Ya Mero! (Almost Done)

I'm down to 18 days, and I'm not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, I'm ecstatic for Mom and Hannah to come and visit me, to travel in Nicaragua with some of my best PCV buddies, and most of all, to go HOME! But on the other hand...I almost don't want to leave. Ok, no, that's a lie, I do want to leave. I've thoroughly enjoyed my two years here, but it's time to move on. Many of the women that I work with have been teasing me lately, asking why I don't just get married and live in Soledad Grande forever. I told them that I just haven't found a guy that's tall enough yet (well, a couple of other reasons came to mind, as you can imagine). One of my favorite ladies, Marina, said that wasn't her son almost as tall as I am? Well, yes, almost, but he's too young. Her solution to the problem? Since he's still young, there's still a chance that he'll grow a little more! Perfect. Now I just need to wait until he's old enough to legally get married!

I have almost every day left in site planned out; so much to do, so little time! My last activities and lessons with my groups and classes, a final round of chicken vaccinations, one last batch of bread in Las Ilusiones, one more batch of jam. And although I'm not having a going away party for myself, I've heard whispers in various groups, so I think at least a couple of my groups are planning a despedida lunch for me. Fun!

Another thing that's high on my list of things to do is get rid of most of my stuff. Obviously my furniture and dishes can't come back to the US with me, and a lot of my clothes have seen better days (back when they weren't faded and full of holes!) It doesn't seem like it should be hard to find new homes for my things; lots of people have been asking me if I'm going to sell my things, since that's what the previous volunteers did. And that's what I'm planning to do too, either sell or give away almost everything. But for some reason, it's kind of getting on my nerves, having everybody ask for my things. Maybe it's the way that they ask: "Aren't you going to leave me a recuerdo?" (A memory, or a souvenir). I'd like to think that the time that we spent together was enough of a memory! Maybe because they've been doing it since I got to site (literally, as soon as I would buy something, people would be telling me to sell it to them when I left). I've had at least 7 people ask for my stove, upwards of 10 ask for my rain boots. It's kind of ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is that I start feeling bad that I can't give stuff to everyone! Oh well. I just need to remind myself that I didn't come here to provide these people with my things.

Last week was field based training for the new group of volunteers. They came out to my site on Wednesday to learn how to make homemade cheese and how to make and can strawberry and pineapple carrot jam. It was a lot of fun to get to know the people who are going to continue the food security project here in Guatemala, and a little crazy to think that I was in their shoes two years ago! Sal, our boss, borrowed my Guatemala map to show them where their possible sites are, and I couldn't help but remember how excited and nervous I was when he gave us the same talk. A couple of the trainees exclaimed about my site, and wanted to know if they could replace me. Unfortunately for them, nobody is going to end up here, as I asked Sal not to replace me. I've had a fulfilling service in Soledad Grande, but feel that a volunteer would have a bigger impact in a site that has never received a volunteer.

Ok, time to get some work done- only one more Close of Service report left!