Thursday, May 16, 2013

157. Farewell Familia Feliz


Tuesday, 5/14/13

Bring on the tears! Today was our last day at Familia Feliz.

I partied with my class—I showed them The Nativity and just enjoyed my last moments with them. The new teacher for them, Hermano Manuel, arrived and had plenty of questions for me. He has taught the previous 3 years at Familia Feliz and has plenty of experience. The kids are in good hands.

Chad and I spent time packing, and unpacking, and repacking out suitcases trying to stay under the weight limit for the tiny plane back to La Paz. The limit is just 44 lbs. When we first arrived at Familia Feliz we each had about 175 lbs. or stuff. Thankfully, we were able to sneak under the weight limit…but that is a story for tomorrow.

We said our goodbyes at 2. There were a few tears shed by the kids. Chad and I were fairly prepared for the farewells and experienced little sadness…we almost felt guilty about it. We are excited to return home, but will also be missing the little squirts. Up until we left, David Pucho would not leave our sides. He was going to savor every last second with us. At 2, Juan returned from his day off in town to bring us into town.

In town, we first went to a friend’s house for….a tiny nail for my flip flop. While saying goodbye to the mob of kids they broke it for the 5th time. These flip flops are so resilient and easy to fix. Love ‘em. Then I spent 1 hour and a half re-teaching Juan and Emy how to use Facebook. I made each of them sign in and out like 10 times, add about 30 friends, and learn how to use instant messaging. I believe they got the hang of it. When Juan used the computer first, Emy kept heckling him about how dumb he was (in a joking manner, of course). When it was her turn, she understood Facebook quite well, but could not click the mouse! She would hold down the button for a good second no matter how many times I told her it was “hot” and she should click quickly. I could not stop laughing at her. She kept trucking, though, and got it down pat.

To end of our time together, Chad and I treated them to Juliano’s. The food was fantastic as usual and as for the icing on the cake, the chef Juliano gave us free tiramisu as a reminder of him.

Juan and Emy returned us to the truck. We had a moment with them to pray and reminisce. When down we cheerfully said our goodbyes.

Familia Feliz, the times were great. You guys taught me so much. I will be praying for this place vigorously for the rest of my life so that this great project may continue.

Side note: My camera works again. While packing, I was demonstrating to Chad the 14 ways I tried to fix my camera. One of them was slamming the lens on the ground. Smack….electronic noises…and then the lens retracted!!! It was a miracle. After 3 months my faithful friend has come back to life. Just in time for Macchu Picchu!

**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**

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