Hasta Pronto :)

The day has finally come. After over a year of living in Guatemala and working at NPH, it’s July 16. A year has gone by in the blink of an eye. It’s hard to believe that it’s over. It seems like just yesterday I arrived, bright-eyed and eager to meet and know every child at NPH. In a few short hours I’ll hop in the transport and take a ride through Parramos to the capital for the last time. It’s not a journey that I’m looking forward to, but I also believe it’s my time to move on. Being in Guatemala has taught me so much about myself – who I am, what I enjoy, how I work with others, what I think I want to do when I “grow up.” It has been insanely difficult. I have had more ups and downs in this year than I’ve probably had in my whole life up until this point. Yet it has all been worth it. When I get in that transport I won’t be thinking about the negatives – the frustration and the lack of communication. I’ll be thinking about all the good memories, like earlier tonight – all the hugs I received, the support I’ve felt from so many newly found friends here, and all the love that I have experienced in Guatemala. After a year here, it’s time to head back to the United States. And despite all the ups and downs, I don’t regret a thing. I’m happy that I was able to accomplish some of my biggest goals in life and proud of myself for sticking it out and for everything that I did this year. I hope to find myself back in the beautiful land that I have called home for the past year sometime soon, but until then, cuidate Guatemala. Te voy a extrañar y te quiero mucho.

Saying goodbye for real

Last night was my last night at NPH. While I’d been bracing myself for weeks for my final goodbyes to the kids…it was still one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. After finishing everything I needed to hand in, I ran down to the baby’s house for a quick snuggle fest before having a meeting with Erika. The baby’s were adorable as usual – we played on the culumpios (swings), pretended we were airplanes, and shared lots of hugs and kisses – exactly what I needed. In addition, Tony, who’d been giving me the cold shoulder lately, ran right into my arms and started calling me “mama.” I’m not gonna lie, it was REALLY weird – DEFINITELY not ready for that one…but also insanely adorable. He kept hugging me tight, giving me kisses on the cheek, moving my bangs out of my face, and saying “mama mama!” Absolutely beyond cute.

After that, I went to my meeting with Erika, and then I knew it was time. As calmly as I could, I wandered up to the comedor at 5:45 for dinner to say goodbye to all the kids. I spent the next 3 hours wandering from table to table in the comedor to say goodbye to the boys and then down to the girls’ sections for a last adios. I ended at my section. I walked in and immediately started bawling. Tia Fruc helped to comfort me a lot and gave me wonderful words of wisdom (per usual), before I said goodnight to my girls and gave them all a kiss on their forehead for the last time.

Saying goodbye was insanely hard, but I must say, it also made me feel incredible loved. There have been so many times this year where I’ve wondered if what I’ve said and done was worth it…if anyone will remember me, if I’ve really affected any of the children at NPH. And saying goodbye to the kids – receiving all their hugs, them still joking with me about things that happened in class, giving me little trinkets to take back as mementos, seeing the tears in their eyes (and feeling my own)…it was amazing. Hard yes, but I don’t remember a time when I felt more loved.

Despedidas abound

When I started thinking about leaving NPH, I thought about the despedida that I was going to have, and the big one that the house would throw us. Yup. 2 would suffice. The problem was, I forgot that despedidas are a REALLY big thing here. So instead of the two that I planned I had EIGHT: the one I planned with the section, the one Corinna planned with our section, the one with my año de servicio class, a surprise one in my tercero class, a surprise one from my section, a surprise one from the school, the large despedida for everyone, and then of course, my actual goodbyes.

On Wednesday my tercero class took it upon themselves to throw me a little party – complete with a HUGE cake and soda! It was beyond adorable and it was the first time I’d thought about leaving and let the tears really flow. They had planned so much for me – one of the boys, Alexander, played the guitar and sang a song we learned in class (Jack Johnson’s “Do You Remember?”), some of my students gave me homemade goodies, a few of the kids put on a skit (making fun of my ridiculous antics in class), AND I finally got something I’d waited all year for – a mordida! (aka when they shove your face in cake!) I was sooooooooo upset that I didn’t have my camera in class! It was an unbelievable class and I was so grateful for everything they put into making that day so special for me :).

Wednesday night Corinna and I were asked to go to the section for a “surprise”…I wonder what it could be… we arrived at the section and were whisked into the sala to watch the girls perform a dance. Normally the kids do a special dance at the large despedida that’s for the whole house, so it was a little strange to see them perform the day before, but absolutely adorable. A lot of times our girls get stage fright, so it was so cute to see them doing the dance in a place they felt comfortable. They then sat us down in a big circle and the girls told us what they were going to miss about us, before being given tostadas for snack. In addition, the girls decorated banners for us that they later gave to us at the house’s despedida. SO adorable :).

Next came our despedida from the school on Thursday. AKA, by FAR the most random one, wherein the teachers all prepared items for a pot luck lunch (read: LOTS of tostadas) and then presented us with beautiful leather bags – it was SUCH a nice surprise!

