Well, today was farewell day and it started early. At 6.30am Boroith and I sat with Linh until her bus arrived to take her to Vietnam where she will spend time with family. She said there's a funeral ceremony so all the family will be there but she hasn't a clue who it's for. Her family must be hard working. They came as immigrants to Canada and Linh and all her siblings are dentists - one has many clinics somewhere in Alberta.
After Linh left it was the turn for Sogol. She is from Iran and is very bubbly. She was loaded down with a large backpack and other small bags and so it was hard to get into the low rickshaw; at one point she staggered forward when her backpack attempted to fly over her head. A little while later four large hatchbacks arrived to take the eight people to the airport as they were returning to Canada and had to carry back all the equipment; the supplies they don't take back, such as gloves, bibs, medicine etc., are donated to the Peaceful Children's Home. Laurence said he was feeling sad so I presume he enjoyed himself. Some of them were going to have a long trip as they were having to spend a night in Vancouver and then going on to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Hans and Dianne were picked up by a private vehicle and set off for the seaside where they'll have two nights in a posh hotel with a private beach. They are getting married next month so it'll be a pre-wedding thing. He's going to McGill after the wedding to study for six years to become a dental surgeon - he'll then be able to fix cleft palettes and other mouth deformities. I discovered that Dianne works in the lab at the St. Albert Hospital so she said I have to pop in and visit - but not to have any blood work, thank you. We left Graham at the hotel as his wife comes from Canada today.
Boroith and I sorted out the things left behind that have to be put into storage for next year. Hans, the leader, gave us money for another compressor so now we'll have two compressors, one generator and two hygiene gadgets. The only problem is that it leaves me with the job of finding somewhere to check them to make sure they work next year - I'm told there will be a next year. The AGM for Kindness in Action is in Calgary in late April so I'll join them to say my piece.
I found my apartment looking very depressing as every flat surface was covered with two weeks of dust. I have vents high up on the walls, that are open to the outside, so there's no way of stopping it coming in. The balcony was messy as it had rained; I'm glad I remembered to bring in my cushions before I left. I had my laundry to do, plus Thornin's laundry as he left it with me when he returned home to see about his sick children. When I removed it from the machine I saw he'd left paper in one of the pockets so I've got another mess to clean up. I had no lunch as I'm a bit fed up with eating and I finally flopped on the sofa to read a book around 4pm; I promptly fell asleep. Oudom woke me up at 6pm - "Can I come over to stay?" I told him he couldn't as I was tired and he'd woke me up. "It's only 6", he said. After the call I fell asleep again and finally got up at 8pm. I suppose it's a mix of physical and mental exhaustion.
I've done so many of these trips that I don't get emotionally attached to them; once they are over, they are over. This one was especially nice. I looked at the Thank You card they'd all signed and they all said that the trip was amazing and I was amazing. I'm going to write and tell them that I can be amazing as I want but, if they are a mess, then the programme's a mess. I wrote to Soubert and others to tell them about the donation to the children's home so they could write a thank you letter. My final act was to dispose of a mouse that hadn't been notified that I was going to be away for two weeks. Poor thing looked a bit desiccated when I found it. I decided not to send it flying over the balcony so it's now residing in my garbage bin.
I'm sure there are "teeth" photos on my Facebook if anyone cares to look.
I'll sleep well tonight; no snoring room mates and no Air Con set for 16C.
