A dream? or a tale?

I was thinking of what to write and suddenly came to my mind a memory about a dream. So, I decided to share it with you as a summary of that long tale in my dream.

When I was in sixth grade and I was twelve years old, I had a dream that was very strange and ridiculous. I just don´t know why I was dreaming that and it is a dream that since that day I could remember very well. I don´t know why the things that you wish to remember with all the details in your mind are sometimes not exactly the ones that you want to remember, because I remember very very well that dream. Well, it is a kind of tale about the typical stepmother that is really mad with their stepchildren.

 

Well, all start seeing a man that had a little girl of almost five years. The man was living without a wife and the girl without a mother, because their loved being died. So then, many years after that had passed the man met a beautiful woman, but he didn´t know that was a witch. They got married, but the woman was not kind with the little girl, because she didn´t want to share the love of the man she loved.

Few days after the woman went to live with the man and the girl. The woman get really angry for the greatest attention for the little girl and not to her. In that moment, the woman covered of darkness the little hometown where they lived, the little hometown was surrounded of trees and all the place became gray as it was full of ashes around, up and down; the place was as scariest as the woman with the dark dress ruining the place. The man saw the girl with a heavy heart, he didn´t know-he was shocked. While, the woman took the little girl and locked her in a jail made of lianas of climbing tropical vines. When doing that, the man was really worried of what could the woman do at the girl-probably kill her. So he decided to act as if nothing had passed and to avoid see the little girl, because he knew something worst could be done.

Meanwhile, the little girl was in the jail. She was remembering at her mother and all the love she gave to her, because she was remembering the cute and lovely that her mother was. When doing that, she remembered one story that her mother used to tell her and that story was a kind of what she was living at that moment. Her mother told her a story to fight with love and and find a wish that could help to establish peace for everybody, the key was in finding a sparkled fruit of a big and beautiful tree that satisfy the wish a person could have sincerely. When she realized that probably that tree could be a exit to have the life she had lost. She really wanted to go out and started to push  and kick the jail while her father arrived to carry her to another place. Getting away, the little girl told her father what she was planning to do. At first, her father think that was only fantasy of the story of her mother, but when he saw her, the hopeful eyes of the girl made him to go in searching the big and beautiful tree with that lightly and sparkled fruit. They were in a forest, surrounded of trees around them with a cloudy and fresh weather. So, when they were in the middle of the dark forest with the most minimal lightning of sun that you could imagine, they saw the biggest tree in that forest that was a very leafy one. The man only could see the big tree, but the little girl could see the sparkling fruit in the middle of the tree. When the girl said: Do you believe now? To her father. The man said that it was a beautiful tree. So, the girl understood that he was not able to see that sparkled fruit, because, he did´nt believe the same as he. She said to her father:  - I will climb that tree and will save you! I will save us!

The man did nothing against the idea of climbing that tree, because as a breeze the spirit of the tree said that she could do it. However, he was dying seeing his little girl climbing that enormous tree. Then, the girl stop just in the middle of the tree and when she took the fruit, her father was able to see it. So, swiftly the girl was in the arms of her father with the sun shining the most as you can imagine and the place took a beautiful color around them with beautiful flowers. That beautiful flowers that only in that dream could see, because I´m twenty years old and I´v never see that type of flowers in real life.

After that, I wake up with my heart beating rapidly. I was just thinking about that dream.   

- How come? I was thinking and laughing at myself ( during the entire day).

I just don´t know why I´m still remembering so well a blockhead dream like that.

I was not part of the dream, but I was a viewer. I really felt as if I was seeing a production of theater based in a tale. However, I didn´t know what passed with the stepmother of the little girl... or where the  man and little girl go to live?

My professor in kinder-garden!

 “A,B,C,D...”

I was seven years old when I went to the school. Many months before, when my mother said I could go to school. I started to think about it. It was a big feeling inside my heart. My heart was full of happiness and I really wanted to say to all my friends, my neighbors, at every person I found in the street that I was prepared to go to school.

