Vamos!

Last picture in Albuquerque!

Honestly, it still doesn’t feel completely real. My brain just can’t seem to comprehend that this isn’t just a short weekend trip, but I guess it’s got about 22 hours to do it. The past week was full of goodbyes, and the friendships I’ve developed here were without a doubt one of the greatest parts of formation. I hope that I have inspired my new friends as much as they inspired me.

Our last weekend in Albuquerque was one to remember, too. In the midst of somewhat stressful packing, I took some time to enjoy American amenities for the last time and to do some sightseeing. I was lucky enough to have Matt visit and see me off at the airport. There were some additional tears because of it, but I’m happy I got to see him.

Friday night we were invited to Valeria’s (one of our friends from San Jose) birthday party after choir practice. It was great to hang out with our Albuquerque friends before leaving and to experience some real Mexican cuisine (Plus, I got to prove to Matt that I really am improving in my eating!).

Saturday, Matt and I saw two movies back to back, Safe House and The Vow. Maybe not the best idea considering I’ll be sitting for more than 13 hours today, but it was fun to do since I won’t have the chance over the next 10 months. Later, we took the tram to the top of Sandia—the world’s second longest tramway. It was freezing, but the view was amazing! It’s definitely a must see, but for me I think once is enough. My fear of heights was out in full force and my death grip on the pole inside the car made my hands sweat just a little too much. That night, Matt, Caitlin, Mary and Rob (Mary’s boyfriend) and I went out to see some of Albuquerque’s nightlife. It’s always interesting for me to go to a bar right now since I’m so out of the nightlife or really social life scene. It’s like I almost forgot what it’s like. The rare times we’ve done it, I’ve always had the realization that, “oh yeah, this is what most people my age are doing.”

On the car up to the peak.

View down the mountain.

At the top.

View from on the back.

Yesterday morning I indulged in some HGTV & House Hunters, and it was great. I haven’t really watched TV since I’ve been in Albuquerque, so like the movies it was fun to do before leaving. Sunday afternoon we sang at our last Mass at San José. Father had us come to the front of the church and gave us a blessing, which was neat since a lot of people in the church have seen us around but most likely didn’t really know why we were there.

After Mass was strictly fine tuning my packing job. The first time I weighed my bag, I kid you not, it weighed 67 pounds! After a few more looks and tough decisions I was able to downsize to just above 50. At the airport, I was still a little overweight, so I took out the huge container of Nutella from the sisters. Luckily, the staff was so nice that they let me put it back in. They too, clearly understand the wonderfulness of this delicious hazelnut spread. Although Sr. Angela still joked that I looked embarrassing with so much stuff strapped to my backpack, she did notice the improvement from when I first arrived in Albuquerque. Instead of the large duffle bag I managed to downsize to a small carry-on duffle leaving me with that, my backpack and one checked bag. I was pretty impressed with myself at first, but now that I'm toting my carry-ons through Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. I think maybe Sr. Angela was onto something. There aren't any lockers in the airport, so we're basically stuck here for the next 7.5 hours since it's uncomfortable to walk around for even 20 minutes with our bags.

This photo doesn't really do our bags justice.

Last night Sr. Kay, Sr. Antoinette and Sr. Angela took us out for dinner joking that we better enjoy it and get what we want because it’s going to be the last time we’ll get to choose. In light of that, I stuck to my old eating habits with a cheese quesadilla. But, I will of course be getting a pizza at the airport as my last American meal.

Thank you to everyone in Albuquerque that was a part of my formation and preparation. I’ll miss you all, but I hope to see you in December. And, thank you to all my family and friends back home for helping me get to this point, too. I couldn’t have done it without you.

¡Cuídate y adiós los Estados Unidos!