I'm just going to put this out there once: two weeks from today, all things willing, I'll be on a plane, winging it home to Minneapolis... So anyone in the Minneapolis area, I expect to see you soon!
There's been a huge shift in my thinking from last week to this; suddenly the end seems so close and my energy is moving away from the new trainees and onto more serious questions like, "how many beautiful pieces of embroidery can I carry on a plane?" The trainees themselves are restless, itching to get out from under the watchful eyes of trainers and teachers.
The culprit that prompted all this distraction is site visit, the week long trip that trainees take to check out their new homes. I used this time to travel to my site, too. Only mine was a farewell tour, a last chance to see the people I've grown so close to. A lot got packed into 4 days: a birthday party, Republic Day concert, the Fall Ball beauty competition and school dance, a good-bye concert and tea at school, a good-bye cafe evening with my host family, a small but important send-off at the train station...
I snuck into my favorite classes at school and sang my favorite songs with students, made cookies with Jeff, helped the new volunteer who is replacing me settle in, got many, many, many presents...
In short, we wrapped things up and I finally feel like I have done good here in Kazakhstan. It was a very affirming week. Thank you, KZ.
Maybe more coming, maybe this is the end of the KZ blog? More stories, of course, but I can share them with those that want to hear face to face in just a few weeks!
Monday, October 27, 2008
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