Even though I wanted to go at Kinder-garden during my five years old, I did not go. I saw all the kids that were going to kinder-garden and I was excited to go with them, there were kids being carried by their mom, holding the hand of his or her little girl or boy to go there. But, I never assisted at one of the class in kinder-garden as my sister, Amanda. My mom said she had the opportunity to go at kinder-garden, but in those days in 2001, there were some earthquakes that made her gave up. Though, my mom went at the school all the days at early morning to leave her there, she didn´t like to go because she was afraid of the earthquakes. I think about me at my five years old within the same situation. Could I gave up to the thing I wished to have at five years old?

I did not go to the school at my five years old, but my brother was as my personal kinder-garden´s professor. My mom didn´t have time to teach me, but she bought me a book called : “Victoria” to learn reading. I really love to see the pictures of that book. It is a beautiful memory in my learning process, I´d never suffered of “chancletazos” or the frustration of seeing the belt in front of me, because my brother was really kind with me, with the enough patient to bear me.

 I was an extrovert kid, but my brother was very patient with me. I really love it. He started to teach me the vowels and after that the alphabet. I remember his creative way of teaching me all the vowels and the alphabet. When learning I putted all my effort to learn, I really enjoyed the mornings writing my name or reading with my brother next to me. After the vowels and the alphabet, I started my first lesson saying:- “ma, me, mi, mo, mu...”. It took many months and was not easy to combine all the vowels with the letters of the alphabet I was learning, sometimes I got confused with all those letters in my mind. When finishing the Victoria´s book, came the "Tío Nacho´s book". After all, I was ready to read and write. I started to red whatever I found to read, newspaper, Avon´s magazines ( I was curious of knowing what was written below or above the pictures and the products that appeared in every section). I didn´t understand nothing about the label facts in the products, nevertheless I was always reading that. I think my oldest sister noticed that, because a week after saw me lifting a page of newspaper to read, she bought me a collection of story tales called: “El tío coyote”, I really loved to read that book at every moment. When reading it, I was laughing about the craziest jokes described on the book. So, when the time to go to school arrived I was prepared for that waiting time thank my brother. Even tough he is not a professor, I think the vocation is in his own and he was an amazing amateur professor to me.

Do you want to climb the tree?

 When I was a little girl of five years, I was an imparable kid.

I really loved to climb trees and there was not a tree that I have been climbing around my house.

In my house there are different types of fruit and ornamental trees and many times ago when I was a little girl the panorama was the same. My house was surrounded by trees, in front and at the sides of my house, Almost of them were fruit trees. So, I always climbed to catch a fruit ( when my mom was not seeing me). I really loved to stay in the tree eating my fruit and I just don´t know why the fruit had a better flavor being eaten there.

My mom did not like see me climbing trees. Even though, I really love my mom, I was a kid and I did not care about what she said about climbing trees, because she said almost of the time that I could fell down a whatever moment, having a big hurt in whatever part of my body or she said that I could fell and have some broken bone. So, when my mother saw me coming down to the tree, she said: - “You could fell down in a stone and that could cause your death, please don´t climb there anymore”- “¡Erika! ¡Pay me attention!”. However, I didn´t care about it until that day. When I was felling down of an avocado tree.

I remember that was very early in the morning, my mom was cooking the breakfast when her little girl was felling down. I do not remember the specific time, but I was ready to begin the new day, when the first thing that came to my mind was to ascend the unique avocado tree that was back to the house, it was small in comparison with the others trees, but the difference was that hadn´t branches to climb easily. It was a challenge for me, because I had climbed all the trees in my house except that avocado tree. The big challenge started, while climbing the tree. I was a little afraid and I was thinking of the ideas of my mom about the trees that if a fell down my mom will be angry, or what will be happening if I fell and broke one of my bones or just fell in a stone and die, !die! !No!

