Passion

Well, I'll be damned! I finally got a glimpse of that fabled Latino passion this week at a teen poetry slam/bachata dance off.

Yes, that happened. I was peeved when my 9th graders cancelled English class on me AGAIN this week. I demanded to know what was more important than my classes and I got my answer- poetry. The entire 9th grade class went to the pueblo to cheer on Elmer, an 8th grader who entered in a poetry competition against other grade schoolers in the municipality.

I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into when I got on the bus with my class Thursday morning. All I knew was that our candidate needed a loud cheering section to win. When everything finally got started I was blown away. These teens were passionate! Almost every poem was about love, or scorned love, or new love. The best teens got really into their poems, flailing their hands in anguish or using a human prop to spit their rhymes at.

This is what this one girl was doing, for real. 

And then of course there was a bachata dance off. I shrieked a few times with laughter. Common! These kids try so hard to imitate the music videos, but they're just kids. The dances come off comical from my point of view but their peers seemed to think they were really sexy. Side note- I never want to hear Propuesta Indecente again. Eight times in a row was enough to kill that song for me!

I blame Romeo Santos for teenage pregnancy. 

Elmer, telling Ana how he REALLY feels. 

I had a great time. I was honored that my students invited me to go, but I don't think they'll invite me again. Apparently, I'm a viajita! I also got to spend some quality time with the municipality's teen center staff. It's a brand new building and it's perfect for charlas, youth groups and condom demonstrations. After all that passion, I think we're definitely gonna need more of those.