My last day of school went a little like this,
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| THE LAST DAY |
The pit in my stomach was evident from the moment our
alarms went off…I got up and the horrific news dawned on me…for five minutes we
both lay on Kate’s bed trying to convince ourselves that if we stayed there,
time would stop and so it would never be our last day and we would never have
to say goodbye to the children and friends that we love. This of course was not
the case, oh time you are a cruel…mistress.
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| W'E'VE FINISHED |
In school it didn’t feel like my last day until I saw
first grade. The little monkeys that I have watched grow so much in the last
year, going from large shy toddlers to small children in just 10 months. Their
English and knowledge develop every single day, their enthusiasm never
hindering which was wonderful, less wonderful was the fact that their energies
only increased…but we got there!
A volunteering twelfth grader ran to my classroom and
said ‘Miss Rachel you have to come, it’s first grade, they’re all, they’re
all…crying!’ I ran upstairs to discover a classroom of sobbing faces. Some of
the boys of course were not phased in the slightest “pfft emotion, what emotion? See you later Miss Rachel” and one
girl who is 6 going on 23 came up to me and said “Miss, I can cry, but for my uncle, not you’” and tottered off…They
laughed at the girls and the other boys for crying and I had to tell them to
stop under a mountain of leaking dirty faces. I pulled up a chair and set up
camp in the room, reminding each one that I live in Wales but I will also live
in their hearts and so they mustn’t be sad, because if you miss me I’m just in
here! It was hard to tell them not to cry when I started welling up a little,
but we got through it, and when food arrived they seemed to remember what was
really important in life.
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| First Grade with Mrs Soto |
Saying goodbye to other classes was easier, as they
are all used to the formality of losing teachers, but it was far from fun.
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| Ana Merlo |
The last lesson, in which I had a test for Nivelacion
(they are continuing with school until August I promise I wasn’t being a
supreme *****!) At the end of class Kate returned from saying goodbye to her
second graders and we gave out the cards we had made for each of them. Tears
started to flow from all directions, even from Kate! This week we had spent a lot of time with all
of them, be it, in our house playing games, watching films or even a surprise
party that they threw for us…they are all wonderful children, and as Jake said
the night before ‘our presence in La Union made it possible for these 16
children to have a better education, to have a chance at learning English, and
to have a step up in the world’ and the heartwarming thing is that they know
that, and appreciate our efforts so much. The running of Nivelacion is always a
bit touch and go, but Jake was able to run it this year because of us and
that’s a humbling thought.
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| Me with our little people |
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| JD and Fernando |
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| In Cafe Zazzo making a mischief |
We had a teacher meal last night which involved Karaoke. It was so terrible that it was amazing, from ‘I will always love you’, Beatles songs, and funky town all the way to Beauty and the Beast. It was lovely to spend some time with our coworkers and friends for one last memorable night in La Union.
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| Our surprise party in our hall |
On the way home I got a call from Kate (who had gone home before me) to say
that a little boy was at the house waiting to see me… I had no idea who it
could have been. I walked into the house to see Luis Eduardo and his family.
Luis Eduardo, the little boy who makes first grade a challenge, tearing up in
my kitchen, ran to me and wrapped his arms around my neck. I picked him up and
held him for a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever held a child like that
before, so tight and so desperate to make the thing that was making him cry,
stop. It was then that I realized, I was the reason he was crying…He was the
last child I had expected to see in my house, the last one that I expected to
miss me. He did cry in school, one of the only boys to do so, but I had no idea
that I would have this effect on him. I was touched. My heart melted a little
at the realization that he had been so sad, his family had taken the time to
bring him to see me one last time. I started crying and trying to stop him at
the same time, it was difficult.
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| Luis |
This year had altered me in ways I will never be able
to comprehend or iterate, but one obvious thing that it has altered is my
ambitions for the future. Becoming a teacher was never something in my
vocabulary, my family are all teachers, I was going to be the one to break from
this tradition…but apparently I am not meant to do this. I want to do an ESL
Teaching course when I get home; satisfy my travel bug and my enjoyment of
teaching. Luis Eduardo’s little self in my kitchen was the sign that told me; I
needed to teach and that myself and La Unión were only saying goodbye for now.
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| Looking out over our beautiful La Unión for the last time |
