Las Despedidas--a post for mis queridas exchangers

Wow! What an incredible year this has been. I can´t however, even begin to describe how fast it has gone by. August was a blur, getting here and getting settled into university, family life and Peruvian culture. I remember very clearly my first encounter with the other exchange students. We decided one day to all meet up at Saga (the mall/cine) and then head off together to our first bullfight. The six of us crammed into a tico (small taxi), drove out into the middle of nowhere looking for the place, found out with Christian´s (Australia) crazy Spanish skills that he had gotten the time wrong--The Aussies had been already been here for six months and so all of us new exchangers worshipped their knowledge of the Spanish language and the ease they had of zipping around the at that time ‘giant’ Arequipa in whatever mode of transportation (combi, tico, on foot)-- We then decided that the best thing we had left to do was to go to Caprichos for an ice brownie (what was Caprichos and what was an ice brownie?? I had no idea) —That was another amazing thing about the Australians, they knew all the cool hott spots and once again we exchangers were left in aw…how did they do it?? We were never going to be able to be like them!—So after another long and squished taxi ride we made it to the center. I soon found out the Caprichos was a delicious little café known for attracting all the exchange students with its rico tortas, helados y bebidas (really good cakes, ice creams and drinks) and that an ice brownie was this scrumptious concoction of vanilla ice cream, about the only brownie you will ever see in SA, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. We quickly ordered and then spent a really fun afternoon sitting upstairs on the sofas, chatting and getting to know each other. We quickly formed that “bond” that all the exchangers talk about and after that afternoon it had felt like we had always known each other and been great friends. There was Christian, the Aussie with the crazy hair who was extremely nice and super funny (he surprised us by paying that day). And then there was Steph, my other wonderful Austrailian who made me feel right at home. I just got done chatting with her on msn messenger and I miss her terribly. Anika, my beautiful dutch girl who has now become one of my best friends. Kevin, aka Kevskies, who would also become another best friend, who´s from the Canadian part of my Rotary District (so we already knew eachother from back home) and who I would soon share a ton of fun memories and crazy adventures with that haven´t yet stopped and finally James, another guy from the good ol’ USA who ended up seeing last night and doesn’t even look like the kid I remember seeing that hot afternoon in upstairs in the café.
The months in between that day August have been equally amazing. They have been months of learning, exploring, meeting new people and visiting new places. Everyday was a new adventure a little bit different from the last. The rest exchangers and I soon started to get comfortable in the ‘giant’ city of Arequipa, which we now called home and which we also didn´t think was so ‘giant’ anymore but really actually pretty chico (small) and easy to get around in. Our Castellano (Spanish) continued to improve daily and sure enough, like all the old exchangers from back home said, by Christmas time you would feel like you had a pretty good hold on the language. And there were more! My exchange group of friends had expanded over the months from our café group into something bigger and better. There are the Americans (Sammy, Duncan, Ems, Kiaya, Brittney, Chris and Ariel), my gorgeous Brasilians (Mari and Gabi), three more blondies, las holandesas (Emmeke, Willike and Samantha), mi chibolo (Vitor, also from Brasil), Frenchie and the Germans, among others.
Then Janurary hit, and we were at the halfway mark of our exchange. We were at the point where the Aussies were at that day of the bullfight way back in August—at home and comfortable. And then it started, one of the horrible things that all exchangers experience….las despedidas. Una despedida has a few meanings. It can mean going away party, a last lunch at your house with your friends or everyone getting together to see you off at the airport, staying on the balcony until you plane takes off and waving frantically hoping that by some chance they might see you and give you one last smile, but all of them have one thing in common, they are sad—sad in a bittersweet way. On one side you’re happy because you have had the opportunity to spend the year getting to know this awesome person, their likes, dislikes, who they are and what they stand for, and you have made a friendship that will last a lifetime. On the other hand though, you’re a bit sad because even though you promise to write and stay in touch, you actually don´t know when, or even if you are ever going to see the person proudly wearing their Rotary blazer full of pins, about to go through airport security that you are giving one last giant hug to (and of course a kiss on the cheek) again in your life. And that part sucks.
So the month of January meant saying our goodbyes to the Aussies and it was hard but we keep in touch. But always when there is an end, there is a also a beginning and in this case with the going of Christian and Steph it meant the welcoming of Georgia (our new aussie and one more girl to add to the exchanger gang).
The next few months (the second part of our exchange)—exactly like my friend who went on exchange to the states last year said—would fly by. January, Februrary, March and April were equally, if not more fun that the first half of the year and I continued to grow in mind, spirit and body (Jaja…literally. The majority of exchangers will tell you to buy your pants a little big because you are going to need the extra space. Thank you delicious Peruvian food :P ).
The end of April however brought more to the exchanger fun. I got to go to the Rotary District Conference with the Rotarians and a bunch of exchangers in Ica for a few days of fun and relaxation. And the group continued to grow. I met Bruno (another Brasilian from Arequipa that for some reason I hadn´t met until now) and Eric (an exchanger from the states that is living in Ilo) who quickly became two of my favorite people and really good friends. I also met Kirsten (another cool girl from the states that lives in Ilo), another gorgeous Brasilian living in Tacna, and a bunch of cool older guys from the states that were doing a professional exchange traveling around Peru for a month. We had an extremely fun, crazy weekend bonding together and I will never forget it.
Then May flew by too, everyone just tried enjoying to the fullest one of their last months with their friends and family and we all succeeded, one more fun month of exchange. Then is started again, las despedidas. First it was Ariel, my wonderful chica de Arizona and then it was Kiaya, mi linda that just happens to live super close (Oregon) and so we´re going still going to be able to kick it together which is exciting. More fiestas and more airport visits, but they all went off with smiles on their faces and we all froze with the chilly fall night air as we jumped and waved them off from the airport balcony. We had two weeks off of the airport goings and now with the month of June were back in it. Yesterday we had two going away parties for three exchanges (Chris, Sammy and Ems), today were going to the airport too see off Chris and then to Gabi´s going away party. Tomorrow back to the airport to see off Dunc, Tuesday for Emily and Wednesday for Sam and Gabi. It´s crazy and sad but fun. They are all going to be going back to there families, their own comfy beds and their friends whom they haven´t seen in a year, how cool. Some of them are going to be starting Uni in the fall, others still have one year to go in high school but all of us are going to have our wonderful memories of our unforgettable year together in Peru.
Our year continues and this month brings more goodbyes; Kevin, Mariangela, Emmeke, Anika, James and then me. Bruno and Britt take off in July and then Georgia, the last of us, will still be here to meet,welcome and show around the new batch of exchangers that come in August just like Steph and Christian did for us and keep the exchange cycle going like it always has.
Mis queridas intercambistas, les kiero muuuxo y nunca voy a olvidarles. Cuídense muxo y no olviden a escribir cuando tengan un momento libre. Tbn, siempre tienen una casa en Washington cuando quieran venir a los eeuu! Muxos besos! --Court