No me gusta goodbyes
Now with week 6 down, the reality that we are soon heading home is slowly kicking in. Mainly after we said our goodbyes to Javier, Graciela, the biosphere, and the animals that make it up.
This last week was made up of visiting construction sites and finishing off the work that we started. Specifically for the chapel in Urkupiña, we got to witness the handing over of the keys to the priests of the town. It really made me realize how much satisfaction must come from designing and constructing a building and then just stepping back and looking at it.
And on the final day working with Javier, he asked Nick and I to essentially draw up a structure that reflects their form of architecture. We both walked around the biosphere for about 15 minutes deciding how in the world we would do this. We grabbed a leaf off a tree and decided to make it a roof. Then after we took a quick glance at the horse, we decided the rest of the structure would reflect the spine and ribs of a four-legged animal. From there we started drawing. Javier then sat with us and looked over it and explained more of their theory from an engineering perspective. This honestly blew my mind because I realized how complex their engineering actually is.
Personally, I really hate goodbyes. Whenever I am upset about goodbyes, my parents tell me that you have to say goodbye in order to say hello. Which makes sense but it still sucks. Graciela drove us over to Anna’s house (an adventure in and of itself) where we all had a lovely dinner. Then towards the end, Javier also stopped by and we all said our goodbyes. Two people that have, whether by accident or on purpose, allowed me to see the world in a very different way. And for that I am immensely thankful.
Now it’s off to La Paz, Peru, and then home! But Cochabamba will forever be my second home.
