tears
Day 13 (Saturday)
The moment I woke up this morning, I began to freak out. The interns are leaving in an hour. The students are going to start leaving after breakfast. I’m leaving after lunch. Is it really almost over? Am I really starting college in nearly a week? Oh, shoot… don’t start crying now.
The interns have been by our sides from the beginning. At training camp, we had no issues bonding through team meetings, mealtimes, and randomly deep conversations. It also helped that we all suffered through an incredibly long and tedious skit together in front of the entire camp (yes, the Baby Shark thing). Then once we broke off from training camp, we only grew closer – because you can only do so much when you’re stuck on a train for twelve hours. On the way to Litvinov, I found out that Jon is just as big of a nerd as me, Jenda can figure out mind-puzzles faster than I can say three in Czech (which is actually kind of a long time, but that’s beside the point), Eva is extremely helpful when planning lessons at the last minute, Bonnie likes to throw water on people when they’re asleep, Alli becomes violent when she’s woken up by water, and Ryan keeps his mouth shut when he’s blamed for a prank he didn’t do. Camp itself only made me fall in love with them more. Jon was the ultimate brother through each step of the way. Jenda was the kindest, most patient translator ever – and we were able to touch each other through our similar stories. Eva had more confidence in me than I could ever manage. Bonnie kept me laughing and kept me focused. Alli reminded me how beautiful I am and how much God loves me. Ryan constantly encouraged me – both when he meant to and when he didn’t. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to say goodbye without sobbing. But Jon had told me something earlier in the week that I was brought back to: goodbyes are supposed to hurt, because God never intended for us to say goodbye. And it hurt, all right. It hurt so much. My heart is still heavy as I write this.
I was a wreck when they were leaving. It didn’t help that I was one of the last people to leave, either. I had to manage saying goodbye to everyone – slowly but surely. Even saying goodbye to Annie, Eli, Jim, & Donna was emotional, which doesn’t make any sense.
Goodbye pictures (with Honza!) - can you tell that I’m sad behind that smile?
Thankfully, I was lucky enough to stay with Karla at her house. I love this woman. She’s seriously my Czech mom – or maybe a close aunt. She’s just the sweetest thing. She did all my laundry for me, made up a bed for me, took me to the grocery store (which was a fun experience), let me pick out all this Czech candy, made dinner for me, watched movies in English with me, and filled me in on some Czech culture. I love this woman. I pray that this week won’t be the last time I’ll see her.
Sweet, sweet Karla (and Bonnie, creepin in the background).
