El Fin

My journey in Guatemala, like all good things, is coming to an end. Tomorrow at this time I will be flying over the continental United States. Closure has been difficult, goodbyes bittersweet, but all of them ultimately filled with the promise of continued communication.

Saturday I attended my final ASORGUA meeting, taking a brief jaunt over to la Universidad de Galileo to watch JB, a friend and ASORGUA officer, graduate with a masters degree. Back at ASORGUA, I exchanged hugs, best wishes and small gifts with my friends in the Deaf community. I was overwhelmed when they brought out 2 cakes and presented me with a plaque to bring back to the Guatemalan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Empowerment Project, to thank us all for our contributions to ASORGUA. It will be an honor to present it to the others at Graduation.

Sunday I had lunch with my friends from the Jewish Community, which was nice. I then spent the rest of the afternoon at my friend ML´s house, playing board games and watching a movie with his family. I learned they have a US landline number that gets routed to their house, so they now run a high risk of Hayley pestering them with an abundance of chatty domestic calls.

Yesterday was my last day at CECSA, which was actually fairly low-key. I worked in the office and did my best to swap email addresses and take a few photos without disturbing the students´school day. It was certainly very hard to leave.

After work I went to MWs house in Antigua where I stayed until this afternoon. We ate ceviche and guava cake and partook in some of the finest intellectual conversations I can remember having (which is saying a lot because I always find intellectual stimulation is at a peak when I am with MW and her friends).

And now I am back in the city. I am packed. I am sad. I am anxious. I am impatiently waiting to see my friends and family. I am overwhelmed. I am calm. And I am done.