(L) Marcha Feminista 2018. Photo credits: Red de Historiadores Feministas. (R) Marcha Feminista 2018. Photography credits: Agencia Uno
Their unity and collective power drew me in.
It is difficult to put into words what I felt in that first marcha. It was an incomprehensible mix of contradictory emotions: rage, pain, frustration, love, empowerment, freedom and hope. Esperanza that things could and would change.
La Gran Ola feminista taught me that things I had experienced yet normalised, weren’t ok, and that I wasn’t going to stay silent about them anymore. Que de ahora en adelante, usaría mi voz, la voz fuerte que había encontrado.
Soy un híbrido
I’m a hybrid
I’ve been a Chilena who has moved to Australia and an Australiana who moved to Chile. I feel more Chilena than ever when I’m in Australia, but when I’m in Chile I feel Australiana. It’s as if, no matter which country I’m in, I feel like a foreigner.
I lack vocabulary in both languages, yet I speak them both near-perfectly.
I speak Spanish with a Chilean accent and English with an Australian one.
You should read my diary, it’s a constant mix of Spanglish.
I felt so foreign in Chile that, in an attempt to escape that feeling, I moved back to Australia at the end of 2019.