My last day of my first every job

My last day of school went a little like this,

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.

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.

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.

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.

Me with our little people

JD and Fernando

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. 

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. 

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.

Looking out over our beautiful La Unión for the last time