I was thinking and thinking the worst, when I fell down. That was so fast, but the pain is still a marked in my tongue. Even though, I really wanted to shout as much as I can, I couldn´t. So, while felling, I did not yell and I only closed my mouth. Come on, I don´t know why I closed my mouth, because when I did that, my tongue was enrolled to my teeth and the teeth were so riveted to my tongue that when I fell in the ground, my mouth was full of blood, but I didn´t told that at my mom, because I was afraid to see my mother bothered with me about that. I didn´t have time to cry, because my mom was calling me to eat.

It was not a really big wound that my teeth had caused, but I saw the blood and I was thinking the worst. I immediately wiped the tears in my cheeks with my hands and my blooded mouth with my blouse. So, I hurried up to change my blooded blouse while my mom called me again and I ran to wash my hands and rinse out my mouth. When I came to the table, my mom was seeing me. She saw me and I felt like she was knowing all I did it, but that was only my imagination and my culpable thought of saying my mom what was happening. She knows me very well and noticed that something was going on, but she did not ask nothing, because I was eating.

When I was eating, the first thing I did was to drink coffee. The warm coffee went into my injury and it really hurt me. So, with my eyes tightly closed I unconsciously shout: - OUCH! My mom did only see me with the corner of her eyes. So then, when eating I only said Ouch! inside of my feelings and said nothing.

 

After eating, my mom was ready to get answers. She asked what was happening with my mouth and why I was scared to show her my mouth. I said that my mouth was very well. My mom saw me again and asked me to open my mouth. I did say nothing and I was thinking that all the effort to not shout meanwhile I was eating was completely not worth it. 

My mom opened my mouth and saw my little, but deep injury in my tongue. Well, I told my mom what had happened and I showed her my blooded blouse. My mom was worried about it, she wanted to go to the hospital and of course I didn´t want to go. So, I said to my mom that was very little, but we could go tomorrow to the doctor. My mom and dad agreed to go the next day. 

I cried a lot that night. I didn´t want to go to the hospital, it was an scared idea for me. So, I prayed to God. I did´nt exactly said:- “Goodness, I´m here again” to God. But, I prayed with the heart on my hands and with all the hopelessness in my mind.

Even though, I was not the best girl in the planet, God answered me. As a result of that night, the next day the profound and hurting injury in my tongue was already closed and I didn´t feel any grief about it.

 

After that happened, I didn´t climb any tree until my eleven years old. Six years later, I comprehend that if I want to climb a tree. I just have to do it and don´t think about what is going to happen, because if I will try something new it is better to do the things and don´t put me limitations in mind before they happen. If I hadn´t thought about what my mommy said me maybe I couldn´t fell down or maybe I just fell down trying to do my best and not being scared about the result. However, I had not a major problem with that injury, but was a big lesson for me.

Now I say:

 

 Taking care of my grandparents!

 

Every Saturday morning I wake up very early at 6:00 Am with the alarm ringing that is a new day to live and smile as brilliant as the sun and the ringing sound that remind me to go to my grandparent's house.I go to my grandparent's house and it takes me almost thirty minutes to arrive there. All the Saturdays has been the same routine since three years ago and it is the same as now in 2020, "the best years of all". (Okay no)

Nowadays the entire world is  living a difficult situation with the pandemic and the important thing is to stay at home and not go out if it is not necessary in order to stay safe and taking care of ourselves; however,  my grandparents need a person who takes care of them. As a result, since many years ago my mom and my aunts had organized a single day looking after of them during the week and weekend, the whole day and night, "24/7".

Besides, three years ago in 2017  seeing that there are not enough sons and daughters. I decided to participate in this great labor of helping to my grandparents' care.  I take care of them only Saturdays. It is because I decided the day: "Saturday" in the organized schedule that my aunts and uncles have. While in 2018, I started to study in the University of El Salvador (UES) and all my classes had been only during the week and not on Saturdays nor Sunday. So that, I  really thought that was a great idea had took the Saturday days. Even though, nowadays studying online implies more work and time being spent advancing with my homeworks,including my Sundays, I´m always spending my Saturdays with my grandparents.

