Final day- hellish.
Friday was...extremely difficult and ridiculously uncomfortable. Not because the day was terrible, but because it was the last day and I couldn't stop crying. The actual day was pretty good, with the exception of Hannah and I being mysteriously ill. We had a students vs. teachers soccer game and we performed a dance that Annie choreographed the night before. We all had our own "stations" where we did different activities with the kids. Although most of the day was a little blurred by my sickliness, Henry and I had a whole lot of fun running our obstacle course station. The kids got really competitive and dizzy and clumsy.. all at once. Kevin and Milton did the whole obstacle course so fast, and screamed with their adorable voices something about no one being able to beat them. For some reason, the sadness didn't hit me until about 2 seconds before the kids left, at which point I asked Hannah if they were really leaving. I was beyond confused...how could people get so attached to one another, after only about 3 weeks? I told all the kids hopeful things about how I wished them well and how I wish I had helped them. Hugging each of them and sobbing, I didn't want to let them go. But alas, it was necessary. I just remember the saddest thing of all was the fact that I couldn't see them grow into wonderful people...I wouldn't get to see what improvements they would make at school. Even knowing that the kids probably didn't understand the concept of e-mail, I gave them each my e-mail address, hoping one day I would get a cheerful message about their exciting lives.Saturday, my "last day" here was spent relaxing with Hannah and Annie. I went to MegaMaxi to buy last minute foods I wanted to bring home, and there happened to be a market right by our house, so I bought a couple things for friends there. After that, the rest of the day was spent relaxing with Annie and Hannah. We watched Along Came Polly, which was a lot grosser than I remembered, but we enjoyed watching a simple funny movie together. When it was time to leave, the sadness started to set in..as we exchanged hugs and the cab started driving, I felt as if I was leaving my own family. Was it because I was sad to leave Ecuador? Maybe because of this, my fate was to stay in this country for 3 more days. I was not allowed to leave because I didn't have my green card with me. And what's more, was I had to wait until Monday, when the U.S. embassy would be open again. So back I went, without a phone, without certainty that people were home, and in my frazzled state, I even forgot how to get to the entrance of our neighborhood. It was really horrific. But luckily, Bri had gotten to a computer at the airport and messaged people in the house. Luckily, I was able to get inside the house.
After waking up on Sunday morning, everything felt like a terrible nightmare. While I was beating myself up, everyone else decided to go to the virgin statue. Annie stayed back with me, however, and told me that she knew exactly how I felt. That she would be blowing the problem out of proportion in her head too, and that I shouldn't be alone in my thoughts. So, after taking a shower and clearing my head, we went downtown for a little bit of wandering. I ended up having a great day with Annie, first getting lost [both of us are directionally challenged, go figure] and then looking around the market. The day was so loosely planned and adventurous, and I had a blast. We ran into some of the others, who told us that Alex's family wanted to have dinner with us that night. We got back, relaxed, and got ready for dinner by the Santo Domingo trole station. The streets by the station were so cute and cozy, with lots of restaurants and tiny stores. Even though we were there during nighttime, I could visualize the camraderie that would take place during the day. We ate empanadas and talked about all the funny things that had happened during our time here, and got back home in Alex's cousin's car.
Monday, more people left and it was just down to Caitlin and I. Through my frantic energy, she stuck with me all day while I tried to get documents for my green card. It would have been impossible without Paulo, the super open minded and kind taxi driver. He not only took us to every place I needed to go, but he also talked to the police and migration and gave us a tour of parks and a museum. After Caitlin and I got back, we ate dinner and Caitlin got ready to leave. We watched Remember Me, which was super depressing, especially because I would be home alone for the night [I would have the first and second floors all to myself.] I was so incredibly grateful for Caitlin and Paulo and everyone who tried to help me through all of this.
Today I woke up thinking about my plane ride home later tonight. In a daze, I helped Keren and Casey clean up the house. Even through the nostalgia that was hitting me as I looked at the empty rooms, I could not imagine going through this nightmare of my green card situation any longer. As I went through my day only hoping for the night to come, I took in Ecuador, and wanted to remember enough of the adventures TQP had here to tell my family and friends.
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