Here's a brief overview of my last few days in Kolkata.
The 2nd was our last day at Freeset. It was so sad to say goodbye to all the amazing people I have worked along side for the last 6 months. And they seemed pretty sad to see us go too. They have all been so supportive and lovely through everything and really appreciated and enjoyed having us around. I would love to go back there again one day. They're such a family and everyone looks out for each other. Gonna miss these guys loads!
On the 3rd we went to school armed with a big bag of craft bits. We told the story of Jesus' death and how he rose again. Then we handed out post it notes to all the children and asked them to draw or write on them what Jesus means to them.
Some of the children came in the next day with their socks up their arms. They were quite happy to just put the sock on- don't think they ever thought about putting them on their hands! So sweet.
That afternoon we went out and took photos at all the places we visit regularly:
After this we went out with Benjamin Frances for the last time. He's been great to us and its been good getting to know his crazy self. What a busy, God filled man.
That evening we had our very last curry cooked by Joseph- the lovely BMS cook. He made a lovely last meal for us (bet you can't guess what it was.....) As much as I got sick of having the same meal every night, I will miss these guys!
The 4th was our very last day at school. And the saddest yet. We played pass the parcel and various other party games with the children. It was a bit of a good bye party day so no lessons.
Saying good bye to these beautiful children was so hard. Cause even if I go back to Kolkata, the liklihood is that I would never see these children again. They were all telling us to not go and that they would miss us and giving us loads of hugs. Then when it came to waving them off on the bus- I had tears in my eyes- I'm going to miss them so much.
I remember the first time I saw their bright smiling faces, and since then I have loved them more and more every day. They're forever in my heart and I pray God makes for them a better life than they have already. They're so clever and kind, they deserve so much more than what they have.
This afternoon we said good bye to all the wonderful staff at BMS that have become our family for the last 6 months.
That evening we went out for our last meal with Anu.
That evening we spent packing and eventually got to bed at midnight with the alarm set for 4.30 the next morning.
The drive to the airport was a quiet one as we took in our last moments in Kolkata.
Saying good bye to Anu at the airport was so hard. I had a headache holding back the tears. I will miss her so much. She has been absolutely wonderful and she's such an inspiration to me and the others. She has taught me so much and continued to go above and beyond for us throughout our time. I will definitely see her again. Shes well and truly my Indian mum and I love her to pieces.
The flight was about as good as flights get... no problems and nothing special.
Coming home to my real mummy was amazing. We walked around the corner at the airport and there they were, all our families waiting eagerly for us. It was so lovely to see mum run towards me and give me a big hug. So good to feel her again instead of just waving to a computer screen!
This is what I came home to:
No matter how prepared you think you are to say goodbye, its always so hard. Kolkata has been my home for the last 6 months. The smells have been nasty, the people have been creepy, the traffic has been scary, the air has been smoggy, the ground has been bumpy and the cities been dirty. But the people I met and came to love have been my family, the guesthouse became my home, the children became my brothers and sisters, the streets mapped out my journeys, I became a regular at shops and had friends on the streets. I found God in places I didn't expect him to be, and followed the paths he set out for me. I've faced trials and seen things I can't even begin to explain. I still struggle with understanding a lot of the things I've seen and learnt, and a part of me will forever be haunted by some of it. But through all this I have grown as a person. I have found out so much about myself. It has made me stronger and braver. My trust in God has grown extraordinarily as he has continued to be faithful and go before me and with me and after me.
It was hard to sleep last night as the silence almost rang louder than the craziness of Kolkata. But its so lovely to be home. To hold my family and friends again, to be able to wrap up in a duvet and hug a hot water bottle, to remember what cold feels like, to drink tap water, to eaves drop, to people watch instead of being watched by people, to wake up in my own room, to listen to the radio, to walk down the street on my own and not have to worry, to appreciate life more.
The last 6 months have been up and down but an amazing experience all the same. I will be going back to Kolkata one day. But I think for now my heart lies in the UK.