The whole day with my grandparents is not as simple as saying it! 

My grandpa and grandma has different illness and both need affection and good treatment. My grandpa is 86, his name is Catarino and let me say that  he is in a better condition and more patience than my grandma, but both has different difficulties. My grandpa has his eyes good, he can move her body by himself while with his ears; he surely can't hear you very well. While talking, people need to say the things with patient and carefully when staying near to him and if someone is talking to him far away the person needs to loud the tone of voice to be listened by him.

 My grandma is 84, her name is Marta, she is not very patient and the things she says has to do it rapidly. So, people need to pay careful attention to her needs, the preferences she has (including her favorite place to stay sitting down in the wheelchair) and the dislikes she has when eating something, it is very important to cook the food she likes.She can't move her by herself. She needs to be moved by another person, because has walking difficulties. It is difficult to give her a shower, to go to the bathroom with her (because she heat the pampers), it is also difficult to move her to her wheelchair or to her bed (her weight is more than mine). However, when staying there I try to give my best, have a lot of patience and give at them my attention like a nurse with two kids.

 THE CHORAL POETRY

 

 “If you are not a risk taker, you are not exploring and enjoying your life either” - Robson Jani

I was a coordinator of choral poetry many years ago in 2017. I was in my second year of high school and with a little close opportunity to win a prize for my group of class. Every year in the high school where I studied, there was a competition about choral poetry and every classroom has to participate and make a wonderful choreography with the coordination of a person. But, in my second year my classroom was not having a coordinator while this activity required to have one. In my second year in the high school, the things were not so good because the principal changed the professor in my classroom. Later on, the professor Carlos who gave the mathematics classes takes over the classroom, but some days after he was not there because he was sick. When the time to start practice the choral poetry arrived, my professor was not there. So, the principal gave an opportunity to my classroom and gave us a chance to choose the coordinator of the group from the students in the class in a democratic way through voting. As a result, the majority of my classmates agreed to put me as a coordinator. I was a little surprised and worried, my face was red and unconsciously I put my hands in my hair like something catastrophic was happen. Effectively, it was for me a big disaster in my mind, thinking that I was not capable to manage all my partners as a single movement in the choreography of the choral poetry, everything would be a disaster with me as the coordinator, because I was not the most competent person to do it. I said: ”coordinator! - No!”, but there was the director and I did not say anything else. The decision was in my hands, but in my mind was resound the question: - Why they did not choose the president of the class as the coordinator nor the popular girls in the classroom or someone else?, I think it was for the creativity that I had or it could be because I had good relationship with all the guys in the classroom not only with my friends but also with all my classmates including the shy boys. I really appreciate the confidence they felt to me. However, the idea did not like me, that was a big responsibility. Even dough it was not what I wanted, I took the challenge to be the coordinator of my group of class.

Two days later, I propose at all of them to give an option of poem in order to choose one for the choral poetry. Indeed, they brought the poems and some of them were anonymous, others were really short and others too much large. I gave my opinion and some of them agreed that the poem they brought was not the best option while others did not agree with me. However, I did not choose the one that I preferred or the one they preferred. Then, as a savior arrived the director giving some poems of Alfredo Espino in order to choose one of them. The poems in the competition were only of Alfredo Espino. So, my partners and I chose the one with the tittle of “Ascension”. Here, my work started. I went to the library and photocopied the page of that poem of Alfredo Espino. The next day, I gave at all a page with that poem and I said it would be not easy to memorize, but we would try to do it as soon as possible to prepare the choral poetry with enough time. So, we decided to spend the break training the poem in the classroom and we were the first section that started to practice it. With the doors closed, my group started to make the repetitions chorally until our voices sounded out like one voice in the classroom. I was the leader and I decided to learn very rapidly the poem, but I was patient because my partners did not take as a serious activity while I really wanted them to take it with responsibility and had memorized all the poem quickly. As a good beginning in the coordination of the process in that days were calmed and without problems.

