Goodbyes are far too hard

With only one more day here I am finding myself having to say goodbye to dear friends. These goodbyes have been haunting me for the last week and now I know the reason why, it's extremely difficult. Many of these people I consider to be among my best friends, even though the ones I have known the longest I've only been with for 6 weeks out of my entire life. But they are such wonderful people.

It's absolutely amazing to me that these people, who have so little themselves, realize that there are those who have even less and that they must help them. It's a beautiful, yet heartbreaking, thing to see. I find myself hating the way I live, even though it's a rather simple life for an American. It may seem simple to me, but to these people it is rather extravagant. I'm 20 years old, living out on my own (with my parents help), I have a job, I'm going to college, etc. This is almost completely unheard of for a 20 year old Ethiopian. But what can I do? I realize that it's quite a blessing to live in America and I shouldn't completely refuse that blessing. Even so, I find myself telling my Ethiopian friends over and over again that I love the culture of Ethiopia so much more than that of America. Sure, the freedom here is extremely less than we have in America and sure the poverty is overwhelming. But the way that they value relationships and caring for others is beautiful. We don't have such a thing in America. We're too busy working and saving up money, but to what end?

Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox now. Back to the goodbyes. I took some of my friends out to dinner (the PAAV staff and their families, and Ruth came along also) tonight. It was a wonderful time, there was wonderful food, many laughs, lots of gorsha (it's an Ethiopian culture thing. They eat by hand, and at the end of the meal you pick out the best pieces left on the plate and feed it to someone else. It's a sign of love and friendship) and a wonderful last time spent with some of my friends. I'll see some of them tomorrow also, but then that's it...I'm not sure when I'll be able to see them again. My hope and prayer is that it is sooner rather than later. How can I say goodbye to these friends, how can I be away from them for very long?

I'm also having a very difficult time saying goodbye to Sendafa. Thursday was my last day there. Since then I've mostly just relaxed and spent time with friends. I went, with the family I am staying with, to a place called Nazareth. It's warmer there and doesn't rain as much. It was beautiful. We went swimming, played sports with each other, played uno. It was quite relaxing.

Thursday was a very nice day in Sendafa. We had 100 children to give vitamins to, so we had to work quick. These kids are beautiful, I think Ethiopia might have the cutest/nicest kids in the world. But the best part of the day was that I finally got to see my friend Senyt. She was a girl who was in the class I helped to teach last August. She was so kind and so excited to be there. One day I was sick and she scooted over on the bench to allow me to sit next to her. I helped her with her English and she was always excited to see me. The last day of that trip I gave her a picture of my family, the only one I had with me. She was so excited to receive even such a small gift that she gave me a huge hug and ran off to show all of her friends.
In January she found me again while I was at the school, though I wasn't teaching this time. We talked for a few minutes and then she suddenly ran off, I thought she was going to class because that's where all the other students were going. But, to my surprise, 10 or 15 minutes later she showed back up. She had ran home to get the picture of my family, to show me that she still had it. This was a small thing, but it meant so much to me. It made me realize that we were making a difference. That we were doing more than simply handing out money or fixing a roof here and there. We were building relationships and actually making a difference in the lives of the people in Sendafa. Even more, we were giving them hope.
I was saddened because I didn't see her the entire month that I was here. I was afraid that mayeb she moved, or maybe something had happened to her. Because on past trips if her friends saw her, they told her that I was there (that's how she found me in January). But, by some random chance (or maybe providence), while I was helping to hand out vitamins on Thursday I heard my name being called. This didn't surprise me too much because many of the students remembered my name (though, unfortunately, I had a hard time remembering most of theirs), so it was rather common for this to happen. So I kept walking. All of the sudden it dawned on me, I recognized the voice. I turned around and looked back to the road and saw her. So, I called her name, "Senyt?!". Her face lit up with a huge smile, she was so excited that I remembered her. She ran over and greeted me, we talked for a few minutes and then she had to go. Yet again I was overwhelmed that such small gestures on our part can make such a big impact in someones life. It's truly a beautiful thing.

It's going to be very strange for me to return home. I've grown accustomed to this life, to the food, to the people, to the air (even the pollution!), to everything about this country. I almost feel as if I was created to live here, that everything in my life has been preparing me for this country. Even my Italian upbringing helped, the cultures are not that different. My love for travelling certainly helped. So, I will miss this place greatly but will rest in the knowledge that I will be back someday in the not too distant future.

(Sorry that this post seems like it is written by a scatterbrained person, it was. My mind is all over the place right now and this is the most sense I am able to make...forgive me. ha)