I had a student last year who would come into my room every day, we will call her Lupe, and battle her way through my Economics class despite being an English Learner. I got to know all about her life and circumstance. She lived with her mom and two siblings in a room they rented from someone in an apartment. She was such an amazing student, always had a positive attitude, super friendly, a real joy to be around.
Anyway, one day I forgot my lunch and she asked if she could use my microwave to heat up her food. She asked me where my lunch was and I told her that I had forgotten it. She told me to grab a plate and she would share with me. I laughed a little bit, but she was dead serious. Knowing a little bit about Hispanic culture it is not good to refuse to eat a matriarch’s food and it did smell delicious, so she split her lunch with me. It was delicious chili relleno with Spanish rice and black beans garnished with an amazing homemade salsa verde along with homemade guacamole. It was in a word…outstanding!
The next week, she told me not to bring my lunch Wednesday because her mom was going to send an extra plate for me. I was pretty excited for this as the food was outstanding last time and I was not disappointed. Lupe’s mom had made carnitas with homemade flour tortillas, spanish rice and re-friend beans with a medium spicy red salsa. Lupe informed me that she didn’t make it super spicy because she her mom knew I was white, which cracked me up. I had a few more, “don’t bring your plate” days before the end of the semester, each one an absolute treat.
Lupe went on to graduate, pulling a B- in my class after lots of extra time and effort. I was sad to see her go as with much of last year’s senior class, but I will always have those special memories of the meals we shared in my classroom as a reminder of her.
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