Our Final Day
Friday, June 9
After a week of getting to know the kids and the community of zone 3 in Guatemala City, it was finally time to say goodbye. It was the culmination of the trip and it was going to be a bittersweet day.
In the morning, the boys split up into the three regular groups, heading out to the nursery, the construction site, and remaining at the Francisco Cull school. The construction site was coming along well and it was fascinating to see how the walls had been built up and an actual house had come up from nothing. The house that the family had been living in before the project was started had been a disaster and it was going to be absolutely life changing to have the new house. That morning, it was one of the first times that those of us at the construction site realized that the heads of construction needed water as much as we did. They did not take water in short breaks as we did and on the last day we finally realized it. We offered the two construction leaders, Jorge and Josue, water out of our large Nalgene bottles and they gratefully took some. Over at the nursery, the boys who had been going there all week returned to work there for the last day and to say goodbye to the small kids that they had become so close with over the week. Each of the children took turns writing notes on Brian’s shirt with sharpie and left him with a meaningful souvenir. It was difficult to leave the area and each of the boys had trouble actually walking out of the nursery due to several kids clinging ever so tightly to both of their legs. The day at the school began very similarly to the previous days, with one-on-one tutoring of reading and writing. A third grade class was in the morning as well and two of the Saint John’s students teamed up to give the students one last experience of English. The final round of recess was even wilder than normal. Most of the SJJ students finally understood the recess rules of tag and other games and it made for a genuine sight as students differing in a ten year age range played the same games and acted the same part.
The students of the Francisco Cull school had created a special little surprise for us as they performed a thank-you activity. They entertained us with dancing, jokes, songs and skits and even brought us up there to give us a gift. However, when they left us after giving us the gift, it was clear that they had high expectations of us. They had left us on the main stage and expected a sort of talent show out of us. We had known the whole day and beforehand that this was expected but it was really happening now. We started off the talent show by Jarrett showing the crowd some of his tai-kwon-do by finishing a flying kick and hitting a pencil that was in Logan’s mouth. He completed some other stunts having to do with martial arts and it was on to the next act. The next talent that started with Mike Theis jumping over Jarrett was a crowd favorite. He continued to vault over increasingly tall people until he got to Brian Dooley. He even tried to one-up that by jumping over a combination of Brian, Jack and Jarrett but this was too much for him and he landed on Jack’s neck and took the whole pile down. It didn't even matter, as the crowd still went crazy with laughter. The boys completed charades, a conga line, and Dylan Francis even solved a rubik’s cube to the crowd’s amazement. The show finished with the hokey pokey and it was time for pizza.
It was a precious moment to see each of the kids receive their slice of pizza and cup of soda and to see the look on their faces as they received food that they would see only a few times every year. Even more touching was the fact that most of the kids didn't eat their pizza at school. They wanted to take their slice back to their family and they would rather share it with their family at home than to eat it with their friends in the safety of the school. It was truly a moving moment. Time had rolled around quickly in the morning and it was time to say goodbye to the kids. The bond that had been formed between the students and us came to an end in the moment but the memory would never be forgotten.
The morning was over and we had our own pizza celebration for lunch but the work was certainly not over. The school still had a multitude of work for us to do in the painting section, and the pillars of concrete still all had to be painted. About ten guys stayed there to help out with the painting and the other six continued off to the construction site. On the way to the construction site, covered in trash and fleas, we found what was possibly the smallest and cutest cat we had ever laid eyes on. Mrs. Cabrera couldn't hold herself back and she instantly picked it up. It purred in her hand and snuggled up. Even after only a minute it was pretty clear that she would be taking him back to the retreat house, and he was the object of countless affection from her and other kids in the street during the afternoon.
When we returned to the retreat house later that evening after picking up cat food and supplies, it was too wet to play soccer so we started the packing process. The plan was to go to a mall after dinner and then to see Wonder Woman in the theater in the mall. We headed out and arrived in a foreign mall in which the boys were maybe a little too comfortable. This was not anything like what we had expected and it was far bigger than any mall in Toledo or even any mall we had ever seen. After exploring for about half an hour, some of the boys found a carousel. Although the maximum height was only 1.3 meters, five of us still found a way to get tickets. However, it would take a turn for the worse as all five of the boys all clambered into one of the spinning teacups that are common at fairs. As all five guys pulled on the wheel in the center of the teacup as hard as they could to get it up to speed, it started revolving at an uncontrollable rate. Pretty soon all five Saint John’s boys were pressed up against the side of the teacup and seemed to be at very close risk of falling out. It was certainly a sight to see and as the ride slowed down and finally stopped we found we had gathered a small crowd that was watching to see what would happen to us.
We entered the movie theater around 9:15 for a 10:00 showing and it was mostly empty. It was very similar to a United States movie theater except the seats were far more comfy. This would prove to be the downfall to some of the boys, especially the more sleep-deprived ones, as some fell asleep for all but three minutes of the film. *cough cough* Noah Gebremarium *cough cough* The movie was excellent and Mr. Cabrera had made a great choice after analyzing movie critic’s reviews of different film options. It was a great way to celebrate our last day in Guatemala and also gave us an interesting perspective of the separation of wealth within the different zones of Guatemala, as it was obvious that the part that we were in had a decent amount more money. We traveled back to the retreat house and after trying to meet up with some boys from another Jesuit high school, hit the hay, ready to travel back to our country and to our families.
