Adios Final/ First Welcomes

Hello everyone!
First, I want to thank everyone for their patient anticipation for my last newsletter. I have struggled to put into words what I want to put on this last newsletter and now it is VERY late.

I have now been home for four months!!! So I will give you a life update from the last time you heard from me:

1. I left my community in Puebla on July 2nd. For a week before I left, the Germans, CIPAAC and my host family did sad heartfelt goodbyes. The Germans and I prepared a photo journal of our time (most photos take by myself because I like to take them!) and letters to the next volunteers. For my last Friday night in Puebla, the Germans, a Mexican CIPAAC volunteer, and I went out for dinner, and a little night life. But the bars closed at 11:00pm! This is because there is a in Mexico that all establishments that serve alcohol must close 48 hours before their elections and they may not sell any alcohol until after the elections. The presidential elections happen every 6 years and always on the first of July, even when it is on a Sunday like this year. (Pictured below is: Nora, Lara, Luise (aka Luigi) and me at the church on top of the hill in Cholula, before we went out for my last Mole meal.)
   
2. For several days, the Mexico cohort was together in Mexico City to process the year, spend time together, and to prepare for the transition back to the United States. We talked about how we would respond to friends family and strangers that would ask us about our year and experience in Mexico. The most common question is still after four months is, "Did you feel safe?" and the answer is "Yes." This final time together was emotionally and physically both draining and life giving. Those days were to prepare us to fulfill our final mission to go back to the United States and share what we learned about accompaniment and service to our community here. (Picture: We had the opportunity to get out of the Lutheran Center (the place we were staying) and explore parts of the the city not all of us had seen yet. We went to Xochimilco (pronounced: so-chee-mill-co) for lunch in the markets, a little shopping, and a ride in the canals. In the picture below is a view of the canal. There are hundreds of boats out at a time. There are boats with entire parties of people, sometimes there would be two or more boats would be tied together so that people on them could use both to walk around on. There are others that are smaller that have men and women that are cooking and selling food. There are others also that have nicknacks that you can buy. It is truly like a Mexican street but on the river!)
   

   
3. I got home July 6th. I started the journey at 6am all by myself at the airport with all my stuff. (I tell you this because it was stressful with two large bags that I just could not get under the weight limit to save my life! Eventually the attendant behind the counter was so annoyed that she just let me go with a bag just a tiny bit over weight.) On the first flight I was pretty relaxed, and mostly tired from being awake the whole night before with my cohort in Mexico. The second flight I made friends with the folks sitting around me, particularly poor man that sat in the window seat next to me. Throughout the flight we talked about policies in the United States that had changed, the things I missed about the United States, what I would miss from Mexico, my favorite foods, all the tough and easy questions. I pitied the man sitting next to me because you have not seen excitement until you've seen a Minnesotan that has not seen a lake in nearly a year see a lake from the sky! I was leaning over the aisle and the man in the window seats to get a good look at them! You can see below the photo I took of the sight. Most people on the flight were flying into MSP were coming home from a nice vacation, so this sight of the lakes were a sight that they dreaded, but not me! I will forever remember this moment and the feeling of home with those big blue pits below. 
   
4. A couple of weeks after being home my brother and sister-in-law welcomed into the world their first child and my first niece! I had the pleasure of meeting this bundle of joy just a few hours after she was born. Her name is Remmington. I am so proud to be her Aunt (though my sister keeps telling me that she is the only aunt... She is 5 years old, so she will learn.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. I had the great privilege to spend a little time to be home and to get re-acclimated to being in America again and speaking in English! There was a lot of Spanish coming out of my mouth that month. During that month, in between spending time with family and friends, I was filling out job applications and going on job interviews. After several "No's" from Guardian ad Litem positions, I was fortunate to be accepted at my old high school as a full time Para. I am now working as a SpED Para for Anoka High School and I am really enjoying it. The work is similar to the work that I was doing in Mexico, working with persons with different abilities and assisting them in their daily routines, but there are also a lot different to this position that keeps me all the more interested. I primarily work with one student at Anoka that has a hearing impairment. I would with her for two class periods as her captioner. As her captioner, I attempt to type out everything that is said in the class. The things I type go directly to her Ipad through the program that we use. This way she is able to participate in her high school as much as possible. Her classmates are fascinated by what gets typed out and often like to challenge me by saying ridiculous things that I don't necessarily have to type, but do because I feel like it adds to her relationship with her classmates. (Pictured below is myself and several other YAGM alum (Left to right: Karleigh, Brittany, Amanda and me) at an even for the Lutheran Social Services' Gala. They wanted more young folks in the room, so there was an open invitation to attend for free for YAGM and other young adults involved in the church. We had a good time talking about our experiences in our countries of service and the transitions that we were and are still going through.) 
   
6. Now going forward, my job at Anoka is not the place I want to be forever, but it is the right place for me right now. While on the border, my cohort had the experience of witnessing my passion for case law and got me to realize it too. So, I am currently studying for the LSAT and plan to take it in January. I hope to start law school and pursuing that passion next fall. 

Thank you, as always, for all of your support! If I have not seen you in person since I have gotten home, please reach out! I have lots of stories and pictures to share.