Amy Nielsen- The Hardest Goodbye, Very Expected.

First I’ll give my shout outs:

Shout out to Sierra. Its her birthday and I love her so much!

Shout out to Jesse for being such a tender heart and for having the coolest BFF Abu.

Shout out to  Kenna for being such a good teacher and always being so kind hearted to everyone around her!

Shout to James because of course I just love him so much and he gave me a cool toy today.

Shout out to Ethan to becoming my best friend and also being the funniest guy I know.

Shout out to Maddy for embracing me while gagging on food and just being so wonderful all the time.

And of course shout out to the best leader in the world Lauren. Thank you for not only taking such good care of our kids but also us. I love you so much!

OH and shout out to Elliott my new BFF, Love you man! Black Diamond.

Today was a day filled with one too many emotions: excitement, fulfillment, happiness, and lots of sadness. Started off with the long drive to the school. I was so excited to see my kids but was dreading the goodbyes that would come at 12, when we had to leave. I knew today would be the hardest goodbye.

Last night we were told that the head dude of the board of education was going to stop by our school today to see what YMAD is all about. Originally we were only going to play with them so the news was quite the shock. We quickly had to throw together a lesson that we had previously taught. Well my team had to, I lucked out and got to be the team leader.  Our kids weren’t really expecting a lesson today so they were a bit rowdier than usual. The guy came and I think he was really impressed but it was hard to tell. We did our best and that’s all that matters. I really love my team. Working with them has been the best experience. We all get along so well. I know that they will be my life long friends.

By the time the dude left we only had a short amount of time to say goodbye to our kids. We tried to play ‘Ride That Pony” one last time but it didn’t really work out because we all knew that it would be the last time we would play the game. It just turned into a sad crying fest. The kids would come up and hug you, sobbing and wiping snot all over you. One little kid, Danesh, hugged me for a good ten minutes and I could just hear him sobbing in my ear. That was a huge tear jerker, for me. Finally after a ton of hugs and tears we HAD to say our final goodbye. Getting in the car was the hardest thing I have had to do this trip. I just want to stay with my kids forever and ever.  The car ride was silence. Well not exactly there were a lot of sniffles.

I will never forget about my kids:

• The first day seeing the well behaved children in three lines.
• The deep brown eyes starring at me eager to learn everyday.
• The excitement received from a high five.
• The many hugs.
• The love they gave to me, a complete stranger.
• The many “patty cake” games and the painted nails.
• The laughs received when I fell off my chair.
• The happiness I have felt while with them for the past 7 days (51 hours)
  

I will never forget Basheer, Suleman, Suma, Malka, Byra, Bagsen, Haneef, Saleema, Neha, Sareef, Shashi, Sherali, Ali, Rusmat, Rafi, Saleem, Manisha, Kajal, Riya, Bharti, Danesh, Safi, Lalu, Sameera, Jano, Janem, Manisha, Neeraj, Abu, and Husbano.