Day 19: Emma

Lasts

Sooner than I had anticipated, our trip was coming to an end.

Our last morning in our host community, we worked our final service: gardening in the hot sun while listening to music being blasted from my house, which conveniently lay next to the greenhouses. Kids from the neighborhood joined in, planting seeds and dancing alongside us.

 

Back at Stibrawpa, our gathering space for the past three weeks, we sat for lunch and enjoyed a yummy dessert, jello. During our card game, a five-year-old named Jaylen borrowed the blog iPod to take photos of us and his brother.

 

Within an hour, we were told we were going to be given the opportunity to perform something for our families, and the consensus wasn’t to sing, but we did so anyways. Our rendition of “Mamma Mia” changed lyrics to both Spanish and BriBri, now a song called “Miā Miā”. At the farewell event, we all gave our performance, and after that fun part, we were called up in turns to say goodbyes to our families. The goodbyes were heartfelt, and it started to hit me that we were leaving so soon.

That night, my mom, sister and I all played cards until late, and continued the next morning, all the while laughing and having great conversations.

 

At some point in the day, I started noting our lasts. Last lunch, last service, last time in Stibrawpa. As I said my final goodbyes this morning, I thought about how, even though our trip was over, all I could think about was the good memories it had left me with, and how I’ll never forget the way my family, and the community, made me feel so welcomed.











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