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" Some of my fears came true. My voice initially cracked and I spoke in broken Spanish. I presented myself in the way that I am. I told them about my humble upbringing cleaning houses, and then my degrees, about being an immigrant, and then about working for elected officials. I showed them all the complexities and contradictions of my professional and personal life.  It was liberating because I was being myself. When I couldn&amp;#039;t find the right word in Spanish, I switched to English, and they smiled in sympathy. We called each other compa\u00F1era. One had my name; we called each other &amp;quot;tocaya.&amp;quot; When I interacted with those who were younger, it reminded me of myself when I was in college - passionate, ready to change the world, and fearless. The ones who were older reminded me of my mother and my abuelita \u2014 women who I aspire to be.  On our last day, one compa\u00F1era held my hand an invited me to her Shuar indigenous territory. Another indigenous leader took her scarf off and gave it to me as a present. One Afro-descendant woman said she would call me. They all asked me to return and to not forget them. And of course, I never will.  Coming home, I thought about my grandma again \u2014 a hardworking and intelligent woman, who would have succeeded professionally if she had access to education. Like my abuelita, the women were courageous and willing to take on anything to change the world. Abuelita, I hope I defended you, and others as well. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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