The time has come, folks, it’s the long-awaited departure blog. The post truly brings to reality the fact that our Global Glimpse experience is actually coming to an end. I’m sure for our readers the past two weeks have gone agonizingly slowly as you’ve all been missing your loved ones (us), but for me, and I’m sure many of my fellow Glimpsers could agree, the time was going by quicker than I would have wanted at times. In this short amount of time, we’ve bonded so much with others and discovered so much about ourselves and the world around us. For these reasons and many more, as I’m sure you all could have guessed, departing was a very emotional and difficult task.

We woke up bright and early, 7:30 am, to make the best of our last day together as a group. We had some delicious gallo pinto, fried eggs, sausage, and plantains from our lovely cooks who we will miss dearly. After breakfast, we decided to move right along to our morning checkups and did something super cool, CABIN CHEERS!! All the cabins collectively came up with a chant or dance to come victorious. In the end, cabin 5 won! We moved right along into our seminar which was full of emotions and positive vibes. One of the activities was making “Big Love” papers for each person in our group which was very heartwarming. We then went into small circles and did a short activity where we would touch the person in the middle if we felt that the passage aligned well with how we felt with them. Some examples of this were “Do they make you feel safe?” and “Do you want to get to know them better?”. Our final thing at the base house was to gather any last-minute supplies and stuff so we wouldn’t leave them behind. Of course, we also made lovely handwritten cards for the people who helped us throughout our whole journey and took some heartfelt pictures with them as well.

With our tearful farewells out of the way, we all loaded up our luggage and boarded the bus. It was about a two-hour drive to Cartago, which many people filled with light conversation or sleep. We also received our “Big Love” papers on the bus, so people began to read those as well. At the souvenir shop, knowing our time was limited, people bustled around looking for gifts to bring home to friends and family (and some keepsakes for themselves). The store was filled with a variety many handmade, unique, and colorful items that were truly representative of the Costa Rican culture. After the hubbub of twenty people purchasing a dozen things each, people made their way over to the bakery next door. There, people showed off their new things and refueled with delicious fresh bread and drinks. After that, it was back on the bus for us, with another two hours and traffic in store for us. The bus was more lively this time around with laughter and more energetic conversations, but also as we were moving even closer to the end of the trip, the emotions were getting some people down.

On our way to the airport hotel, it all felt too surreal to us. We were all so emotional that it would be our final night together. We got our hotel rooms and didn’t stay much longer in there because we had dinner soon after which was some really good turkey with salad and vegetables on the side. Our nightly meeting was short and was mainly a short reflection on our trip and personalized written notes from our leaders that were filled with positive words that felt so sweet and personal to all of us. We didn’t have much time afterward and quickly went to bed in our rooms because we would have to wake up super early the next morning for our flight back home!

And now, as we sit here in Terminal C of the Houston International Airport, writing the final blog post of our delegation (T2B forever!), we can say confidently was this was one of the most meaningful, transformative, and enlightening trips we have ever had the opportunity to experience. There was so much learned and never a dull moment during our time in Costa Rica, and every person and event of this trip will stay in our hearts and on our minds for a very long time. By the time this is posted, we will have already made it back home and begun to tell our stories, and in the retelling of our tales, there will be an air of nostalgia as we reminisce on times not far in the past, which will hold such significance in our lives from here on out. And with that, the final blog of the Global Glimpse T2B trip to Turrialba, Costa Rica is officially over. Thanks for taking time out of your day to check in on us throughout the weeks. That’s all folks.