Antua

Next week is my last week. I can hardly believe it´s actually here and I have had quite my share of emotional ups and downs (which I´m sure will continue into next week) recently. The thing that really hit me yesterday was that over the last month or so Antua - one of the 8 kids who has been in my sala the whole 10 months I´ve been here - has taken to following me to the door every afternoon when I leave and bursting into tears when I have to shut the door behind me. Even the days when I´ve tried to say goodbye to him when he´s outside, he always knows when I´m leaving and is waiting at the door when I´m trying to leave. It breaks my heart a little bit every day to leave him, but I´m consoled by the fact that I can tell him I´ll be back tomorrow. Next Friday though, that won´t be the case.

I originally thought it might be easier to leave my kids than it would be if I was working with older kids, because they don´t understand that I´m leaving and there is no need for explanations. However, as the countdown begins, I´m starting to realize that maybe this will be a little harder than I ever expected. How do you say goodbye to the little people you´ve watched grow up - learn new words, learn how to climb up and down from their cribs, learn my name, learn how to run, learn how to dance, learn how to drink out of a cup instead of a bottle - over the past 10 months and who have completely stolen my heart? Obviously I will miss every single one of my kids, but Martin, Antua, Omar, Jose Carlos, Julio, Jose Armando, and Gisel - who I´ve spent 5 days a week with for the past 10 months are going to be the hardest.