Having just returned from a relaxing, three-day trip to the beautiful Pico Bonito, I walked into an empty bedroom yesterday and realized that time has once again caught up with me. The end of our time here in Honduras has arrived.
Jules is gone. Jules being Giulio, our super smart, well-dressed resource teacher who completely revamped our library and computer lab and got $14,000 worth of computers donated to BECA and tutored BECA scholarship students on the side, all while studying for the MCAT. Jules left early to go take the MCAT. Oh Jules, Jules Bear, Giulito, bearer of all nicknames, only YOU would leave early to take the MCAT. Scratch that, only YOU would even study for the MCAT while living here in the Hondo. Give yourself a pat on the back.
Lucky for me, I get to see Jules in “real-life” because I am moving to L.A. where he will be finishing his last year at Caltech. But still, having a teacher leave early made the idea of us all leaving a little too real. Andrea, who will be returning next year, left a day after Jules and took with her all of her belongings. Rightfully so I suppose, but I am now the only person to habitat our room, and the empty bed and clean floors serve as a blatant reminder that I too will be forced to pack my things and leave.
This experience has been unpredictable, humbling, intense, rewarding, indescribable, and now that we have reached the end, bittersweet. I started this year as an inexperienced teacher looking to make a difference and ended up as a decent-enough Preparatoria teacher hoping to have made a difference.
In spite of the many things I have taught here, I myself have learned quite a bit since arriving 11 months ago. Here are some of the things I’ve learned:
How to work, live, and eat with the same 14 people for an entire year
That you should treasure what little time you have with your family and the ones you love
How to cope with having a parasite and amoeba living inside you
How to draw blood by sticking a needle in your hand and then letting your blood drip out into a test tube…because you have a parasite and amoeba living inside you
What it means to appreciate a HOT shower and all the amenities that the first world has to offer.
That 5-yr olds find joy in the simple pleasures of life and it is a beautiful thing that adults should try to revert back to
That being lost in translation can be invigorating
The extent of poverty and the relativity of success
The importance of safety
That food is a MAJOR part of my life
What it is like to look at a natural landscape and see beauty in its purest form
What it is like to truly struggle with something and feel at the end of your rope
That friends and family are the only things you can rely on in this world
How pictures and words can be a tool for change
To not sweat the small things and how this is easier said than done
That life is one big opportunity and the paths we take are endless
Even with all that I have learned, it’s still hard for me to reflect on this past year and come up with an explanation as to how our lives have changed. It’s even harder to explain what all we have been through in a way that one might be able to truly understand all the complexities of this experience.
However, I do know that there are 13 other people who do understand; thirteen amazing individuals who I, and all of the previous teachers of BECA, will forever share a bond with. For this, I am eternally grateful.
Thanks for everything guys, it’s been a really great year. 🙂
