Hi everyone,

Things here have been pretty hectic here lately. On wednesday, I had my final language exam, which didnt go so well. I dont even know where my head was at. I got a card that said to describe a car accident to the police. Instead of doing the usual, there were two cars that hit eachother, and no one was hurt, and they only need to fill out forms, I made up this ellaborate story using incorrect spanish and wrong verb tenses. The interviewer asked me what happened, and I said "there was a car that turned into the other car, and there was a crash. One of the drivers was drunk, and he died." She said "how do you know he died?" I said "I performed CPR, and he didnt respond, he didnt have a pulse, so he must have died." She said "well, is there anything the fire department could do to help him?" I said "no, but the car is on fire, so they should go do that." It was pretty sad. I was not so happy with my performance level in my interview. But, I cheered up later that day after buying a present for my host sister, who turned 17 Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, it was the birthday of my host sister, ysamar, who is awesome! She works so hard at school, and is a really nice, honest, and great kid. I got her some jewlery, which I hope she liked. I know she liked at least one of the things I got her. She is graduating high school this year, and it so happened that they were leaving for their senior year trip that night. They are going to the southern part of Peru, going to Cuzco, Machu Piccu, Arequipa, and other cities for 10 days. So, that night was the last time I saw her before leaving for my site for two years. I hadn't realized it, but I have become very attached to my host family. I was so sad that night, I almost cried, saying goodbye to her at the bus station. I told her that she is a great person, that I was going to miss her a lot, and she is the reason I can now speak spanish. She started to cry, then ran to the bus as to not cry in public in front of her classmates. So I'm pretty sure she is going to miss me too. It was by far the saddest thing that has happened here, with me at least. I cant even describe how I felt, the mix of sorrow, pain, regret, and graditude. I guess you have to have a host family yourself to understand what its like to leave them behind. Because I know, in less than a week, I am going to only see my host family a handfull of times more in my life. And as crazy as it sounds to be so upset over people I only met 2 months ago, they still cared for me. They treated me like a daughter, or a sister, and provided all the support I needed. And I am leaving them (though I think its harder for the person who is being left). This was just a trial test. I cant even begin to imagine the pain of leaving my host family of two years on site. What agonizing pain that must be! I'll have to prepare myself for that one. But honestly, even though it was a not-so-happy emotion, I am glad I felt sad. I am glad that I actually felt something. Anything! I have been so crammed full of information and new experiences, I havent really had time or space to feel very many emotions. At times, I almost felt like the walking dead. I would be in situations, and knew what I would usually feel, but didnt react emotionally in any way to it. Dont get me wrong, there were times that I felt elastically happy, or a little depressed, but nothing as strong as this. And even though I am extremely sad, and I am going to be extremely sad when I say goodbye to the rest of my host family, I have to say; I feel humbled, I feel empowered, and I feel great.

Hope everyone feels great at home!
Happy travels/experiences,
Teigan