A person in the process.
Studying Abroad
I am very lucky to have had two study abroad experiences throughout my time here at UCLA.
Chiapas: Social and Literary Movements
In the summer of 2017 after my first year of college, I decided to go on an English study aborad program that lasted from the beginning of July to the end of August (about 4 weeks). I had signed up with some friends because we had been completely inspired by the indigenous soveignty movement there, led by EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation). In those four weeks I was in Chiapas, it was an honor to not only go to a caracol (a liberated indigenous community) but also got to be involved in a community production created, performed and made by indigenous women from various tribes who founded an org to support other indigenous women who survived or were effect by sexual/physical/emotional abuse. The org also acted as a play where women can have their babies taken care of, access to computers and editing programs to make their own productions and more. We also got to meet many different indigenous authors who were taking part in shaping the literary movements down there. I got to have conversations with a myriad of artists such as poems, painters, sculpters and talk to them about their projects, purpose for doing what they do with their work, and what grounds them. For my final project, I had done a polariod poetry book where I made a poem to selected polaroid pictures that I took during my time there. Here is a series of a few that I did in my book.
Decolonize
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We have nothing to lose but our chains” (in unison)
Our chains that come in different forms such as;
our whips,
And our shame,
And our internalized mentalities,
our assimilation,
master’s tools,
“We have nothing to lose but our chains”
and nothing to gain but learning new ways how to unlearn
Azúl
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I stood in the bluest of waters
Wondering how fortunate am I to be
Witnessing such a natural beauty
With my very own two eyes
I stood there as if I wasn’t me
Like I was out of myself, looking at my own life
Because I never would’ve never thought that a person like me could be doing something as magnificent as this.
Lento, Pero Avanzo
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I’ve dwelled on this Zapatista saying for the entirety of the course
And it always reminds me to remember the process
And how long that process may take
And then I remember my patience.
It’s okay to slow down and breathe.
London: Topics in Romance Literature
In the summer of 2018, I travelled to London to do an English study program there with a focus on Romance literature. I had been really fascninated with this niche category of liteature because of the topics that were being tackled in romanticism which is an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 1700s and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination. I loved to talked about these topics in my own poetry so it was exciting to me to experience learning about William Blake, Keats, and others. Every week day, we walked up and down London's corridors, taking trips were these poets once did, tracing their footsteps, seeing remnants of what they had seen that gave them inspiration to write their poems.
I loved beng able to have such a hands on experience and getting so intimate with their work. For my final project, I wrote another poetry picture book, this time with pictures I took and edited on my phone!