Saying good-bye

It is always difficult to close a chapter of your life-- knowing that the experiences, friends, and surroundings that you've known for a certain period of time may never enter into your reality again. While I was, of course, very excited for my homecoming to my family and friends in the USA, I also dreaded saying good-bye to Colombia and the people who'd been a part of my experience there for a whole year. However, in my typical style, I had crammed too much into my last couple weeks in the country, leaving me too little time and energy to get very sentimental about my upcoming departure.

First of all, like I've done at least once a year for the past several years, I had to clean and move out of my apartment.

This is a pile of papers I'd written and texts I'd read during the course of my studies. I had a whole closet filled with such documents, and one of the most time-consuming tasks of packing/moving was sorting through them-- deciding what to toss and what to keep. While it was a tedious process, it really forced me to reflect on all that I'd learned and done in my year, making me feel pleased with my accomplishments.

I also had many "lasts," like...

... the last time that I rode with Paola (pictured here... if you look really closely in the darkness, you can see her) on her beloved motorcycle.

Then, there were the scheduled opportunities for me to say good-bye to those who had been a part of my Colombian existence. Erica had brought the famous Idaho potato pins (Idaho pride!) that I distributed attached to business cards with my USA contact information to all of my acquaintances. They were a big hit!

First of all, I said my formal "farewell" to my host Rotary Club.

I had not prepared an official speech, but I did talk from the heart a lot about how I had benefited from my year in the country and appreciated their support. I also apparently used some pretty exaggerated hand gestures. ;)

I requested that we get one last group photo-- which seemed to be a trend as I was on the "adios" circuit.

In addition, I said good-bye to my friends.

This is (from left to right) María Isabel, me, Addie, Karen (blue shirt), Julio, Paola (laughing), Luz Elena, Lina, and Rosario.

I had to include a picture of me with Rosario, my friend from Valencia, Spain, who was a constant confidant, group project team member, and friend for me throughout the year. It was also a good way to pick up Spain's Spanish slang. ;)

Next, it was off to Carlos' household to say bid adieu to his family and thank them for their hospitality.

Carlos' home had become a sort of refuge for me, a way to escape from the chaos of the city. Here Erica and I are with his sister (Alejandra), father (Carlos Sr.), mother (Licelore), Carlos, his grandmother (Fidelia), and his great-aunt (Rosa) at our little going away celebration. His grandmother even cried a little, saying she would miss me too much.

Finally, it was time to say good-bye to my girls in the María Goretti Home. The director had arranged for a little "fiesta de despedida," although I have to admit that I was a little hurt that not one of the adult employees of the home (herself included) chose to attend or thank me for my constant dedication and work within the facility. But, of course, I really didn't need a thank-you for my services because they were inherently rewarding, and I was really there just for the girls, whom I had grown to know and love.

The event started off with my older class started singing, ¨Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes"-- one of their favorite activities of my course. In fact, I think it is probably the only English they will remember from all of my teachings. They also performed a special song for me, and I wish I could remember what it was. It was a Latino pop song that I'm sure I could find on YouTube if I looked hard enough, and it talked about how they'd never forget me, a piece of me would always be in their hearts, etc. I even shed a tear or two.

They presented me with cards and signs like these ones.

This one says: "We want to thank you for your valuable instruction. We wish you courage and energy in your trip, so that you can be with all of your loved ones. We wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. May God bestow you with many blessings and much happiness. Just remember that we love you a lot, and we are not going to forget you because you've left a beautiful way of being in each of our hearts."

I presented each girl with a framed photo of herself (or... if I had searched through my thousands of photos of the girls and had not found an individual picture of her, I had selected a group shot).

And then the photo frenzy began!

I felt like a celebrity as I was begged to take pictures with my students over and over again. I started a trend with this photo with Tatiana, which left lots of little and not-so-little girls asking to be lifted for our pose. Such a work-out!

Whew, I was soon really sweating from the exertion of being photographed so much in the heat, and my smile hurt... but it all in good fun.

However, some of the magic of the occasion was lost and picture-taking was interrupted as conflicts broke out, and I was forced to mediate. This image captures the very moment when crying and yelling began after three gals started fighting, with hitting and kicking involved (not featured-- I'm just looking off to figure out what's going on). Another problem occurred when I tried to get girls to come in groups to get a picture of several of them together, but this seemed to upset them. Some said, "I want a picture with Miss Hilary by myself" and pushed the other girls out of the picture. This also led to more crying.

Erica could not escape from the paparazzi-like mentality of my students and soon found herself getting pulled in front of my camera. Once again, just like it had with the monkeys in the Amazon, her eyebrow piercing caused quite the reaction. She didn't need me to translate what they were saying as they pointed to the piercing, made expressive faces that included sticking out their tongues and gagging noises, and shuddered like they'd just seen something very disturbing. I guess they weren't fans.

And many of my young friends took advantage of their last moments together with my camera to apparently practice their super model skills.

The event ended as my sister and I rushed off to another engagement, but it was a little unsettling because my last hugs and cheek kisses (greetings and good-byes are always expressed with a cheek kiss in Colombian culture) included almost all of them saying, "Don't forget me." Many of them also said things like, "You promised that you'd take me with you" or "Please come back and bring me to the USA to adopt me." My basic response (as it had always been) was, "You know I would if I could."

And, with that, I was ready to leave Cali, Colombia behind...