4 hours to go.

to put it simply - i didn't know i would/could get so attached to this place. yes, i'm definitely someone who makes the best of what comes and yes, i also somewhere deep in my mind had the picture that i would just go to india, do my job and come back. looking at this now, a full six months (or in my case 'only' 172 days) later, i have come to the realization that going to india was probably one of the best, if not THE best decision i have made to date. today is monday the 27th of june and on 9pm my flight leaves for singapore. an era ends.

the past (last!) couple of days were hectic. i might have mentioned before that the new school year just started on june 15th, thereby the little flower school got 35 new 2 year-olds, who had never been away from their parents and who could not control their bladders properly. needless to say, the three days i spent there were filled with crying, crying, crying and kids mistaking the dining room floor for a bathroom. in a word, stressful. we couldn't do our normal montessori activities (according to the teachers it'll be like that for at least another 8 weeks), instead all we do is try to calm them, get them so sit (in moderate) silence, sing them rhymes etc. only for short periods do they actually sleep - the montessori idea of allowing the mind to rejuvenate is a precious one.

i mean, seeing them sleep has just got to be the cutest thing ever. picture this: the kids lie in a square and then one giant blanket is spread across them, covering them entirely. all you can see is heads sticking out from all sides of the blanket. such precious little beings :)

(funnily enough, the old kids that were still there greeted me like their ol' buddy auntie wanda, by running at me from behind and attempting to jump onto my back, by biting my hands, by kissing my cheeks..yes, reactions were mixed but i'm sure they did recognise me!)
seeing as i thought that them seeing a big, white person with owl glasses wouldn't exactly comfort all of the completely new children and make their overall situation better, i decided to emigrate to bodhi zendo for my last week, which would not only allow me to socialize with people, but also provide an ideal environment for me to re-think the happenings of the past six months. before i left, esther came to my room, explaining to me in broken english that she had to make me fit for the western world again. she brought with her a bottle of kingfisher super-strong beer and half a fried chicken :) and it was the best thing anyone had ever given to me.

so there i was, cleaning out my entire room at the school. mind you, i got rid of about 99% of the stuff i came with (which was, if you remember my very first blog entry, a full six months worth of toiletries because i didn't know whether or not i would have access to shops here haha). the whole thing looked quite sad and empty when i was done, and my entire life was packed into a simple suitcase. and still, not once did it occur to me that only in a matter of days, this chapter of my life would end and a new one would start.

to tell you the truth, only mere hours before my flight now this realization has still not fully dawned on me. yes, i've said goodbye to everyone. had two very very heart-warming/breaking goodbye 'parties' with the evening tuition teachers and with the montessori & staff members. i mean, i cannot describe to you how sweet everyone is to me, how emotional it all is. the kids were dancing, speeches were held and tears were shed.

and eventhough i have experienced all this and my suitcase is closed beside me as i am typing this, i still cannot believe that only in about ten hours time i will set foot on singaporean soil, where the world is the complete opposite from what it is here. need i say more? singapore is the cleanest city in the world. the richest business hub of south-east asia. IT'S SO SURREAL. ultimately i can look back and say that i have had the most incredible six months and that i cannot wait to get back here again whenever i have the chance. singapore will be a challenge, of course, but i have learned such a great deal in the time i have spent here. now let's see how it'll help me :) thank you for reading for all these months and i will update one last time when i'm in singapore.