A hug to my favorite teacher: Elena Poniatowska

Today is World's Teacher Day, and while all the teachers I know -- and don't know -- deserve a huge hug, I send a special one to my favorite teacher: Elena Poniatowska Amor.

Well, La Poni has never been my teacher in the traditional sense of the word: I've never sat with her in a classroom, nor has she assigned me homework or corrected it. Still, like any good teacher would do, her presence inspires me to keep writing, keep looking for stories that need to be told.

I drove up to see La Poni (as many in Mexico affectionately call her) when she came to California to receive an honorary doctorate from the National Hispanic University in San José -- the ninth or tenth she's received. She spoke to parents, students, fans, and, like she usually does, tackled with her trademark smile an interminable line of people who wanted her autograph.

She responded to interminable reporters' questions with brief, to-the-point answers. Many of those questions she's answered hundreds of times before: why did you chose to retain Mexican citizenship, when you were born in France? "Because I love my country" meaning Mexico. "What's the responsibility of writers who seek social justice in these difficult times in Mexico. What's the work you have to bring to light these testimonials, and the challenges faced? "There's already literature linked to drug trafficking, writers who are writing novels, stories, and reports. Sometimes we feel horror before even opening the newspaper. There's constant reports about what's going on, and there's discontent against President Felipe Calderon. We see killings everywhere. Mexico's becoming a giant cemetery, and that scares tourists away and affects the economy."

It's been said that you support legalizing drugs."I'm not an expert, but that's based on the experience you had in the United States during the times of Al Capone and alcohol. When (alcohol) was legal again, it didn't cause as much destruction. One can imagine that could happen with drugs. I'm not certain, but I know in my country there's lots of small time sellers, people who sell to children outside schools. And the way to avoid that is by improving education, and building universities like this one. But we don't have that habit of giving. Since our government is corrupt, nobody wants to bequeath to the country absolutely anything."

But Señora Poniatowska is at her best when telling the recent story of Mexico's downtrodden — the Indigenous: "all this human energy is there wasting. Nobody loves them, nobody misses them, they're not needed anywhere. They're nobody. They do not exist. So much to do in the world, and there's no place for them. So much lost energy."

And reading poetry by other women, women she admires and never ceases to praise. For this occasion, she chose a poem by renown healer Maria Sabina:

"Porque soy la mujer estrella-dios
La mujer estrella cruz
Porque puedo nadar en lo grandioso
Porque mi agua es la del infinito
Soy la mujer que resiste
Soy la mujer del bien
Soy piedra del sol sagrada
Soy mujer que mira hacia adentro
Soy la mujer Jesucristo
Soy la mujer Jesucristo
Soy la mujer que truena
Soy mujer estrella grande
Soy mujer estrella cruz
Soy mujer luna
Soy mujer luz

Gracias, Maestra Poniatowska, por todo lo que nos sigues enseñando. A big hug to you and all the teachers in the world.