The Girls at GirlStart

The funny thing is I went to GirlStart right after the conference. Usually I go on Tuesdays, which is a day I don’t teach. So I wear jeans, tennis shoes, sweaters or sweatshirts. Sometimes I don’t even wear makeup. I couldn’t go this Tuesday because I had a meeting, so I made arrangements to go on Thursday instead. So I get there directly from the conference, in makeup, tights, fierce boots, a skirt and blouse, and the chalchihute necklace that I wear when I need a little extra spiritual protection.

The girls were very polite, in that they didn’t say “wow, ktrion, you look like a whole 'nother person when you clean up!” But they were fascinated by the clothes, the tights, et cetera.

They were making posters for the program that day, which featured 1) a self portrait, 2) “Me gusta…” and 3) a list of the activities they like.

At first, they were all focused on the self-portrait, and a bunch of them weren’t really of themselves but of some kind of archetypal girl, looking like Arthur’s sister. (but without the animal ears) Light brown hair in a flip.



Then there were a bunch of girls who seemed inspired by BRATZ dolls, but also with a kind of artistic eye. So, instead of drawing a flip hairdo, they would just draw two long curly hairs coming out of the top of the head.

They’re really little perfectionists, too, and so sometimes they’re hesitant to do their work for fear it won’t be as good as the next girls. But they also trade off, so if Xochitl likes the way Diamante draws feet on her picture, she’ll ask Diamante to draw in the feet on hers. (not their real names)

One girl in particular, her self portrait was all about the eyes, which took up more than 1/4 of the face. Detailed eyelids, irises, etc.

But no one was putting in the activities they liked! They were too into the drawing and coloring. So I started counting when someone wrote an activity. “Mira, Libradrita tiene dos actividades!” The next thing you know, the numbers are surging, seis, siete, doce, diesiseis!“

It was a great success!