WAAAHHHH!!!!!! We are all so sad to say it was our last day in Kolkata today! We visited one more Praroyna school, this time working with the 2 and 3 year olds (just my style!!) Rosalie was nervous that the children would not only be a bit intimidated by us (big, white strangers can be scary if you've never seen anything like them before) but would also not cooperate exactly with the project. Thankfully NONE of this was true! Aside from the one or two that got upset, they were all so accepting and happy to see us. They also did wonderfully with the quilting project we had. Another volunteer, Sandy, will be sewing all the squares together to make a quilt to send back to the school in Scotland that funded these lessons. We used ink pads and used their fingerprints to make all matter of fauna and flora. They enjoyed it and we had a blast (especially Kira and I who were still playing with the kids as the other volunteers were packing up!) Then we had lunch at one of the teachers houses. Champa was incredibly hospitable and it was so cool to see someones actual house here in India. Then we had a three hour boat tour (deja vu?) which was another interesting perspective of the city. After dinner at a cute Italian restaraunt ( and the irony of our final meal in INDIA being ITALIAN was not lost on any of us) Kira, Willson, Tate and myself went to the home of Methab, a friend of Rosalie's, where he and his sister-in-law gave us henna tattoos. Once again, these people wanted nothing but to make us comfortable, give us tea, dessert or whatever we wanted! Indian people are so generous to their guests, it is a true lesson to Americans on how to be a better host/hostess. Champa said "You are our guests, when a guest comes it is like God coming to your home. And because you are here to help destitute children, it is even more so" How many people can any of us in the US say we know that would share that sentiment??? Our henna is absolutely gorgeous and we are all so happy we had the opportunity to have it done!
And tomorrow we are off :( We are so sad about leaving this beautiful place and leaving behind this experience. It's a bit too hard to write about now because, to be honest, I'm a bit in denial about leaving. Perhaps once I'm back home and can wallow in it a bit it will be easier!
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