The first farewell was for Laura Torregroza. Several months ago Laura decided she wanted to study English intensively in England, so she did some research and found a program in Oxford where she could study English for a year. To some people that may not seem amazing, but to me it is amazing that a 17-year-old girl from Barranquilla, Colombia is studying English for a year in England. Before Laura left for England, her mind was full of many dreams and possibilities for her future. One of her dreams was to become a chef and design and create her own restaurant. We decided, therefore, to have a goodbye dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in the city (about which I have already written), Beit Quessep. Originally, only Laura, Camila, Valeria and I were going to go to dinner, but because Laura is so loved our party of four turned into a part of nine. Alex Quessep, the owner and chef of the restaurant came out and met Laura and I think that made the night extra special for her. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing and hanging out at the restaurant until closing time.
I did have another mini-farewell with Laura because she, Camila, Valeria, and Maria Jose came to hang out with me and say goodbye the afternoon and evening before I left for California for a month in December. Camila showed up at 2:00, Valeria at 3:00, Laura at 3:30, and Maria Jose at 4:00. We hung out, talked and laughed, walked on the roof (which I didn't realize previously is something most of the girls want to do), talked and laughed, went shopping for traditional Colombian sweets and treats to take home to my family, talked and laughed, ordered chuzo desgranado to be delivered to the convent for dinner, and then ate and watched Protagonistas (a Colombian reality-TV program). At one point, the girls wanted to see my HUGE closet so I opened it and Valeria asked if it was big enough for a person to fit inside. She told Laura to check it out and as soon as Laura stepped into my closet Valeria closed and locked the closet. It was hilarious, although I am pretty sure Laura didn't think so. A bonus for the day was when we were on our way to Exito to buy things for my family and we ran into Laura Vizcaino (who was going to join us in the convent but had another commitment) and she came shopping with us. Although it wasn't a party or some preplanned event, I had a fabulous day with some of my favorite girls in the world.
The third farewell was for Valeria Serrano. Valeria is an actress if ever there were an actress. She was made for the theater. In Barranquilla there are few, if any, opportunities for a person interested in drama. Valeria, therefore, decided to study drama in Bogota. Before she left we celebrated with her at a gourmet burger retaurant called El Corral Gourmet. It was the most California-like of any restaurant I have been too, maybe because they serve some 20+ versions of burgers and charge way too much for them. Again, I thought it would be a small group of 4-5 people, but because Valeria, too, is so loved the group became ten. As with the other two farewells, this one was wonderful. It was fun to catch up with several of the girls who I hadn't seen since graduation. I really enjoy talking with Valeria, but we have our own special language because neither one of us is confident in the other's native tongue. When we are talking and no one is listening, we communicate perfectly. Unfortunately, when other people hear us they feel it is their duty to comment on the lack of rectitude in our language. I, for one, don't care what they say because Valeria and I have found a way to understand each other. One final comment: Although it is not evident in any of the pictures, Valeria wore a gorgeous black dress and high, high heels. She looked beautiful.
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