That satisfied moment you get after a hard day’s (or week’s) work, when you’re tired but happy and you’re just stoked for dinner

"Time flies when you’re having fun” is an overused and clichéd way to begin to tell the story of the last day of our trip, but it really is true—it feels like only a few minutes ago that Peter picked us up from the airport in the warm night. The events which have happened since then all seem very wonderful in my short-term memory, but they sure happened fast and many of them will probably blur in my memory someday. In a melancholy sort of way, today was a fitting end to such a trip—it sure did fly. But it sure was fun.

We began the day with breakfast. It’s a good way to start. I told the cooks, Dora and Lourdes, that the omelets were especially “delicioso.” We left for Centro de Fe early and enjoyed a few hours with the grade eleven class there. We played some games in the street. Us Canadian kids didn’t really understand the Spanish game, and they were confused with our games. We eventually settled on soccer, which we can all wrap our heads around (if not our feet), and it was all very fun.

Then we got to work. Some of us painted desks and chairs, while others focused their work on the mural downstairs, which turned out really nice. Others made bead bracelets or played soccer, and that was okay too, because it was our last day with our new friends here and the time spent with them was what counted, not so much what we did.

Lunch was good. Lunch was very good. Calling it “delicioso” would be repetitive, so I won’t—but it was. It was rice and beans and chicken and some vegetables.

We sat with our Centro de Fe students and ate and drank and were merry and then celebrated birthdays in the month of March. We sang using both the generic English “Happy Birthday” song as well as a lively Spanish song called “Las Mañanitas.” It was fun. After that, we exchanged gifts and letters with our new friends and gave short speeches. The prayer at the end was my favorite—Sandra, the principal of Centro de Fe, led with a blessing after Roy prayed to thank God for our partner school here and bless them.

We went to the market, after that, but shopping isn’t very interesting to blog about. We’re back at the center, now. Right now, we’re all exhausted, but it’s that satisfied moment you get after a hard day’s (or week’s) work, when you’re tired but happy and you’re just stoked for dinner. We have our debriefing time later this evening and tomorrow we leave—dark and early, just after 4. And that marks the end of this blog post, because I’m starting to tell you things you already know, and the rest you’ll want to hear from your own kids.

See you soon, Mom and Dad!

-Brayden