Saying Goodbye

I am now just days away from the end of my 10 months here in Cochabamba, Bolivia, both very excited to be returning home to family and friends, and dreading the moments when I will have to finally say goodbye to my "family" (i.e. the kids) and friends here. It seems as though my time here has just flown right by, as if I only arrived a few weeks ago. And yet, in denial of my departure or not, it is coming. Just yesterday I had my first despedida, this one with Tyson and Carolina. This coming week, I can expect another 3 before heading off to the airport. Friday morning I shall be saying goodbye to the kids at CAT, Saturday lunch time will be a "chau" to the boys at Nasaret, and Saturday night I will say goodbye to my friends. Then Sunday morning I will be boarding a plane.

How do I sum up the last 10 months? I don't even know where to begin. Certainly, they have been challenging, fun, and sometimes confusing. I have probably been sick more often, and worse, during my 10 months here than during that prior 10 years of my life. I have made and said goodbye to many friends. I have wondered if there was anything I could really do do to help while here. I have missed people back home in Canada. And yet, this has probably been the best 10 months of my life. I have made some great friends here, and gotten to know some absolutely amazing children. Yes, it will be very hard to say goodbye to the kids, but I see this as proof that I have been able to connect with them. My missing them shows me that, during my time here, a relationship developed that is worth missing.

I want to thank everyone who has followed this blog and kept up with my life down here. I also want to thank everybody who has supported me on this trip: financially with money, emotionally with emails and letters, and spiritually with prayers and encouragement. Your support has made it possible for me to be here, and has also reminded me of the blessings that I have been given. Despite my sadness at leaving here, I am honestly looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back home.

Will I ever return to Bolivia? I honestly don't know. I expect that the next 2-3 years will probably be occupied with finishing university, and then working for at least a bit. After that, only God knows right now. I would certainly love to come back here, and see everyone again. But with my apparent skill at picking up languages, I suppose I could really go anywhere. On the other hand, there are also plenty of things to get involved in, right back at home in Canada. I guess I shall just have to wait and see what God has in store.

I suppose that, really, the only thing left to do is say goodbye. As this will be my last blog entry, I must say—in one context at least—goodbye to those of you who have followed this blog over the past months. That being said, I will be saying "hello" to many of you quite soon. Goodbye also to the friends I have made while here—I wish you the best, and earnestly hope that we will keep in touch over the years, and maybe even see one another again, wherever we end up. Finally, I will have to say my hardest goodbye to the kids later this week. My kids, my soccer trainees, my Math and Spanish pupils, the ones who have driven me crazy, made me angry at times, made me laugh and smile, who sometimes made me cry when I learned their sad stories, and most of all, who made me love them. I will miss them dearly, and I will remember them always.

Goodbye. Chau. Hasta luego. Adios. God bless.

This is Dave, signing out.