Tears and Good Deals

Today was our final official work day. The remaining four of us slept in a little later after the late farewells to Katie and Joelle last night, showered, then gathered for breakfast. After eating at a table which seemed empty, Aneesh, Claudia, and Jana headed for Assisi while I stayed behind to continue my work on the SEAM growth charts. We all met again at lunch time, then spent an hour cooling off by the air conditioners in our rooms as the temperature and humidity in Chennai is still climbing. At 2pm, we headed to SEAM for our final visit. I took photos of some of the kids and watched while they played an impromptu game of cricket in their dirt courtyard. At the conclusion of our visit, we gathered in their common room and they sang us a farewell song. I did all right until a climbed back into the van, at which time the tears came. I will miss these children who need so much.

When we returned from SEAM, we quickly showered off then little Stephen drove us to the downtown mall for a final shopping trip. I didn't think I was going to buy anything, but I ended up buying a getting a few more "good deals." Outside the shops are people who try to lure you in, and once you enter, several people are there to convince you to buy as much as possible and are more than willing to show you their entire stock, piece by piece. It's fun being to be so catered to, but it is very hard to resist their "amazing" offers.

When we returned to the guest house, Stephen had arranged for fast food burgers to be delivered to the guest house. "Burgers" in India are either vegetarian or chicken, NOT beef. The chicken burgers were sort of like the spicy chicken burgers at Wendy's. Stephen also bought us individual clay pots of Indian ice cream, the same as we had our first week. I will have to say, I don't think I lost weight on this trip.

Tonight, Aneesh and Jana leave; Aneesh for his home in Los Angeles and Jana for her customized tour of southern India. Tomorrow, only Claudia and I will remain at our guest house. Stephen has graciously let us stay in the guest house until our departure so that we don't have to move our stuff to hotel for these final few days. So we have the luxury of resting this weekend and having plenty of time to pack our belongings. This time next week we will be home.