Angelito

Before I left on my epic adventure, my friend Samme gave me a necklace with a charm of St. Therese on it. On the same chain I added a fleur-de-lis charm that my friend Kim gave me before she studied abroad in Tanzania. I have worn this necklace almost everyday: St. Therese to remind me of my family and friends at home, the fleur-de-lis to remind me of my friends at college, both to remind me that I have people who are thinking about me while I’m here. Yes, sometimes I can be sentimental and affectionate. 

Well, not even a week after arriving here, something happened that made me miss all those people unbearably. A friend from college, who had just barely graduated, died tragically and unexpectedly. They believe he had a seizure while swimming late in the day. I found this out while talking to my boyfriend Brian for two minutes before my internet cut out. Needless to say, I was left alone and pretty upset.

This sort of situation is one of my biggest fears while being here, something serious that would make me want to be back home, close to my friends and family. But it’s not like I can just hop on a plane for a quick trip back to the states. I’m sort of, well, stuck here. At least, that’s certainly how I felt. What made it even worse was that I had only been here for five days, had barely met my familia, and did not have the kind of vocabulary in Spanish I needed to accurately explain what was going on.

I decided, though, that it was important to tell my familia and the other chicas in the program why I was upset, even though it would be rough. And it was. Its hard enough to explain a situation like that, but not knowing the right words and knowing I was saying things incorrectly made it that much harder. The worst was telling my friend Gretchen because she goes to the same university as me in the US. But I was also more then grateful to have her here, someone who understood. Really though, everyone was understanding: the girls in the program, my teacher, my familia. 

When I got back to my house after class, my madre Laura called me into her room where her and Laura Mariela were hanging out. They asked me how I was feeling, and then chatted with me for a long time, teaching me new words, explaining new things to me. I have been carrying around a notebook solely with words I learn, and soon I had filled pages and pages with translations for clothing, body parts, things around the house, adjectives, and everything in between. Then Doña Laura showed me some of her artwork. I’m not sure what its called in English (or Spanish tampoco), but she creates still life art by carving into tin. Also, she makes all sorts of jewelry. She showed me some of the charms she made, and asked which I liked best. I picked out a little angel that was made from a blue oval and metal wing beads. As I went to hand it back, she said, “lo tuyo” “its yours.” It was so truly sweet. I told them both that I felt much better, and it was true. Of course, I still felt sad about my friend, and for my friends at home, but it was so good to sit and talk and laugh a little. The first time I really felt at home here. 

So now on my necklace I have three charms: St. Therese for my family and friends at home, the fleur-de-lis for my friends at college, and the angelito for my familia here. All to remind me of people who care about me and are looking out for me :)