23/1/11

3:49pm

Today was the big day: the Pasecalles, or street parade. It wasn't what I expected, but it was sweet none-the-less. The school marching band took us around the main road of the town, and the kids waved masks and balloons and played their maracas made of plastic bottles. It was no Mardi Gras, but I realised for a small town like this it was a huge deal. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and that's what really counts.

Once we reached the school, we had to perform our educational skits with our masks. Hopefully the bigger meaning of all this isn't lost on the people, which is to practice recycling and looking after the unique, beautiful environment that surrounds them. After that was a lot of chit-chat and photos, while the townspeople inspected the multiple murals we'd been painting while we were here. When you create beautiful things like that, people start to really respect and take care of things, so hopefully the positive effects of our work there will carry on long after we leave.

I don't want to say I was underwhelmed: it was still a great experience, but not in the way I expected. I smiled and danced around, and had a bit of fun, but in the end it was really just an eye-opening experience., at how a collective of people can take so much joy out the simple things. After the parade, my father asked if he could take my mask back to our house. I don't know if he was just doing me a favour or if he was asking if he could keep it (which I'm intended to let him/them do), but just his expression as he was waving the monkey face around was enough to make these weeks, with the long hours, tedious repetitive work, and consistent, prominent homesickness, all completely worth it. Some people I know would laugh at a grown man for enjoying such a perceived childish toy, but I've come to respect my host father as a kind, gentle and caring man. It's a product of their family-oriented culture, no doubt, but I believe the profound effect him and his family have had on my will continue to resurface and surprise me for many months, or even years, to come.

Over lunch we all discussed the adventure tour, and we're all excited to get to the real 'fun' part of this journey. As excited as I am to go home, I'm also extremely keen for the adventure tour. Though having said that, saying my goodbyes here is going to prove harder than I ever would have expected.