Saturday we had the "hail and farewell" to welcome a few new families and to say good-bye to two of our Marines and the wonderful "B" family. It was a wonderful way for everyone to pay tribute to them before they left. We ate American hot dogs that Alex brought back with her from her R&R to the states. It's amazing how you could miss hot dogs!
Savannah with her little Peruvian friend Micaela that has taught her a lot of Spanish:
The kids playing soccer with the marines:
We gathered around the lunch tables and ate and then had the opportunity to talk about those that were leaving, share stories and memories, give thanks, etc. Briant contributed to the tribute while I was trying to control my tears. I'm going to miss the B family, especially Amy! :)
We will miss Amy's husband Mario too. Besides loving his Peruvian accent that Amy perfectly imitated, we loved him and his kind spirit. He reached out to Briant a number of times when we first moved here, to take him grocery shopping with him. He knew we didn't have a car yet, so it helped us a lot. And more importantly, we felt his friendship and support. Their girls, Jesse and Beca were also wonderful friends to my kids. They put up with my kids on the daily bus rides to school, which was not an easy thing to do considering the length of the drives. They've gone swimming and have played at the embassy a lot together. My kids loved teaching Jesse and Beca how to ride ripsticks too. The kids loved playing the Wii Mario Kart game with Briant, and Beca loved giving him a hard time when he lost. :)
Amy has been a wonderful friend to me here at post. Actually, her goodness began back in Virginia, when she left Angola for a month long training at FSI. For that month of training, she lived in the same apartments where we were at the time and preparing for our move to Angola. We had her over for dinner, and I knew instantly that we would be friends. I will always remember fondly the long walks we took in the cemetery behind our apartment 2 or 3 times a week to get to know each others' families better and of course to talk about Angola. We also went shopping together for things we needed to bring with us to Angola so we had even more talk time and I could pick her brain about what to expect and how we could adapt to Angola like her family did. She was and is amazingly positive with her outlook on life here in Angola. She has tried to find the good, and has, and of course has aided others in finding it too. Including me. So I'm grateful for her influence and example at a time when I really needed it. I will also remember the weekly meditation sessions she instigated for anyone in the embassy that was interested. I always looked forward to those Tuesdays and Thursdays so she and I could get together the half hour before to eat lunch and talk. And of course, there was never enough time for the "talk" part. We are similar in so many ways, especially in our passion for learning as well as teaching and in using those skills to help our kids academically, emotionally, and spiritually. She's a wonderful mom--creative, artistic, and in tune with the personality and needs of her girls. We had many a discussion about our kids and what we're learning on this journey of motherhood. I have needed and appreciated her honesty, realness, and insight. She's definitely a life-long friend. We've joked around saying that we'll always stay in touch because after our lives in the foreign service, we will start our own school together--so much planning to be done! :)
So, I'm sad. I'm trying to come to terms with this life in the foreign service of the all too frequent hellos followed by the good-byes to those we get to know and love. But at the same time, I recognize that without this life, I wouldn't have had the chance to get to know them or be touched by their examples. Even a short amount of time with these wonderful individuals and families, is better than never crossing paths!
Last day with Beca and Jesse on the bus. The kids are signing Beca's shirt and saying their last good-byes. :( We will miss them but wish them the best on their new adventure in Liberia!
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