What will I do when...

What will I do when…

• I don’t have 18 sisters
• I have to put up with florescent lights instead of candles
• Water burns me because I forgot it had different temperature settings
• An array of frogs, crickets, cows, and roosters don’t put me to sleep and wake me up each day
• Nobody calls me teacher
• I don’t have 60 kids to love
• I have to keep up with the fast American pace when I really just want a siesta
• Matching means more than just liking your clothes individually
• I don’t have 6 chalkboards and all of the chalk stains that come along with that
• I start dreaming in English again
• Lightning bugs don’t make up for the cloudy days without stars
• I don’t know everyone in my neighborhood, church, life
• I don’t have a 5 year old to correct my grammar
• I get lonely with all of the personal space
• I can’t walk down the street to by a juice for 5 pesos
• Nobody asks me: Teacher are there mountains in your country? How many meals do you eat? Do even the babies speak English?

What will my life be without…

• Luis and his taped on mustache
• Peter’s “I love you for you” with every hug
• Spanish phrases with an English ‘please’ thrown in
• All of the drawings for my fridge – that I don’t have
• Somebody to climb the coconut tree for me
• A kid always playing with my hair
• A baseball game nearby to watch
• Water fights resulting from laundry day
• Children promising to be better if I just give back their recess
• Kids begging for a test
• A Spanish dictionary at my side
• Victor’s crazy laugh
• Spanish phone calls I can’t decipher
• This family
• This joy
• This life

Who will I be when…

• My time ends and a plane takes me back “home”
• My decisions are mine to make
• I’m not the missionary/teacher/white blonde American
• I take all I’ve learned, all of these experiences and make something of them
• All is said and done