The following post features student writing.

Our final week in Iltaqui was great. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we all worked on finishing our independent projects and the work at the work site. Murals were finished, swings were painted and fixed, and English was taught. Here are some independent project photos:

And here are before and after photos of the community service work we completed:

On Wednesday, in preparation for our fiesta de despedida we slaughtered a pig with the help of Don Manuel and Riley. Thereafter, with the help of some locals, Riley, Sophia, Sydney M., and I cleaned the pig and prepped him before putting him in Don Manuel’s wood burning oven to cook all evening.

The next day, we hosted a huge fiesta de despedida for our last day in town. We performed a local dance for the entire town (which we had been rehearsing all week) in traditional indigenous clothes (which our local friends lent us). Afterward, we ate the pig (which we had named “Tim”) with the rest of the town, which was delicious! We served over 200 people — it was a huge party and a big success!

That night the town presented us with many gifts and thanked us for our service the last three weeks. After dinner, we had a dance party with the town and said our tearful goodbyes to all our new friends in Iltaqui.

Everyone agreed we had a blast in Iltaqui and will miss our new friends.

– Adam B.