Closing The Book

The last page of the last book has been closed. The exams are graded, the oral evaluations have been given. We will soon hear for the last time the quirky ca-chunck of the door on the apartment that became our around-the-clock world for four months.

An important page of our life has turned as well. It still feels funny to say, but it’s undeniable at this point that we are Spanish-speakers. You must understand that it isn’t binary, just like you cannot neatly divide the world into singers and non-singers. Sure, we say those words, but the truth is everyone can sing something, and we don’t even agree on what makes a good singer. So it is with learning language. I’m not saying we’re good at it, but we speak Spanish now. That’s an accomplishment we are happy about.

So we turn towards the next season. We leave behind the one we are most comfortable with, even though it has been very challenging.

Like Riley from Inside Out*, we are learning to be okay with this emotional tension. It’s good to mingle joy and sadness. So here we are, excited to see friends and family and sad to leave behind a piece of us. We know it’s for the best, but we feel a tinge of guilt that we get to leave this situation for a better one. Millions of Hondurans have no choice but to hope for the best. Overall, it does feel good to be going ho- … [screech!] Wait. What is home, exactly?

Oh boy. That’s another topic I’ll have to address later.

*If you have not watched Inside Out, you should do so with your kids. It’s a fantastic look at the realities of complex emotions and how they define our personalities and our ability to experience life.