-Louie
After a week of getting to know the kids and the community of zone 3 in Guatemala City, it was finally time to say goodbye. It was the culmination of the trip and it was going to be a bittersweet day.
In the morning, the boys split up into the three regular groups, heading out to the nursery, the construction site, and remaining at the Francisco Cull school. The construction site was coming along well and it was fascinating to see how the walls had been built up and an actual house had come up from nothing. The house that the family had been living in before the project was started had been a disaster and it was going to be absolutely life changing to have the new house. That morning, it was one of the first times that those of us at the construction site realized that the heads of construction needed water as much as we did. They did not take water in short breaks as we did and on the last day we finally realized it. We offered the two construction leaders, Jorge and Josue, water out of our large Nalgene bottles and they gratefully took some. Over at the nursery, the boys who had been going there all week returned to work there for the last day and to say goodbye to the small kids that they had become so close with over the week. Each of the children took turns writing notes on Brian’s shirt with sharpie and left him with a meaningful souvenir. It was difficult to leave the area and each of the boys had trouble actually walking out of the nursery due to several kids clinging ever so tightly to both of their legs. The day at the school began very similarly to the previous days, with one-on-one tutoring of reading and writing. A third grade class was in the morning as well and two of the Saint John’s students teamed up to give the students one last experience of English. The final round of recess was even wilder than normal. Most of the SJJ students finally understood the recess rules of tag and other games and it made for a genuine sight as students differing in a ten year age range played the same games and acted the same part.
The students of the Francisco Cull school had created a special little surprise for us as they performed a thank-you activity. They entertained us with dancing, jokes, songs and skits and even brought us up there to give us a gift. However, when they left us after giving us the gift, it was clear that they had high expectations of us. They had left us on the main stage and expected a sort of talent show out of us. We had known the whole day and beforehand that this was expected but it was really happening now. We started off the talent show by Jarrett showing the crowd some of his tai-kwon-do by finishing a flying kick and hitting a pencil that was in Logan’s mouth. He completed some other stunts having to do with martial arts and it was on to the next act. The next talent that started with Mike Theis jumping over Jarrett was a crowd favorite. He continued to vault over increasingly tall people until he got to Brian Dooley. He even tried to one-up that by jumping over a combination of Brian, Jack and Jarrett but this was too much for him and he landed on Jack’s neck and took the whole pile down. It didn't even matter, as the crowd still went crazy with laughter. The boys completed charades, a conga line, and Dylan Francis even solved a rubik’s cube to the crowd’s amazement. The show finished with the hokey pokey and it was time for pizza.
It was a precious moment to see each of the kids receive their slice of pizza and cup of soda and to see the look on their faces as they received food that they would see only a few times every year. Even more touching was the fact that most of the kids didn't eat their pizza at school. They wanted to take their slice back to their family and they would rather share it with their family at home than to eat it with their friends in the safety of the school. It was truly a moving moment. Time had rolled around quickly in the morning and it was time to say goodbye to the kids. The bond that had been formed between the students and us came to an end in the moment but the memory would never be forgotten.
The morning was over and we had our own pizza celebration for lunch but the work was certainly not over. The school still had a multitude of work for us to do in the painting section, and the pillars of concrete still all had to be painted. About ten guys stayed there to help out with the painting and the other six continued off to the construction site. On the way to the construction site, covered in trash and fleas, we found what was possibly the smallest and cutest cat we had ever laid eyes on. Mrs. Cabrera couldn't hold herself back and she instantly picked it up. It purred in her hand and snuggled up. Even after only a minute it was pretty clear that she would be taking him back to the retreat house, and he was the object of countless affection from her and other kids in the street during the afternoon.
When we returned to the retreat house later that evening after picking up cat food and supplies, it was too wet to play soccer so we started the packing process. The plan was to go to a mall after dinner and then to see Wonder Woman in the theater in the mall. We headed out and arrived in a foreign mall in which the boys were maybe a little too comfortable. This was not anything like what we had expected and it was far bigger than any mall in Toledo or even any mall we had ever seen. After exploring for about half an hour, some of the boys found a carousel. Although the maximum height was only 1.3 meters, five of us still found a way to get tickets. However, it would take a turn for the worse as all five of the boys all clambered into one of the spinning teacups that are common at fairs. As all five guys pulled on the wheel in the center of the teacup as hard as they could to get it up to speed, it started revolving at an uncontrollable rate. Pretty soon all five Saint John’s boys were pressed up against the side of the teacup and seemed to be at very close risk of falling out. It was certainly a sight to see and as the ride slowed down and finally stopped we found we had gathered a small crowd that was watching to see what would happen to us.
We entered the movie theater around 9:15 for a 10:00 showing and it was mostly empty. It was very similar to a United States movie theater except the seats were far more comfy. This would prove to be the downfall to some of the boys, especially the more sleep-deprived ones, as some fell asleep for all but three minutes of the film. *cough cough* Noah Gebremarium *cough cough* The movie was excellent and Mr. Cabrera had made a great choice after analyzing movie critic’s reviews of different film options. It was a great way to celebrate our last day in Guatemala and also gave us an interesting perspective of the separation of wealth within the different zones of Guatemala, as it was obvious that the part that we were in had a decent amount more money. We traveled back to the retreat house and after trying to meet up with some boys from another Jesuit high school, hit the hay, ready to travel back to our country and to our families.
-Louie
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