 

Alfredo Espino(1900-1928)

The next week, I said it was time to go out and start to think and make the choreography of the choral poetry during break time. The whole group was in the soccer field,  there was not grass there was only pavement, this was the unique big space in the educative center that we could use to practice without problems of space. The advantage to be the first group practicing was all the space only for us. On the other hand, the problems arrived within the group. In the time that I was thinking about how to make the choreography, the popular girls of my classroom started to show disagreements about my guidance and said that I was not doing well the things, at the same time the president of the class showed her disagreements and her friends followed the rebellious actions. So, I decided to give them a chance to guide the group. However, the rest of my partners were not happy with the change of leader. The popular girls, the president and her friends tried to guide the group but they could not do it , they were only that day as a leader because the rest of my partners get angry and did not want to work with them as a leader for the impatient they had. Then, they did not want to continue practicing with me. My friends were consoling me, because I felt really sad, all the effort and all the time practicing the poetry was lost. We were in the middle of March and the competition was in the second week of June. the class group did not want to practice again during a month. I felt really bad and I tried to talk with them, but they ignored my words. I was thinking that it was my pain. The days passed, the teacher was in the hospital and I was in troubles of cooperation and coordination. The director called me and said that if the class group did not participate we would be erased of the list of groups for the competition. I almost said him to erase my group of the list, but I thought it was my responsibility to not give up and with my coloured face full of shame and a trembling voice I said him that my group will continue in the competition, though I was not sure I said him to let us as the last group in the competition. All was a total chaos for me. The others group had prepared all the choreography for that day and they only were practicing and memorizing the movements and the choral voice while my group only did memorize the poem. I would have a month or less time to practice and try to win the competition. I was feeling the weight of the world on me because I really wanted that my group could be the winner. My friends told me that it was necessary to talk with the people who started that rupture and I decided to talk with the girls. As girls , we are thought to be problematic. Well,  I exactly did not know the answer, I was only a girl that wanted to be a good coordinator. Some minutes later, I decided to solve the problem and talk with the popular girls in my classroom that started the disagreement. Then, it was necessary to talk with the president of the class and her friends. After that, to talk with the whole class for joining all again. The whole class become conscious of the problem, noticed that the time and the effort would not be a lost of time and energy. I acted in time. We only were having less of a month to continue practicing, but not was ass the conditions we were having before, because at that time all the other groups were practicing in the soccer field and there was not space for us, there. So, the whole class decided to work in the classroom in the break time and in the free mathematics hour classes of our professor. So, together without disagreements and with the cooperation of all giving new ideas to the choral poetry and giving our best, the days passed slowly. I felt really exciting to be their coordinator and I really wanted them to feel the same as me. I was feeling me as the most successful girl in the planet. However, my thoughts were being invaded for the short time I had to make a wonderful choral poetry in my group. I said them that only the union make the force and that it was not relevant the prize, but the real value was to give the best of ourselves. Though, the time was too short I was thinking: “I can do it with the cooperation of all of them” - “We can do it! “. They understood my point and tried to do the things in a creative way, giving ideas, some of them were not amazing, but with the ideas of all together our choral poetry looked so original and fantastic, something never seen before and it was not easy to believe that we did it in a very short time. Sometimes tired, sometimes angry with ourselves, others laughing, sometimes wailing about our tired muscles. But,  every single person understood that he or she was a key to the whole group to rise up the section 2-2 (which was my classroom identification in the academic community) and that was the way to do it ,because we really needed to work as one to give value to the big effort we were doing.

