrics. When I said good-bye to Eduardo, he
gave me a big hug and a hand-made bracelet. He looked up at me with his big
brown eyes and said, “Ri eres mi hermana en Cristo,” which means, “You are
my sister in Christ.” Those words will be in my heart for the rest of my life and
I hope to one day go back to Mexicali and find those two boys again. I have so
much more to learn from them.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Julia. “Dona Aida, With Your Permission.” Callaloo 24.2 (2001) 596–
598. The John Hopkins University Press. Web. 4 Sept. 2012.
Lin, Ying. “Language and Me.” New Voices. Eds. Sandra Jackson and Amy
Reynolds. 22nd ed. Plymouth: Hayden-McNeil, 2012. 11–12. Print.
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