Goodbye, Paraguay

I am sitting in a hostel in Asunción, drinking beers with a few of my friends, and in complete disbelief that I just said goodbye to my community and in 2 days I will be back in the States. I have found that for me, saying goodbye is often easier when written in a poem (and performed as a rap – obviously). I did it for the Top Shelf when leaving the dorms freshman year of college, for Illini Water Polo my senior year, and for the volunteers in my training community at the end of training. I never write artistically outside of goodbyes, so I’m not sure what that means…. But when trying to figure out how to write my last blog post from Paraguay, my mind went yet again to prose. Here is my goodbye to Paraguay, my amazing community of San Pedro, and the incredible people I met along the way. The other poems were easier. This one was nearly impossible, and doesn’t do it justice. I mention only a fraction of the people who touched my life over the past 27 months. But I hope this will help you all understand just a little bit about how much this experience has meant to me.

I remember that feeling I felt on the plane

Knowing that once I landed nothing would ever be the same

27 months I dedicated myself to live

In a distant country with so much to give

27 seemed to be my lucky number

Because that same day I met 27 others

They became my family, the ones I depended on

G38 - what we have created is an incredible bond

The first 10 weeks were spent in a bubble

Language and culture training, giving us time to stumble

But at the end it was time for us to go our own ways

And in San Pedro, Misiones I was to spend the rest of my days

My first host family was the craziest of all

With 10 people in and out, time never stalled

I then lived with 4 families more

Each one after the next opened their door

The generosity didn’t stop when I moved on my own

And I came to realize that the people here were home grown

They didn’t have gadgets and gizmos to share

But they knew that a smile would show that they cared

The sunsets were the most beautiful I’ve seen

While the grass and the trees were the greenest of green

The campo landscape of wide open spaces

Who knew this country had such beautiful places

I grew to love my hammock and the tranquilopa style

Drinking tereré with families for quite awhile

Making chipa and enjoying all their amazing traditions

And getting myself into some awkward situations

Attempting to speak Guaraní at family parties

Dancing with drunk uncles, and creating stories

Playing pool in the evenings with some of my friends

Or coloring parties at my house that seemed like they’d never end

I was invited to birthdays and asados galore

All of which left me smiling deep down in my core

The people of Paraguay showed me what it means to be

Kind and generous and loving endlessly

My ‘job’ was just a small part of my story

Summer camps, charlas, and trying not to be boring

I like to think I made a tiny little dent

But what meant the most were times with families spent

Esperanza and Fatima were my go-to gals

With undying support, they became my best pals

Sixta was my second mom and always had my back

I knew I could go to her when I needed a good laugh

Auxi and Erika participated in everything I did

My absolute best students, some amazing kids

And Silvia, she was my partner in crime

Going on crazy adventures with me at the drop of a dime

Thiago gave the best high-fives around

While Jesica was the cutest 5 year old I found

Dulci was asking questions, ever curious

And when I wouldn’t let Dana color she would get all furious

Then there was Nancy who taught me how to cook

And her son, Angel, who could kill me with his looks

Ana Liz and Alfonsina were quiet and kind

While Nelson, Hector and Rodrigo were pranksters all the time

And who can forget my pup, la loquita Negri

Proving that 3^rd time’s the charm, happy as can be

And Matias, my Godson, perfect in every way you can

I can’t wait to watch him grow up into an incredible man

Those people are really just the beginning

If I were to list them all I would never stop writing

Each one of them made my service one-of-a-kind

Truly, the experience of a lifetime

While I don’t know when exactly I’ll visit again

Be it in 1 year, 5 years, or maybe 10

San Pedro has been my home from the start

This place and those people are forever in my heart

~~~~~~~~~

Here are some pictures from the going away party I had in my site last Saturday:

The Paraguayan band I hired to play

Dancing with Armin, my first host dad in site

Me and my favorites of San Pedro!

My neighbor volunteers and I with the band

My last  sunset in site! I'm going to miss the incredible beauty of my home.

What a ride it has been! In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. See you all soon!