The final day arrived, the professor came back of the hospital and he said that was ready to see the results of my coordination. That words came to me as a bucket of cold water on my body. All the time, I passed waiting at him and his help while he did disappear in the hospital. I did not blame him for the illness he had, but I passed really difficult moments without his guidance. Nevertheless, due to him, I was having the most great experience in my seventeen years old. In the meantime, I felt hug nervous in a point that my skirt was trembled, I was not quit like my hands, my hands were in my stomach, in my head, including the nails on my teeth, I did not know what else to do waiting for the time to pass with our choral poetry. Meanwhile, I was remembering all the words I said at my partners before the competition started, I just did not know of where did I find all of them. I said them congratulations for all the effort they did, because the disagreements nor the division could had lost the feelings we were having at hat moment and that every of them had a power to leave at whatever moment they wanted, the only necessary thing was felt the motivation and the courage to show it at all the people all the things we were capable to do it. After that, the competition started. There were eight groups to pass before my group of class. So, I was really anxious moving my foot without stopping, we were the last group to participate in the competition. When the principal called my group, I felt how the blood flow through my veins and I felt my skin open. The emotion invaded the time and the only thing I wanted was to show how the group that I was coordinating passed from the fall to the rise. Indeed, I coordinated with my movements all the choreography and my partners did it wonderful. As a result, my group made the biggest impact in the competition with the original ideas of choreography and with the best coordination never seen in all the groups that passed before. I was very happy listening that words from the jury. So, the competition finished and the jury were making the decision of the prizes to the first, second and third place. The minutes was passing and I felt an eternity of time waiting for their decision while all the groups were stood up and tired about the activity because all of them made a big effort. However, my group made the biggest effort coming alive from the ashes. I was thinking in my mind: I would really appreciate if they gave us a third place in the competition, it could be great. Even dough I knew all the big effort I did to maintain my group joined, I was not waiting for the first place in the competition. The minutes passed, the jury started to say the group that won the third place in the competition, but sadly it was not my group. Then, they mentioned the second place. I was waiting, maybe the second place was for us, but as a result it was not for my group. My heart was heavy and the sadness invaded my thoughts. All the moment with my dear partners were in my mind; when doing disagreements, when crying,  when we I we were tired, when the group was divided, when the whole group did not want to participate and when I almost  gave up. The time did a pause in my mind and I was seeing my partners and thinking how they changed their mind to fight against their own and that the way how they did it was the big prize for all of us. Just in that moment, my ears was listening the judges saying: “the first place is for section 2-2”. I broke in tears! -It was my group!, I was shocked. the first place!

At that moment, all my partners were making a circle and gave me a big huge. When came back to the classroom,  they said that they believed impossible to participate, but with the courage they saw in me they did it. In the beginning, I did not want to be a coordinator, but I made a big labor in my first time being one with thirty people as my pupils. I could see that if I gave up my partners too. My labor as a coordinator was not easy but in the more arduous time I found myself and I help my partners to find themselves to appreciate the big treasure they had in their heart. In that way, I did comprehend that sometimes I would be the light to illuminate the way of others and make my own bright way for my future through the experiences I could had. Even dough , the experiences could be the worst or the best, all make a difference and a footprint in my life.  As a result of my experience in the choral poetry I learned that if I did not take risks, I would never know how much I could accomplish in my life, because due to that  experiences lived, I learned that what I needed was find myself and with my little knowledge, my courage and my passion to do my best I can do whatever I wanted and that the limitation was only in my mind.

 

LITERATURE! A new experience, a new knowledge!

A little bit about me and Literature!

Hi, my name is Erika Girón!

 I´m a student of the University of El Salvador (UES) taking my major in the department of the foreign languages. I´m twenty years old and I really love English, though it is not easy but is part of my life. Also, I enjoy spending my time with my family and friends. Furthermore, a thing that I really enjoy is to read science fiction books, novels and whatever book I find interesting is being red to get the last pages into my own. I do not have to much time to read during the sunny day. So, I read at night ( when I have already done my homeworks). However, when studying it is hard to do it, because there are a lot of books to read about the courses being taken in the major (books full of knowledge, but not really exciting as the ones I read for entertainment), reading a novel or a science fiction book is a way to take out the stress and open to new worlds and feelings. I feel very exciting with this new course of Literature, because it leave me open to new knowledge for the brain and for the brain of everybody who is taken this course in an interesting way!