Things I'll Miss Most

-My neighbor’s birds singing “hola che loro”, every single morning
-Neighborhood kids who come over at all hours, and who are improving their bowling skills, and maybe even reading skills, with me, and who will miss me terribly
-How everything here is shared, especially drinking straws
-The communality of terere, of everyone taking time to enjoy each other
-The freedom to make my own schedule
-Being so connected to the land and the weather and changes in temperature
-My morning run through the fields, dodging cows and cowpies
-Random kids yelling my name when I walk by
-Huge and bizarre insects that are fascinating (when they’re not scary)
-The happiness that comes when the water returns after a long, sweaty day without
-How my job is simply to do what I can to help people here
-How sometimes, really very rarely, I give advice and a teacher follows it and improves their teaching and their students’ learning
-Getting to talk on the radio, and having everyone know me everywhere, like a celebrity
-How my cell phone is my big connection to the outside world, and if I want to turn it off, I’d have very little idea what’s happening out there
-The occasional real conversations, with real friends, here in Tacuati, who I’ll miss so
-Realizing that some things are universal, like dancing to celebrate marriages, or a little girl wanting to play with her new puppy so much that she won’t let it sleep
-Rainy days when I get to do nothing
-How I have accomplished some personal goals here, like learning to cook and riding a bike and training for long distance runs
-How I don’t care that I didn’t accomplish other goals, like having a garden – tranquilo!
-Speaking Spanish and impressing people with a few choice words of guarani
-The simple sense of humor, and how people go “hoooooeeee” after a good laugh
-How people attack their meals here, like they haven’t eaten in years, and don’t talk while they eat, they just shovel the food in
-Seeing kids love books I’ve made
-Blogging, which is so different from journaling - having a reason to process my thoughts, to make them publishable and to clearly express what’s going on
-How amazingly dirty my feet can get after just five minutes on the dirt roads
-My grungy Target gaucho pants and Old Navy tank tops that were lifesavers in the heat
-Watering the house and sweeping the yard
-Having every conversation in a 2nd language be a challenge, and if I’m really up for a challenge, trying it out in a 3rd language
-Getting to throw organic trash, like onion peels, out the window
-Getting to do foul things in public, like pick your nose
-Looking up at the clouds and talking nonstop about the weather
-How even the poorest families have so many chairs to offer visitors a place to sit
-How spiffy people get, all showered and in their best clothes, for birthday parties or special events
-How family-oriented the culture here is, how families are the basis of the economy, of friendships, of daily life
-How wonderful I feel after a great parents charla
-How people surprise me sometimes with how kind and insightful they can be
-How teachers surprise me sometimes with their excitement for the reading project, creating libraries and asking parents to help make books
-How I surprise me sometimes, like how I keep postponing the kids’ going-away party because I don’t want to say goodbye to them yet
-Not having the pressure of what to do next, where to go next, having the ability to just be and enjoy the present
-One word: siesta!