As much as I'd like to slip away quietly, it seems like that is going to be impossible. Just about every group has or is going to have a despedida (a going away party) for me. The first was last Thursday in Pino Dulce. The kids and teachers planned a surprise lunch, decorated the classroom with balloons and streams, and brought two big cakes- one for me, and one for a girl in the class who turned 15 early that week. They weren't quite ready when I showed up, so some of the kids took me for a hike in the woods to kill some time. We got caught in a huge rainstorm, so we showed up to the party soaking wet. Ooops! They were worried that I was going to get mad at them, but I told them not to worry- it made for a very memorable afternoon! They gave me a certificate of recognition for my collaboration in the school, a student spoke on behalf of each grade to thank me, and then they all gave me a hug. Too sweet!
A wet goodbye hug in Pino Dulce.
On Saturday my neighbor hosted my favorite despedida so far. She invited me to come over in the morning to help make lunch, which was chow mein (for some reason it's really popular here...), salad, fruit platters, and custard for dessert. I had no idea who had been invited, but it ended up being all of our neighbors; with kids, probably about 40 people! It was also Children's Day, so they had a piñata for the kids. After lunch and the piñata, they cranked up the music (that's the sign of a good party here) and we danced: little kids, teenagers, and old people alike! It was fun, besides the fact that the ceiling was so low that I ran into a light bulb and broke it. Guess they'll never forget how tall I am! A few families ended up staying until 8:30 at night (almost the latest I’ve been out and about in my aldea), chatting, eating dinner and drinking homemade apple wine. A great day!
Me with my neighbor's grandkids.
Monday the kids and teachers at the middle school here in Soledad Grande threw me the worst planned despedida ever. One of the students told me on Saturday that she thought that they were planning to go to the park at 8am on Monday morning, and that I was invited. I talked to the teachers the night before, and they told me not until noon. But Monday morning I randomly ran a bunch of students outside a store in the middle of town, waiting for the teachers to come. We called the teachers, and they said they wouldn't be there until noon. So we went to my house to watch Harry Potter until the teachers got there. When they finally arrived, I told the students that I wanted to hear them give their presentations that I had assigned them the week before about the career of their choice. Turns out that none of them were prepared, so I had to give them time to get ready. After listening to a lot of complaining, they conceded to give their presentations, and three of the teachers came to listen and judge them. The winners were Nora, the lawyer, and Tatiana, the clothing designer. By that time lunch was served: grilled steak, salad (with veggies from the school garden!), re-fried beans, pasta salad and grape soda.
Tuesday I made a quick trip to Jalapa to print pictures, then headed to a “surprise” despedida lunch with my main women’s group in Soledad Grande. I was actually the first one there (which wasn’t much of a surprise). The ladies served grilled steak, ramen noodle coleslaw (thank’s for the recipe Carol, the ladies love it!),rice and apple cake, which was delivered in an unconventional way (well, for an American at least!)
Sofia on the way to lunch with her triple layer apple cake!
Wednesday I had a bit of a break from saying goodbye, and went to Las Ilusiones to try to make some hay silage with my host dad and his brother. It was a really long, drawn out process, which ended up in a pile of silage that would take my uncle about thirty seconds to chop in the chopper at home. For starters, they had to cut the hay, then carry it down a hill and across a creek to where they have the chopper (a small machine that’s pretty heavy to move). Then we put the chopped hay in grain sacks, and carried it another distance to where the truck was parked. The road was so muddy that the truck only made it part way up the hill to where they wanted to make the silage pile, so they had to transfer it to another truck and drive it to the silo. There they unloaded it, dumped it into the tarp lined corral that we’d built, and jumped on it for a while to compact it. Not all that efficient…Oh well, if nothing else they now understand how the process works and what they need to do to make it a bit more efficient. That night my host dad and I climbed the long hill back up to Soledad Grande (ok, actually, he climbed the hill and loaned me his horse!) at dusk, where we met my host mom and sister at our neighbor’s house for dinner.
Nando cutting grass with his machete.
Thursday, it was back to Pino Dulce. My women’s group made chow mein for lunch (I’m telling you, this stuff is popular!), and then I headed to the school where my middle schoolers presented their country projects. I had divided them into six groups, and assigned each group a country. They had to make the country’s flag out of recycled materials, prepare a recipe that I’d given them, find the country on the map and present some basic info on the country. I was really quite impressed; although they didn’t remember all of the information, they all had everything else prepared. The teachers had invited the school supervisor for the county to come, and at the end he thanked me for my work in the school. I handed out diplomas to all of the kids, and tried not to cry as all the teenage boys pretended that they were crying. I’m really going to miss those kids!
A HUGE pot of chow mein. These women sure don't mess around!
Can you tell what countries they presented?
I took the weekend to start to pack up my room and nurse a cold. I had originally planned to go visit some friends for the weekend, but staying home worked out ok. Having extra time to organize my things, plan for my vacations with Mom and Hannah and just rest helped me to feel more relaxed about finishing my Peace Corps service. There’s so much paperwork to hand in, so many logistics to figure out (like how I’m going to get myself, a backpack and two suitcases to Antigua on public transport), and so many loose ends to tie up before I leave Soledad Grande!
Today (Monday) the health committee had a despedida dinner for me: chicken soup with rice. In typical chapin fashion, it started an hour late, and by the time we were finished eating it was getting dark. The president of the group kind of forced everyone to say a few words, so one by one they said their thank yous and goodbyes. I was doing fine until a couple of the women started to get weepy…and then of course it was my turn to say something. I’m not much of a crier, but they really had me choked up. The last guy who spoke is also a member of the church choir/band, and he thanked me for donating my guitar to them last week. He said that it’s a hermosura de instrumenta (a beauty of an instrument) and that they’re very thankful to me. Gosh, to think that he’s talking about the guitar that I wanted to break in half numerous times because it wouldn’t stay in tune. I bought it for about Q400 ($50) when I first got to site, and honestly didn’t use it all that much because I was SO frustrated by it. And to think that these people can’t thank me enough for giving it to them. Here I am, almost done with my Peace Corps service, and still finding myself completely humbled by these people who have so little, and yet are willing to share so much.
It’s my second to last night in my room, and my it’s looking pretty dreary. The walls are bare, all the things that I’m going to take with me packed into my suitcases, the things that I’m giving away are stacked into piles according to the people that are coming to pick them up tomorrow. A little bit ago I gave my host family a bunch of photos that I’d taken of us over the past two years, and although my host mom tried to hide her tears from me, a couple splashed on the photos. And tomorrow is going to be worse…
Leaving is going to be hard. But I have so much to look forward to! Catching up with my host mom from training, Mom coming on Saturday, Hannah coming the week after that, and then two weeks in Nicaragua with Erin, Kiera and Amy. And then home! Oh NY, how I miss you. And by NY, I mean not only the crisp fall air and the brightly colored leaves, but all of my friends and family that live there (and that live elsewhere in the USA, for that matter). Thank you SO much to all of you for your support over these past two years! The countless emails, cards, letters and phone calls, full of encouragement, really helped me through some difficult days. Without you guys, this wonderful adventure would have been difficult one! See you SOON!
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