Thank you

1. For your sea of fierce hugs that first afternoon—before you even knew my name
2. For duck-duck goose
3. For awing (exhausting) me with your endless energy
4. For sharing your families with me while we colored on the floor
5. For Danae’s memory—for learning English when no one else did
6. For eating yogurt together on the stairs
7. For climbing up the hill to Eloy Alfaro when classes ended
8. For sticking around when you could—when we stuck around
9. For contributing good-naturedly to my interview with Carmen
10. For coloring our emotions and funny hair
11. For folding paper airplanes
12. For the fiesta with the students from New York and halving bananas with our bare hands
13. For dancing together in pairs one afternoon
14. For painting our faces
15. For helping me find myself

... Thank you ...