It made me feel so grateful to all my friends in Barichara who helped me improve my Spanish language skills, especially Emerson, my partner, and her family!
One of the last classes I got to teach from Barichara was with a pre-school class in Brooklyn. They met a guati (also called an agouti), a tiny South American mammal. The creature had been rescued because its mother had been eaten by a snake and she was given a name by her caretaker--Lluvia, which means rain. I got a video of Lluvia from my friend Oswaldo recently and she is so big! Even in the small time I've been gone from Colombia, so much has changed for her. She has had so many peanut snacks from friends and her coat is very shiny and she is very strong at digging now. It makes me feel happy that she is growing bigger and soon will be able to live on her own.
I myself am feeling so grateful for all the treats and help I received in Barichara and feel it helped me also grow and be more able to be back in the big city of New York and face new challenges. I'm excited, too, that I will soon be moving to Boston in order to start some new things with a brand new team on BioBus. I'll be heading there to help build a new mobile laboratory that helps empower and is guided by the voices of the community members there. I'm looking forward to that change, and I want to thank my travels in Colombia for preparing me for this new experience.
Thank you to all of you who have joined this virtual exchange journey to Colombia with me. I hope you have enjoyed it! I hope there will be ways I can share more with anyone who is interested in the future. Stay safe and keep your eyes peeled for cool bugs in your space!
