The Beginning of the Lasts



This is getting real.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of the lasts for me... I will be returning home in one week, and I can feel it all winding down.  I know I shouldn't think like this, but I think I need to get it all out there so that I can let it sit on the blog while I live the rest of my days here to the fullest.  I know that I am going to miss India terribly, and it makes me sad to think of all of the people and thing that I will be leaving behind... So here is a list of the Lasts that I will be facing during the course of the next week:
  • Last Thursday in India (and every other day of the week after this)
  • Last dinner with a volunteer group
  • Last visit to a leprosy colony
  • Last dance party in a colony
  • Last classes with all of the standards and the Life Dance Troupe
  • Last trip to church services in Chennai
  • Last Fast and Testimony meeting
  • Last Relief Society lesson in half Tamil and half English
  • Last prayer time
  • Last time eating the food on campus
  • Last bucket shower (can I do this at home?  I really like this.)
  • Last power outage
  • Last use of a squat toilet (I really like these too-- I would totally use one at home!  Thank goodness my older sister is a champ and already bought me a squatty potty a couple Christmas's ago, haha)
  • Last Story Time with the children
  • Last meal with the children
  • Last night with the geckos watching over me in my sleep
  • Last battle with facing the nighttime bugs
  • Last time being wrapped in a saree (sari)
  • Last opportunity to serve with the mobile clinic
  • Last time wearing Indian clothes (even though I'm brining a few things home!)
  • Last play time
  • Last hugs from the students
  • Last time being called "Auntie" in the most adorable accent
  • Last time receiving a firm handshake from a student who I am confident will go on to do great things with their life!
  • Last smiles
  • Last laughs with good friends
  • Last dance in the dining hall
  • Last drive through the villages
  • Last sighting of a cow in the street
  • Last song from the car horns as I drive the busy streets of Chennai
  • Last "vanakkam"
  • Last walk through the grove of mango trees
  • Last time eating Indian food with my hands (even though I think I will totally do this back home, haha)
  • Last photos with all of the people I can manage to get one with!
  • Last blog post of my time in India
  • Last night wearing an Indian nightgown
  • Last drink from the clean water tap
  • Last drink of the most delicious mango juice I've ever had
  • Last visit to the Holiday in where I am friends with almost the entire staff!
  • Last phone call home with an 11.5 hour time difference
  • Last meeting with Dr. Susan and other staff members
  • Last view of the Indian moon
  • Last payment with rupees
  • Last laughs and talks with Susie
  • Last notes to students
  • Last movie night
  • Last interactions with Vignesh as we talk about B and how much we both love her (Vignesh is my best friend's sponsor child, and he is the most adorable little guy!)
  • Last photos of details I see around me in India
  • Last flowers in my hair
  • Last load of laundry done by the adorable cleaners in the Elephant House
  • Last time praying on the ledge of the walkway in the Indian house
  • Last time receiving a phone call on my Indian phone
  • Last time having small children run up to me and latch onto any part of me that they can, with their grinning faces looking up at me
  • Last ride with the RSOI drivers
  • Last interactions with the RSO Facilitators (those that oversee the volunteers/sponsors)
  • Last experience of earthing in India
  • Last dance party to Tamil music (I don't think I can create the same feel in the States, ha)
  • Last day of ridiculously sweaty clothes, and sweat dripping down my face and into my eyes from dancing so hard in the midday humidity of India
  • Last morning with the students reciting their chants and songs that they're supposed to know.  
  • Last sight of India from the airplane window!

This list could go on and on and on!  But the point is for me to now put all of these Lasts to the side and just live each moment to the fullest!  I can't stop these Lasts from coming, so I need to embrace them and keep living in the present :)



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