Final Farewell!

What a tough day! I woke up early in the morning because I knew I had a lot of things to do. I started packing and cleaning up some final things around the apartment. I was sitting in the spare bedroom working on my computer, copying some music onto a CD for some people I think, when Ashley woke up. She walked into the hallway and stood outside the door and said "I woke up really depressed this morning!" I asked her why and she looked at me with a sad face and said "It's your last day here Sarah!" As soon as she said that I guess it just hit me, I was leaving Mexico. Ashley had been crying and I told her she had to leave before I started to cry. It was sad to think about the fact that it had been the last time when I would wake up and Ash wouldn't be there to talk to. We always talked in the mornings, sometimes we talked for hours without even meaning to. That started on the night I got there and it never ended, we just talked and talked and talked. When we weren't talking to one another we were talking to our boyfriends on Skype while we sat next to one another. I'm going to miss Ashley a lot!

A few people came over in the morning to help with last minute stuff to say goodbye which was really nice. Savannah came to stop by and it worked out really well because she was going to Juan Pablo's (her host family's cousins) house for a bit with Chelsea. It worked out great because I had a Christmas gift I wanted to drop off there before I left and I didn't know how I was going to do it unless I had a chance to see them. I could have just given it to Chelsea I suppose but this way I could drop it off myself and say goodbye. We walked over there and the three of us had a nice visit while we wandered. When we showed up their family wasn't home so we had to wait for quite some time before everyone arrived. I gave them the small gift I had and then visited with the sisters while we waited for their parents and Juan Pablo to arrive back. This family is so amazing. They are so kind! They don't even have children in the ILP program and yet they host teachers just out of the goodness of their hearts. I think it is very good practice for Juan Pablo, who teaches English at the university, to have someone who speaks English in his home. They are just amazing. In the last few months that we were there this family was kind of thrown into a major crisis after a car accident that Celia was in. They had to sell everything and they were still stuck in a situation where they were having trouble paying for the health care of their daughter and the other victim involved in the accident. It is a very sad situation and the least I could do was offer some small amount of assistance. It was nice to see them once more though and to say one final goodbye!

Me with Juan Pablo and his girlfriend

Juan Pablo's parents, Gracia and Me

Me and Celina (this is awful but this may not be her name)

A beautiful house we walked by often on our way to the centro

The park close by Adri's house... they were playing Christmas music over the loud speaker. It felt like I was on a weird summer vacation. Christmas is so different down there.

One last picture of the three of us!

The busy center!

Adri buying movies... Ashley and Adri always went down here

The tree stumps that were left over after they cut down most of the trees in the center are being carved into beautiful artwork. This one is amazing... there is another one that isn't finished yet that is being carved into a motorcycle. It's amazing what people can do!

This is one thing I never got used to, men standing outside of buildings with huge automatic weapons just freaked me right out. Sometimes police officers stood outside of parties and you just knew they were paid off. It is scary when you know there is so much corruption.

This is a very wide sidewalk, most of them are very thin and just to top it off they plant trees in the middle of them. Even I have to duck sometimes to miss the leaves and the branches. I hate it so much!

Sandy and her family came to say goodbye to the teachers who were at the school. Arad, Atzi and Vanilka took a few last pictures with me before they left to go to Puebla for the weekend.

Arad loves giving bunny ears... I'm going to miss these kids so much too!

How could you not love those cute faces??

Ashley and I had to walk to Heslington to print off our boarding passes. On our way there we met up with Teo who drove us back the apartment when we were done. When he walked up to us he unzipped his jacket and said to me "I'm wearing my Canada shirt just for you today!!"

One last trip in Teo and Rachael's new Honda Accord

Teo was a Canadian all day just for me.... when he first showed me that he was wearing the t-shirt I had given to him (which is way way too big for him) it made me cry. I love Teo like he was my second Dad! I'm going to miss him!

The tears started to flow when Kami and Kelsey said goodbye. I don't think they stopped for the rest of the night. I just kept reminding myself of what Teo said to us "It is okay to be sad, that means that you were happy!"

Adri, Ashley and I left our permanant mark in Mexico. We put our hand prints and initials in some new cement right outside of the school.

Totally worth it...

My handprint and my heart will forever be in Mexico.... I know cheesy but it is true!

My Mexican Family.

Everyone else lived with a host family, Ashley and I became members of this one!

Helena, Adri and Ashley came with Teo to drop me off at the bus station!

One final goodbye, my best and most favorite roommate in the entire world! I love you Ashley!!

Adri started to cry about 5:30 and the tears didn't stop coming until I left. She became my best friend while I was down there and helped me learn what a true and real friend is like. I have been very blessed in my life to be surrounded by good friends, Adri is one of those and I will cherish her friendship forever. There is no one I would have rather spent my time with in Mexico than this girl. I love her with all my heart and I am going to miss her. I am going to miss her silly jokes that without fail made me laugh, I'm going to miss our morning runs and our midnight talks while we were walking to her house. I'm going to miss making cookies and brownies almost every week to satisfy our cravings for them and I'm going to miss her hugs and cuddles when we had to share a single bed in Puebla. I love you Adri!!

My final hug in Tehuacan was from this man, Teo Luna. My second dad and one of my best friends. He was the hardest person to say goodbye to. I knew I could maintain my friendships with those who live in Utah but I don't know when the next time I see Teo will be, I hope it is sooner than later. I have more respect for this man than I know how to express. I have grown to love him like a father, respect him as my Stake President and confide in him like my best friend. He honors his priesthood and is willing to bless the lives of the people around him with it. He is one of the most amazing men alive and he is a leader to the people in Mexico, whom I have grown to love. As he gave me one last hug and told me that he loved me, I knew that I had been blessed more than I could have ever asked for. My Heavenly Father loves me! I know that is true! He has poured out blessings to me and I have not had room to receive them. I have been blessed with the most amazing family in the world. People who love me and take care of me! I have siblings who are my closest friends and parents who have taught me more through example than anything else. I have been blessed over and over again with people who love me and my experience in Mexico is another example of that. I was blessed with people who loved me, who took care of me and who will be my friends forever. I don't have to look very far to see the blessings in my life and to see all of the people who have loved me and helped me to become the person I am.