Last came the house’s despedida yesterday. Definitely the one I was not looking forward to. The despedidas are a nice way for the kids to be able to express themselves, but they are also long and quite painful (ESPECIALLY if you’re leaving). Our was no exception. While it was great to see all the kids doing their thing and dedicating their songs or dances or skits to certain volunteers, it was also just a sad event to be a part of. I’m very glad I don’t have to do that again anytime soon.

Now just a few more goodbyes to go…the rest of the volunteers – aka my closest friends here…and I can certainly tell you it’s a despedida I’m dreading.

Last Año de Servicio Class

Tuesday marked my final class with my Año de servicio kids. To make it a little more special than usual, I invited the kids down to my house (ok, kind of a big no-no at NPH but it was a special treat!) and then we made pizza :). The kids chopped all the veggies and helped put it together, all the while with me saying “remember – we’re only speaking English right now!” To make matters slightly funnier, there were about 6 volunteers in the house, most of whom speak English as a second language, and I forced them all the speak only English during our class – quite fun (and educational!) ;-). We hung out for the afternoon and played Scattergories (my new favorite old game) and enjoyed our delicious pizza :). I REALLY am gunna miss that class.

Francis and Jonathan making our pizza :)

Passport Acquired

On Tuesday I had to make my final trip to the capital to pick up my passport. I had had it dropped off almost a week earlier at immigration (so that I would no longer be an illegal alien in Guatemala…) and was terrified of going to pick it up again. What if I couldn’t get it back? What if I needed to pay a fine? What if they just didn’t want to give it to me? What if I had to wait more than 3 days? SO MANY CONCERNS.

I got to immigration around 9 am, went inside, received my passport on the 2nd floor, and then was told I needed to pay a multa (fine) on the 4th floor. I went to the 4th floor to get my paperwork, then down to the 1st floor to actually pay at the bank and make more copies of my passport. From there it was back to the 2nd floor to show them my paperwork, before back up to the 4th floor to get my paperwork from the bank stamped. After that I had to go back to the 2nd floor to get my passport stamped, saying that I could stay in the country for 5 more days. After another TWO HOURS of waiting for ONE STAMP (and thank heaven no more visits to the staircase) I FINALLY got my passport back. Which means I'm coming home on Saturday!! Does anyone wonder why all the volunteers hate making that trip every 6 months???

Playing Santa

On Saturday night I went down to my section, armed with a huge box of goodies for my girls. Each time I’d gone home this year, I’d come back with a little something extra for my girls. By the end of the year, it had amounted to a good bit of random things to surprise them with. So! Thayer and I spent some time last week putting together goodie bags for my girls complete with: pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, stickers, Play-Doh, silly bands (thanks to my brothers…), and toiletries (soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste), a picture for each of them, and a handwritten card. On Saturday I brought the box to the section and the girls were totally enthralled by it.

“What’s inside?” “What are you giving us?” “What’s the surprise??”

After about 2 hours of chores, cleaning, etc. (and suspense!), I finally opened the box and gave each of the girls their goodie bags and they were elated with everything in it – especially the toiletries – HUGE hit! I wish I’d had a camera to capture the moment – they were so appreciative and absolutely adorable :). I think I might maybe miss these girls a bit…

Growing Up

There are a few girls in my section that you MIGHT say have been major pains this year – always giving attitude, never doing what they’re supposed to do, bothering the other girls, not listening…you name it. Luvia is one of those girls. She’s never exactly been my favorite…probably far from it. I kept giving it the best try I could, and yet things never seemed to get better between us…always something that made me a little sad...but then came this weekend.

On Saturday the girls in my section and I made the trip to the Posada for Corinna’s despedida…and Luvia walked next to me for a while…and then grabbed my hand and held it tight the whole way there. Definitely a first. In fact – she’s the only girl at night that doesn’t receive a kiss goodnight from me – her choice. It was a very nice surprise to feel her little hand in mine. But it got better from there.

While walking along, Cindy, another girl in my section, found a chicken egg on the ground (presumably having fallen from the nearby chicken coop.) She picked it up and was SOOOOOOOOOO proud of herself and happy that she had found something so special. We continued walking along and passed by a tin roof home that had two little boys, roughly the girls’ ages, peering out of the open door. Cindy passed by without much thought, but as soon as we were out of earshot Luvia said to her, “Dude – give them the egg” to which Cindy responded, “But it’s MY egg – I found it,” and then Luvia said the most amazing thing I’ve heard her say all year:

“We HAVE food at NPH. We ALWAYS have food – you need to give them the egg – you don’t know if they have anything else to eat.”

Tears immediately started to well up in my eyes. I could see Cindy’s inner struggle as she tried to decide what to do…until Luvia finally said “Come on – we’ll do it together.” And hand in hand they walked over to the two boys and, without saying a word, handed them the egg. The boys’ faces lit up as they ran inside and shut the door.

It was honestly one of the most unbelievable moments I’ve had since being here at NPH all year and I’ve never been prouder of my little diablita, Luvia :).