I want to thank everyone who has supported through all this and more- financially, spiritually and emotionally. Every single one of you have been a part of my experience with me, you have listened to me and laughed with me. You have helped me in ways you probably don't realise and given me strength when I've needed it the most. I keep you so dearly in my heart, and pray that God blesses and uses you in ways you can't even imagine.
I can't believe I'm home! Its so cold!! Instead of getting out of a nice cold shower in the boiling heat, I was getting out of a nice warm shower into the freezing cold! I'm warming my hands up on hot drinks instead of cooling my self down with bottles of ice. Its funny how you can leave one country and get to another in the same day. How you can live somewhere for so long and then it be gone just like that. It took us 3 days on the train to get from one part of India to another, yet it took a quarter of that to get from India to England. But its so wonderful to be back home. The air is so fresh and lovely. Such a beautiful country that we take for granted.
So yesterday I spent the day at mums shop relaxing, and then we had a lovely evening together, catching up, eating good food and watching Saving Grace. And todaaaay I'm seeing Chris! So crazy excited.
There we go, you're up to date...
And I'm home.
<3
The 2nd was our last day at Freeset. It was so sad to say goodbye to all the amazing people I have worked along side for the last 6 months. And they seemed pretty sad to see us go too. They have all been so supportive and lovely through everything and really appreciated and enjoyed having us around. I would love to go back there again one day. They're such a family and everyone looks out for each other. Gonna miss these guys loads!
Josh, Ellen, Heather (Steve's wife), Adam (Steve's youngest son), me and Naomi.
On the 3rd we went to school armed with a big bag of craft bits. We told the story of Jesus' death and how he rose again. Then we handed out post it notes to all the children and asked them to draw or write on them what Jesus means to them.
Slightly wonky...
After this we split the children into two groups. One group made what were meant to be chick masks (Easter themed of course), but they liked to think they were elephants.. And the other group made sock rabbits! With limited resources, I think we did pretty well!
Some of the children came in the next day with their socks up their arms. They were quite happy to just put the sock on- don't think they ever thought about putting them on their hands! So sweet.
Most ticklish child I've ever met.
Luckily the school we go to has a proper school bus. But a lot of children get to other schools in these...
That afternoon we went out and took photos at all the places we visit regularly:
The local "supermarket"
Goats heads.... Just for fun.
Where we bought the threads to make our sari blankets
The tailors
Where we got photos printed
Fabric shop
The cafe we soon went off.... and Josh being asked to buy chewing gum...
Cafe Coffee day- our favourite cafe.... And the guy still following Josh..
After this we went out with Benjamin Frances for the last time. He's been great to us and its been good getting to know his crazy self. What a busy, God filled man.
Ellen, Josh, Benjamin, me and Naomi
That evening we had our very last curry cooked by Joseph- the lovely BMS cook. He made a lovely last meal for us (bet you can't guess what it was.....) As much as I got sick of having the same meal every night, I will miss these guys!
Camp helper cook who has "many names" but we weren't told any of them, me, Josh, Ellen, Naomi and Joseph.
Me and Ellen eating our last BMS meal!
The 4th was our very last day at school. And the saddest yet. We played pass the parcel and various other party games with the children. It was a bit of a good bye party day so no lessons.
Pass the parcel
Our good bye/thank you gift to the school
The bags of goodies we gave out to the children
Saying good bye to these beautiful children was so hard. Cause even if I go back to Kolkata, the liklihood is that I would never see these children again. They were all telling us to not go and that they would miss us and giving us loads of hugs. Then when it came to waving them off on the bus- I had tears in my eyes- I'm going to miss them so much.
I remember the first time I saw their bright smiling faces, and since then I have loved them more and more every day. They're forever in my heart and I pray God makes for them a better life than they have already. They're so clever and kind, they deserve so much more than what they have.
