The End: Part I (The Great Melt)

Waiting at the colectivo stop with Ian.

I felt my composition -the seemingly stable ice structure- melt while my colectivo drove away from Ian and Diana, my fellow Sapukeños. As I've described earlier, I was numbed from feeling emotion by a mixture of excitement to come home and the surreal nature of leaving a place that grew on me with a chance of never returning.

Hugging it out with Diana and Sabi.

But then I realized why it had been mistakenly easy to pack my bags in anticipation of going home... I didn't realize my experience lied in the people that I shared my time with: my program companions, Carolina, my Avant-Garde bosses, the BA ultimate community in general, and most especially Sapukay.

I could easily wish farewell to my program because I could comfortably say a hello again in Columbia if I made the effort. The following, however, due to the unpredictable nature of life, I can't be so sure. These were the people who welcomed me so quickly, who adopted me and all my 'gringo-ness,' who showed me passion for playing and more importantly bonding as a team, who inspired me with their ambition, who placed trust in a foreign redhead.

My Avant-Garde bosses: Laura and Matías

My ultimate team full of characters, the one and only: Sapukay.

I would like all of them to know just how much I appreciate all their warm welcomings, acceptance, and patience. I'm so grateful for all intentional and subconscious actions made to help my experience develop in the way it did.

I felt the heated ice overwhelming me on that bus, drowning my mind with waves of thoughts that slowly melted down my cheeks.

I lived my trip without regrets, yet it was still difficult to accept this inevitable part to a trip, another benchmark in my life- saying hello and then goodbye, investing and letting go, living fully and moving on eventually.

I realized this great melt meant I was human. I did it. I lived abroad, I had grown attachment despite my having convinced myself I could return to the U.S. at whatever time I chose. I made the trip significant, meaningful, I did something right.