sin pertenecer

[Isa Condo-Olvera]

tickling my hair
making the curls bounce and play more than before
trying to stray from my control
until they’re exhausted and sweaty
and I hate it, but I also love it
es mi casa.
exhausted, I look at the same blue sky I looked at every morning
nunca agradecida por un cielo tan consistente
but I am now,
a man with a thick accent speaks to me in English
no entiendo
he thinks I’m a foreigner,
this is the land where I grew up, but I get it
me veo diferente
entiendo
too blanquita to be Latina,
too Latina to be white,
what box do I check?
existe tal caja?
not caramel colored like my brother
a forgotten melanin I wish hadn’t been forgotten
half my story erased by my other half
no soy lo que soy?
qué soy?

Isa Condo-Olvera is a passionate Costa Rican theatre maker and a student in the UMN Guthrie BFA Actor Training program. Born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica to an Ecuadorian dad and a Mexican mom, Isa was always intensely fascinated with storytelling. Her work as a young female producer in Costa Rica led to her selection by then Vice President, Ana Helena Chacón, for a distinction for her leadership in the artistic field in the organisation, Nosotras: Women Connecting.