Saying goodbye

The time has finally come for me to say goodbye to my family, local friends, trainers and other volunteers. I honestly didn’t think it would be that hard because I have only known them for 10 weeks, but boy was I wrong. Talk about some waterworks.
The first set of goodbyes happened at the swearing-in ceremony and I was fine until the freakin national anthem was sung and then I just cried. I had to say bye to my Spanish teachers and other tech trainers and it was 10X harder than I expected. The second set came at the bar-turned-discotech-by-volunteers place we went to and that was even harder because it’s going to be months if not longer before I see any of these people.
These volunteers and trainers are my family. They are all I have here and saying goodbye to them is like leaving the USA to come to Peru alone again…just this time I am leaving one city in Peru and going to another one. It’s tough!
After all of those goodbyes I had to say goodbye to Rigel. That was SUPER tough because he lives in Chaclacayo and who knows if I will be able to make it back anytime soon to see him. I know I will be seeing the volunteers and most of the trainers again…just a long time from now. I know Rigel and I are going to try to visit each other, but it’s difficult when we both have jobs. He has been so good to me and was the first person outside of PC that I met. He will always hold a special place with me. He helped me with my language, culture things and kept me sane when I needed a break from all things Peace Corps.
I didn’t think I would be that emotional when I said goodbye to my family. I love them dearly, but I didn’t think it would be hard. I basically broke down in sobbing cries and even thinking about it is making me cry. They have been SO good to me and I feel like they are my parents and I don’t want to leave them. They had to put up with my lack of Spanish from day 1, all my culture shock/mass confusion and I just feel like I know them so well. I will most defiantly be back to see them before I leave. I bought them some Panatone (Christmas bread that is disgusting that Peruvians LOVE…except me and Rigel). I also printed out 7 pictures from my times with them for them to have. They were super excited about it and my gift was a can of peaches. I don’t really like peaches that much, but I bet one day when I am lonely sitting in my room, a can of peaches might just do the trick. I can also use the can afterwards too for a pencil thingy. 
Anyway, saying goodbye always sucks. If I end up having a strong relationship with the people of Pambarumbe I can’t imagine how hard goodbye will be at the close of my service in two years. Right now I need to focus of my hellos and my Spanish because my world is about to be rocked!