Sunday snapshot: Week of Lasts

This week has been all about “lasts.” Last time giving finals. Last time using the trench squatty potty in the teaching building (too much information?). Last visit to KFC. Last time bargaining with stubborn taxi drivers. Last time buying eggs from my egg lady. Last time in the student dorms. Last time walking down the hall ten feet to borrow sugar. Granted, some of these things I won’t miss, but I’ve been trying to soak in every last minute…without my face being soaked with tears. The latter of which is quite a feat these days.

Many of the “lasts,” not surprisingly, revolved around mealtime. The week started off with the last single girls dinner. I will miss these ladies. So very much. Kami’s sass. Lauren’s witty remarks. Life will be a bit duller without them.

We also had our last banquet with school officials. Sam and Maddie are getting to be quite the pros at Chinese banquets (Sam looks thrilled, doesn’t she?).

We had our last meal together as a team, where we finally tried out our “entertain Maddy” scheme of “put the baby in the bumbo in the middle of the lazy susan.” In theory, Maddie is entertained by slowly rotating and seeing everyone, and all others are hands free to be able to eat. In actuality it was more of a quick photo op.

My last time giving finals included a marathon three hours of listening to presentations on cultures the students had created. In case you can’t see it, this culture’s name was “United Confederacy,” and no, Minnie Mouse sadly had nothing to do with the presentation. She’s just cute to have on the poster apparently.

For the last time, I got to help out a teammate by doing a photo shoot with her students (I’ll miss Chinese poses).

We had a last girls outing to the market to have eyebrows and nails done. I’m going to miss the Chinese cheapness of these “luxuries.”

And finally, I had a last bittersweet trip to the orphanage. These kids…oh how I will miss loving on these kids.

In the wee hours of this morning, I hugged the Wus, Lauren and Kami goodbye. On Tuesday, I’ll lock the door of my apartment one last time. How am I coping with all the emotions of the lasts? One simple answer: carrot cake. It might not be the healthiest of coping mechanisms, but boy does it help.