The Process of Leaving

Once again the cultural differences emerge as we have entered the wind down process here. Completing a job, or at least moving on, in the US is very much a matter of finishing up small tasks and leaving things in good order for the people left behind. Here, we find it to be as much a matter of social transition as it is a matter of tasks transition.

And so Friday evening the entire staff and some new Junta members gathered at a restaurant just outside of town for the official social termination of our stay here. The evening starts out on a festive note with group games and contests. All is meant to be light hearted and fun. Then the more serious exit ceremony begins. The Director thanked us for our work. Each staff women gave MJ a small gift by which they could be remembered. The men also gave me small gifts, but somehow things were not as straight forward. One forgot to bring something and gave me the keys to his car which he promptly reclaimed. Several others gave things that were reminders of private jokes in the past. All was in good humor!

Finally, the serious thanking took place. Emotions came to the surface and a few tears were shed. I couldn’t even use my old joke about making it look like you were leading a parade when, in fact, they were running you out of town. All of this was a sharp reminder of how seriously the Latino culture takes personal relationships. At moments like this one can easily measure the degree of acceptance we felt.

One postscript is in order here. I was writing this blog late Sunday morning on my computer. The son of our landlady came with an urgent message. We were to appear in the church immediately. Because of a number of things pertaining to getting ready to leave and because I am a little under the weather with a sinus cold, we had decided to skip church today. We were dressed in five minutes and taken immediately to the church where we were presented with a “thank you” plaque. We had assumed that last Sunday was the official “thank you” when we, along with the new Junta and other teachers, were recognized during the church service. I said to the Pastor “no one told us about this morning”. He was dumb-struck and responded “but you always come for the first service.” This is an excellent example of Latino planning and US expectations in conflict.