This afternoon we said good bye to all the wonderful staff at BMS that have become our family for the last 6 months.
Us with Shanker- the BMS driver
Us with Mr.Nag (or Jupiter) and Sham- the guards.
Us with Karjol- the lovely cleaner
Us with the guys from the office.
Us with the gardeners/maintenance guys.
That evening we went out for our last meal with Anu.
That evening we spent packing and eventually got to bed at midnight with the alarm set for 4.30 the next morning.
Madness.
I hardly slept that night as I was worrying so much... But we got up and loaded our bags into the car. We've seen so many people come and go it was weird that it was now our turn. 
Last photo outside the guesthouse
Packing up the car to go home.
Saying good bye to Anu at the airport was so hard. I had a headache holding back the tears. I will miss her so much. She has been absolutely wonderful and she's such an inspiration to me and the others. She has taught me so much and continued to go above and beyond for us throughout our time. I will definitely see her again. Shes well and truly my Indian mum and I love her to pieces.
The flight was about as good as flights get... no problems and nothing special.
Coming home to my real mummy was amazing. We walked around the corner at the airport and there they were, all our families waiting eagerly for us. It was so lovely to see mum run towards me and give me a big hug. So good to feel her again instead of just waving to a computer screen!
This is what I came home to:
Its good to be back.
No matter how prepared you think you are to say goodbye, its always so hard. Kolkata has been my home for the last 6 months. The smells have been nasty, the people have been creepy, the traffic has been scary, the air has been smoggy, the ground has been bumpy and the cities been dirty. But the people I met and came to love have been my family, the guesthouse became my home, the children became my brothers and sisters, the streets mapped out my journeys, I became a regular at shops and had friends on the streets. I found God in places I didn't expect him to be, and followed the paths he set out for me. I've faced trials and seen things I can't even begin to explain. I still struggle with understanding a lot of the things I've seen and learnt, and a part of me will forever be haunted by some of it. But through all this I have grown as a person. I have found out so much about myself. It has made me stronger and braver. My trust in God has grown extraordinarily as he has continued to be faithful and go before me and with me and after me.
It was hard to sleep last night as the silence almost rang louder than the craziness of Kolkata. But its so lovely to be home. To hold my family and friends again, to be able to wrap up in a duvet and hug a hot water bottle, to remember what cold feels like, to drink tap water, to eaves drop, to people watch instead of being watched by people, to wake up in my own room, to listen to the radio, to walk down the street on my own and not have to worry, to appreciate life more.
The last 6 months have been up and down but an amazing experience all the same. I will be going back to Kolkata one day. But I think for now my heart lies in the UK.
I want to thank everyone who has supported through all this and more- financially, spiritually and emotionally. Every single one of you have been a part of my experience with me, you have listened to me and laughed with me. You have helped me in ways you probably don't realise and given me strength when I've needed it the most. I keep you so dearly in my heart, and pray that God blesses and uses you in ways you can't even imagine.
I can't believe I'm home! Its so cold!! Instead of getting out of a nice cold shower in the boiling heat, I was getting out of a nice warm shower into the freezing cold! I'm warming my hands up on hot drinks instead of cooling my self down with bottles of ice. Its funny how you can leave one country and get to another in the same day. How you can live somewhere for so long and then it be gone just like that. It took us 3 days on the train to get from one part of India to another, yet it took a quarter of that to get from India to England. But its so wonderful to be back home. The air is so fresh and lovely. Such a beautiful country that we take for granted.
So yesterday I spent the day at mums shop relaxing, and then we had a lovely evening together, catching up, eating good food and watching Saving Grace. And todaaaay I'm seeing Chris! So crazy excited.
There we go, you're up to date...
And I'm home.
<3
Well done! Its wierd to read some of my own experiences in your words, but thank you. Hopefully our paths will cross soon, now that we are in the same country! Although I will be in kolkata for the summer, we will hopefully all be able to meet up and compare experiences. Enjoy home! Rebecca
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