close of service and beyond

Hey friends, this is a bit overdue...

Up on gogirl, the short version of cos aka close of service aka an account of my last day in colombia...before I found out my wallet had been stolen two hours before I was due to leave, that is...but that's another story...

The link at:

http://www.travelgogirl.com/blog/2013/12/19/close-of-service-goodbye-peace-corps-colombia/

Since I'm currently backpacking in Bolivia/Peru, I'll leave it at that for now... But si dios quiere and the arroyo dont rise, Il be back stateside in austin, tx new years eve!

 Happy holidays!

Three Days Left = Poetry

In three days, I'll COS. That stands for "Close of Service"--perhaps one of the fastest-learned acronyms of all, since it is the last day of your Peace Corps service . I have...all the emotions.

So before I leave Peace Corps and my personal coolness factor drops by a corresponding couple hundred percent, I shall share a poem. (Disclaimer: I don't oft write poetry...but I may be better at poetry than at packing. Which is saying a lot. My cat, who's having a field day in the disaster zone that is my room, would happily agree. Anyway, I'll do pretty much anything other than pack. Including write poetry and share :) )

First the poem, then pictures of some goodbyes, and also of Zanycat! A fair trade if I do say so myself.

 Poem: Goodnight, Peace Corps Colombia (riffing on Goodnight, Moon)

Goodnight, Peace Corps Colombia

...Goodnight, Peace Corps
Goodnight community rich and poor
Goodnight crazy buses
and all-day traffic rushes
Goodnight los Scouts
and constant shouts
Goodnight blazing sun
and streets too hot to run,
Goodnight cotton skirts
and a life-time of firsts,
Goodnight juice on street corners
and veggie-store owners
Goodnight humidity that smothers
Goodnight host parents, sisters, brothers,
Goodnight friends and students too
And my bus, "The big green Zoo"
Goodnight blaring speakers
and all of my co-teachers
Goodnight cat
goodnight hat
goodnight sandals and goodnight bat
Goodnight Spanish and friendly peoples
And tall churches and their steeples
Goodnight Santa Marta, Cartagena
Goodnight Barranquilla and life sin pena
Goodnight Volunteers and all the staff
Goodnight adult teachers class
Goodnight little house
And goodnight mouse
Goodnight smog
Goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere

GOODBYES (are really, really hard to say)

Last day with my eighth graders

Goodbye dinner with my first host family

Last Scouts de Colombia meeting.
With Luisa and Leidy, the students who first got me involved

 

Last Sunday lunch with my current host family, Yamile and Luis 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 ZANY 

I'm just looking I swear!

Applying to grad school is hard work

Bags are more fun to play under than pack in

Packing day is like Christmas!...for Zany

If I look cute will it make you less stressed?