Last Week In Sydney (Say Whaaaat?)

One week from today and I will be home, in my own bed, sharing stories and pictures with my family and friends. Yup, it is really coming to an end, this particular experience in Australia. I honestly am astounded at how quickly it has gone. With the end of trips comes numerous goodbyes- these goodbyes seem to come in waves as the "lasts" come around at different times.

I'd like to share with you some of my "lasts" along with some other bits of joy.

`St. Lucy's Holiday Program

To be completely honest with you, I was a bit wary of the change in routine that we had just finally adjusted to. But I have been pleasantly surprised. While I do miss my Rosella Class routine and students, I have gotten to meet and work with loads of children that were in other classes at St. Lucy's or part of the satellite program (therefore I've never met them before). 

Each day this week has a different theme. The theme for the week is "Creative Arts" and the five themes are: Drama,Cooking,Dance,Art,& Music! It's really great because some students come for the days that they are particularly interested in the activity or they come for a whole week of fun!

I've seen some really talented children who are extremely skilled at cracking eggs, busting a dance move, and performing in front of a group. Seeing each child enjoy what they do has been extremely rewarding. 

I was extremely glad to see on Monday that a few of my students from the Rosella Class were coming to the holiday program. That meant that I had some extra time to spend with them than I had anticipated when I said goodbye last Friday. It was a bit sad having to say goodbye to them all over again since they are not coming to every day of the holiday program, but I really enjoyed seeing how excited they were to see me again.

The really neat part about this holiday program is that we've been able to meet the parents as they drop off and pick up their kids. I was able to meet four of my Rosella boys' parents so far. It was really nice to meet them and get to speak with them shortly. Many of them thanked me for my service these past five weeks and for treating their children so well. It warmed my heart to hear how much it meant to the kids' parents to spend some time with them. 

One mom in particular as she picked up her son asked me to talk for a second. She told me that she had read the note that I had left in my students' bags that went home with them on Friday. The notes mostly thanked them for letting me experience their children and wish them well in the future. This mom told me with a huge smile that it was really nice to hear from someone that has worked with their son that he has a bright future and was such a joy.

It is moments like these that make your heart sing.

Friday will be our last day at St. Lucy's, I cannot believe it.

The Team

Sr. Rose Mary, Jane and Elizabeth are the three wonderful women in Sydney who have been Becky and my life line here in Australia. We have been in contact since the application process for the Smith Fellowship and have organized everything from our homestays to our service. On Tuesday we all gathered together for a conversation to debrief our experience here followed by dinner. They took us out to dinner at this wonderful Indian food restaurant. We split several dishes to try a bunch of food and had a lot of great conversation.

I am so grateful to have made such genuine connections with these women as they have done so much for us. Because they took a chance on us and welcomed us to Sydney for six weeks we were able to make all of these memories and experience so much. Thank you.

Saying goodbye to these women is for sure one of the difficult goodbyes. I look forward to keeping in touch via email and Facebook in the future. 

Coming Soon...

On Saturday Becky and I are flying to Cairns for a few days to experience the Great Barrier Reef while we are on this side of the world and the reef is still alive in some parts! You will definitely hear from us on that at a later date!

A bit more will be posted about some really great things that have happened in the final 2 weeks but wanted to save until the end! Stay tuned my friends!

Go Friars!