2 weeks

It is hard to believe the time has gone by this quickly. It seems like just yesterday that I arrived here in Santa Cruz...but I guess it was about 5 months ago.

My last day at school is on the 21st of November. The festivities have already started...all the good byes. Last week was a good bye dinner with the English department, in the same place we met my first day. At first I thought, hey, I am not leaving tomorrow...but, now I know why they planned it early...my calendar has become packed with activities.

I was invited to an elementary school to say hello next week and probably sing some songs. I had three invitations for lunch and dinner this weekend (so, by no means am I going hungry before I go). Today, Angelica and I cooked my favorite dish, Carbonada, and at together, just the two of us. After we ate she handed me a package from she and her girls....a little leather backpack with a message written with a sharpie on the inside flap, signed by all of them. The teachers are having a going away dinner for me this next Tuesday at school. The students from one of my classes invited me to a going away BBQ on the 21st. My amigos from the negocios I pass everyday on my walk to and from school remind me everyday not to leave without saying goodbye. My salsa classmates, along with some fellow teachers, keep questioning why I need to leave....just stay Jami, they say. Why do you need to go back? We want you to stay.

I was walking around town yesterday, looking for going away gifts, and didn´t by a whole lotta gifts, but I had a mental list of people who wanted English lessons if I were to come back to teach English. When I stopped to look up a friend at the local elementary school, one of the little girls waiting for her Mom to pick up even asked me if I was going to teach English classes for them....because they need more English teachers. So sweet. ha ha...The owner of the bar where the salsa classes are even started explaining to me how to start an English institute, or at least get permission to have classes legitimately. It is always good to have options, ya? Santa Cruz is a growing community, with alot of potential...BUT...it is still far from home. We will see what happens when I get home....I am sure I am just caught up in the leaving processes...when everything is perfect and you are trying to do everything and see everyone before you go....

When school is out, I will probably relax and start packing, maybe hit up Pichilemu one more time...Santiago...we will see...right now I am just enjoying the people I have met and will miss dearly...so I don´t worry too much about traveling. I know one thing for sure...I will be back to Chile to visit friends and to be a tourist.