The Last Night- June 15, 2024

Today was a day of celebration and gratitude. We started the day by gathering in the conference room of our hotel and presenting group slideshows of our experience in the four departamentos that we were assigned which were Maldonado, Rivera, Minas and Salto. Our group described in photos and descriptions about rural schools, elementary schools, liceos and our host teachers. We agreed that teaching in this model took "al pulmon" or work of the heart. We came as strangers and left as colleagues and friends with a shared dedication and excitement around our pedagogy. We agreed that we have much to learn about this model and where we fit in with this experience.

The evening was a dinner with our host teachers in attendance as we visited yet again and bonded over our experiences and were able to exchange gifts and express our gratitude to them. We were also able to celebrate our Fulbright family, Amy, Selene, Maite and especially Martina Fernández Fasciolo for organizing and optimizing our every experience here from arranging meetings, hotels, rides, culturally enriching experiences, and everything that came up large and small with our groups. They cared for us physically, intellectually and emotionally as we pushed ourselves to the limit with many visits, interactions, presentations, and understandings. Another thank you to Aldo Rodriguez, director of ANEP and Mercedes Jiménez de Aréchaga, Executive Director of fulbright Uruguay

As for me, I am humbled and energized by the kids, the educators and the culture of Uruguay. I wish I could repeat this experience with what I know now so I could engage with the questions I was asked in a more helpful and direct way. I hope that I can return someday or host my hosts. I have so much to unpack about this progressive educational model.

An unexpected gift was the relationships between my colleagues from all over the United States and especially my Maldonado group. Every conversation was rich with relevant experiences and ideas about education which we filtered through the experiences that we were having together. I have never had such an excellent cohort and I know that we will continue to learn and grow from each other as we develop in our understanding and implementation of global competence.