Day 14: Saying Goodbye to Quilmes by Anna

Today was an incredibly hard and emotional day for all of us. I know that waking up in the morning was one of the most difficult things to do– knowing you’d never get quite the same experience. We began the day as we normally did in past days- just sitting in the warmly heated and quite cozy video room. We all took a quiz that tested our “general knowledge” before moving into the large foyer area to complete the rest of our gut-wrenching activities, and that was where the tears began- or continued from the previous day rather. We were counting down the hours to our departure. Counting down the minutes knowing that we’d never have the same feeling again. We’d never be in the same place with the same people doing the same thing ever again. It was a once in a lifetime experience that we were all cherishing together. Together. The people that I’d never talked to on the trip were in my arms. Whether best friends or acquaintances, I didn’t want to let go. We had some snacks laid out on the table to comfort us, but that could never be enough to diminish the heart break that was being expressed on the face of every individual in that room. We stood together. We took pictures together. We embraced each other, and we all felt the feeling of unison and togetherness. We couldn’t believe that this amazing journey we fought and enjoyed had come to an abrupt end, but we left our mark.

We all painted our hands in various, vibrant colors to leave our hand prints behind on the wall as a reminder that no matter the distance or the place, we’re always side by side and hand in hand. And once we had washed our hands clean, after some paint mysteriously ended up on people’s faces (:)), the hugging and tear shedding continued. I would say we were a quite diverse group. We were all from different backgrounds and friend groups and with different beliefs and styles of living our lives, but we all came together and knit an intricately woven blanket of love. I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else with any other group of people for my exchange trip, and no matter how the other people felt throughout the trip– on the last day– no one would’ve changed anything. I would repeat those two weeks over and over again if I could. So that’s what we tried to do. We all went back to our usual meeting spot- the video room, to recount all of the events that occurred on the trip. We watched two videos that were compiled of pictures and videos from our trip. We were now counting down the minutes of the last hour, and in that hour, we were going to cling on to the memories that we had together for the meager moments we still had together. The speakers blared and the pictures flickered across the screen as they tried to recount all of the amazing memories that we had in a 7 minute slideshow. But the memories that we shared together would take a lifetime to recount. And we had so long to say hello, and only a few minutes to wave goodbye. Nearly everyone was crying. Arms were swinging in every direction that there was a human being. No one wanted to let go. Everyone felt the pain and agony staring at them from the two double doors that we would exit. Parents, friends, siblings were all there to say their goodbyes. The emotions felt when you heard all of the students endlessly thank their parents was one of most heartbreaking things. They all stood in a line and watched us as we made our way towards the bus. The hugging and crying didn’t stop. Anytime someone got the opportunity to hug someone– whether they had interacted with them or not– they did. We hugged people and whimpered our goodbyes even from the window of the bus, and we rolled away quicker than we rolled in a week before that. Just like that, that exchange trip was no longer something we were looking forward to, but now, now it was something that was purely a memory. The crying faces that grim afternoon will always remain as vivid paintings in my mind. I know that neither I, nor the Cary Academy students will ever forget this amazing experience packed with laughter, love, endless joy, and eternal and unbreakable bonds of friendship.

Airport routine was pretty normal. When we arrived at the airport, we had all settled down quite a bit. We checked in at the kiosks, checked our bags, headed through security and had quite some time to spare. During that time, we all either got some food to eat, shopped at one of the many stores filled with alfajores and dulce de leche, or just sat together to spend our final hours together in Argentina. Despite the fact that the Pilar group was there, we all (Quilmes kids) stuck together. When it was time to board the flight back to the United States, all of our stomachs took a tough turn. There was no hope of escaping now. We all safely boarded the plane, and didn’t really even bother to rearrange our seats to sit with different people or our closest friends because we were all close. We had all held hands through a magnificent journey, and we all came together. We grew not only as individual people, but as a group.

Arriving in Atlanta resulted in mixed feelings. People were happy to set foot on American soil, but it also closed the door on the amazing journey that we had partaken in. People dispersed to finally set their hands on chick-fil-a or a smoothie. The chocolates and the goodies from the duty-free store came that we all shared together as a group. I guess we all finally came to the realization that we were in the United States and nothing was going to change that anytime soon, so we had to take what we learned and grow with it. The seed was planted in Quilmes that we have to water everyday back in Cary. Boarding our last flight locked it for us. It was time to return to our families and go back to where we came from without forgetting our temporary families.