On Wednesday, October 16, ETA Maria Isabel “Isa” Nieves held her fourth English Club meeting. She had been preparing for this meeting for a long time with the help of teachers and her school SMK Negeri 7 Surakarta. The school allowed her to have an English Room in which students could meet up, chill out, read, talk to Isa, and have a space to immerse in the English language.

Isa brought paint, posters, markers, oil pastels, scissors, and tape for the English Club members to decorate the room. The members also wanted music so, Isa got her phone out. “Which song should I play first?” asked Isa while holding her phone and looking at Spotify. “Despacito!” said a couple of the girls smiling and giggling. Isa looked up from her phone and happily answered, “Great choice!” Isa felt a sense of pride and of acceptance into her community.

She had told her English Club members on the first meeting that she is from Puerto Rico, where the song Despacito comes from. Her students are not at all familiar with Puerto Rico (some confuse it with Brazil) but they are very familiar with the Puerto Rican song they sing along to without knowing what it means. Muna, one of the members, could not stop dancing even though he was trying to paint the door at the same time. After much dancing and little decorating, Isa thought this spontaneous moment was probably the best way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Maria Isabel “Isa” Nieves is currently teaching at SMKN 7 Surakarta, Central Java.