Día Final en San Pedro

Today was my last day in San Pedro, Guatemala. We are taking a chicken bus to the City tomorrow to meet up with the rest of the CASAS students. Friday is a free day for us, and then we all fly out at some point on Saturday. I should be back in the U.S. sometime on Saturday afternoon. I don´t really know how I feel about that. Part of me wants to be home, knows that it´s time to be home, can´t wait to see my family and friends and be back at Bethel and the Newton Medical Center again. But the other part of me wishes that I could stay here for longer. I feel like Spanish is just on the tip of my tongue, that if I stayed for just a few more weeks, it would be better. But I think I´ll always feel that way about Spanish.
We´ve had an interesting couple of days at the Clinic. I´ve been feeling like more of a hindrance than a help, tripping the doctors up, screwing up blood pressures, not really contributing in any useful way. I love it, make no mistake, the experience has been wonderful, but I don´t feel like I´m doing anything. That changed yesterday however, when a Japanese couple came in. The guy was in a pretty bad way - he had a parasite and a bacterial infection, was in a foreign country, didn´t speak the language, and was absolutely FREAKED out. His wife spoke English quite well, but no Spanish. So guess what I got to do!?!?!?!? TRANSLATE!!!!!!
I´ve also learned a few Tz'utujil words, such as "How are you" or "Good morning" from my friend Lorenzo at the clinic. So yesterday a man came in to Dra. Vico´s office, and immediately started speaking his native language to the nurse. Once they had figured out his problem, they both left, leaving the man and I to stare awkwardly at each other for a few minutes until he asked my name. I told him, asked his, and then asked how he was in Tz'utujil, which made his eyes just LIGHT up. He replied in kind, which of course I couldn´t understand. He was super excited that I had tried, though. Lorenzo always laughs at me when I say stuff to him in Tz'utujil. I´m sure my accent is just atrocious.
Today we had to say goodbye to all of our clinic friends and all of our friends at A.M.I. San Lucas, where we work in the afternoon. It wasn´t fun. I´ll miss them a lot. I will miss hearing Tz'utujil spoken everywhere. It is a beautiful language, though I understand none of it, and one that I will forever associate with Guatemala. I will miss the mountains, volcanoes, and drop-dead gorgeous Lake Atitlán. I will miss my parents, my sisters, and my brother. I will miss having thick corn tortillas straight off of the fire, and eating pan dulce every morning for breakfast. I will miss the panadería and the comedor where we have become regulars. I will miss the conversations that people strike up with us while we´re walking, and the kindness of the indigenous here. I will miss being able to speak Spanish most of all, though. It is a beautiful language, and I feel like I´ve advanced so far in my ability to communicate in another language. I also feel like I´ll lose a lot of that ability when I return to the U.S., and no longer have the chance to practice every minute of every day. Hopefully my neurons don´t let lose of their dendrites too soon.