DAY 8- goodbye isn't forever

Leaving was the hardest part. I woke up in time to try to see the kids leave for school again, to learn that they weren’t going. They wanted to stay with us until we left later that morning.

There was a leaving ceremony for us in the community center. I couldn’t even walk up to everyone without crying. It was a bittersweet end, knowing that we would remember this forever, and yet knowing we would probably never see our new friends again. The worst part for me wasn’t just the beautiful goodbye song; it was seeing Lela cry. She is a rough and tough ten year old, who would rather wrestle with the boys than sing with the girls. She was my favorite, and I love her to bits and pieces. Seeing her, of all people, break down crying broke my heart. She kept telling me that she would miss me, and at one point, I looked her in the eye and told her I would see her again. I really do plan on revisiting that village at some point. I love so many people there, and they honestly changed my life. It was such a moving experience, seeing how kind and happy they could be without the material things that we typically associated with happiness. The trip wasn’t just us helping them build the new community center; it was also them helping us to become better people and to get a new perspective on life.

Lela is the older girl in the blue t-shirt. She is holding Rosalie.

Getting back to Tovu Tovu was okay, nothing great and nothing horrible. The best part was that the Bungalow Buds were back together.

The rest of the day was a boat trip to more snorkeling. It was a fun thing to do, and it gave us the opportunity to see the whole of the beautiful island we were on. The snorkeling was fun, except I lost the snorkel on my mask, but they got me another one. The good thing about that was that since I had to hang back for a bit, everyone else who went forward went to shallow, and got coral cuts. So I guess there’s that.

Dinner that night was definitely significant, since it was our first non-Fijian meal in a while. We got pizza and got to watch the sunset over the water. It was a great experience (even though there was only one oven, so it took forever to get the food). Overall, the day was full of ups and downs.