The past week has been real busy, as I knew the day of my departure from Colombia was arriving soon.

For the past week, I’ve tried to spend as much time as possible with my relatives.  Two days ago we had lunch as a family at my uncle’s house to say farewell, as my aunt and I leave to go back to the States.  The real highlight of that day was being able to talk to my relatives about all the times we have spent together in the past month and just enjoying each others company.

One of my aunts who just overcame cancer in the past few months, now has a father who was just diagnosed with lung cancer.  His name is Jaime (Hi-ma), and I’ve known him longer than I’ve known my blood grandfather, Jose A. Barake, who died of a heart-attack at the age of 61 in 1991.  The doctors just informed Jaime and the family a few weeks ago that he has less than a year to live.  Being in the presence of somebody you know you’ll never see again was an experience hard to put into words, yet so real and touching.  Every time I’ve been with him in the past month he’s always had a smile on his face and high spirits, even though I knew he felt immense pain as death stares him in the eyes.  Saying farewell to him yesterday knowing I won’t see him again alive in this world was an extremely difficult thing to do. Every time I looked at him across the table I pondered what I was going to say to him at the end of the day, not knowing what exactly that should be and how it should be said since I’ve never been in this situation.

During my time here I’ve come to further realize the importance of family.  Not just the nuclear family, but especially the extended kin.  Through the passing of time and the changes we all come across in life, the family always remains at heart.  In each family a story is playing out and each family’s story has its differences and similarities. And one of the common threads found in the majority of these tales, thankfully so, is that the family is the nucleus of our existence.  The world around us is always changing, but at the end of the day, life starts and ends with the family…at least I think.  And while I’ve been here, the Latin American culture has strongly emphasized this notion and has allowed me to remember that the love and the bonds I share with my family, as a whole, is truly life’s greatest blessing.

Over the past month, I’ve come to realize that even though it’s been ten years since I’ve seen some of my relatives and since I’ve been to this country, the connection I have with the individuals who share a common blood and the land of my blood have no age, no limit, no end.  The time and/or space apart will never separate the relation I share with my extended family and with this land.  How they took me in as one of their own and the comfort I felt in their presences has truly shown me that the distance and time apart will never change the connection we share.

The past week I’ve also been wrapping up my field study I’ve been conducting during my time here.  I spent three of the last six days on the farm doing the daily routines.  Starting our day at 4 a.m. to milk the cows, then completing the other tasks before lunch at noon, such as: feeding the calves, cleaning the stables, moving the electric fences on the lots that are currently being occupied for further grazing, fertilizing the grass lots that aren’t being used, etc.  In the afternoon we complete our remaining duties, milk the cows again at 3 P.M. and usually end the day about two hours later.  This weekend we did our monthly inspection of the cows currently on the farm.  We herd the cows according to the lot they’re in and begin the process of vaccinating vitamins and other substances if needed, weighing each animal and documenting all this information.  Yesterday I said farewell to the farm and the two campesinos (farmers) I’ve been working with for the last month, hoping and knowing I will return to this beautiful land in the near future.

This past week I also concluded my study of Colombia on a socio-political standpoint by interviewing specific individuals.  I was able to sit down with some friends of the family who in one epic or another had relatives that were part of the drug cartel(s) and/or had a relative who was/is in politics. I was able to find out some fascinating information from an insider's perspective that will greatly support my study of the issues I’ve chosen to focus upon.  I’ve acquired valid and extremely useful information about the country over the past month which will be documented in a portfolio at Elon in the next few weeks.

As for my time spent with the Millonarios Club, last week was final week of training with them. I was given the opportunity to have a trial with another professional team from Bogota known as Independiente Santa Fe starting this past Monday. 

Last week I trained three days with the squad for the last time, and was able to say my proper farewells.  Thursday morning after training, I said thanks and good-bye to my profe’s (coaches) Martin, Juan Pablo, and the rest of the training staff.  I was able to say farewell to the players I became close to, who were incredible futbolistas (players), and even more important, wonderful people.  Before I left I was also able to give some of my equipment to players I came across over the past few weeks on the youth teams.  Seeing the faces on these kids when they received the gear was the best feeling in the world.  Many of them don’t wear the big brand names such as Nike and Adidas because they can’t afford it, and instead buy the cheaper local apparel.  As I handed out the gear that was predominantly of these two big brands, the kids were so thankful and excited to be able to own such equipment.  Since most of these kids come from extremely poor families that live far away from the club, these players pretty much support themselves entirely on a day-to-day basis.  How grateful they were to receive such gifts, gifts that are easily attained by athletes in the states….yet they are like precious gold to these youth players. 

This afternoon was my last of three trial sessions I had with the other Copa Mustang Colombian League team known as Santa Fe.  The first day, the trainers from the club tested my agility, quickness, and level of conditioning by having me do various obstacles and drills.  On the second day, they had me train with the second team during their afternoon training session. And this afternoon, we had an intersquad match against the first team.  We lost in a high scoring match that ended in 4-3.  I played the entire game at the central midfield and outside midfield positions and had two goals.  After the game, I had my meeting with the coaching staff and said my farewell.
 
Who knows what the future holds, none of us really know. All I do know is that this journey has been an incredible experience that has given me insight to myself as an individual and as a person who, in the coming year, will be starting a career of some sort. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be in the diplomatic field in this land that I’m saddened to leave, or even be blessed with the opportunity to put on a jersey of one of the club teams I’ve trained with in the past month.
   
Time is a fascinating concept.  At certain moments in our lives it seems to fly by, and at others it seems to never end; but time is always passing by…..it’s the human mind which gives life to the idea of time seeming prolonged or shortened.  For me, time has been my companion on this journey.  It has taught me and reminded me to cherish each moment.  And as I reflect on the past month, I am satisfied with what I’ve accomplished, with what I’ve experienced, with what I’ve felt, with what I’ve learned, during my time here in Colombia.