August 26th

Today was my last day on the medic team, and also the last day in the Elephant House. The bus ride to the colony was quite lengthy, but I had some pretty good company on the bus ride there. I cut off the bandages on people's feet, and we only saw about a dozen people or so. Fortunately for the ulcer care unit, about 3/4ths of them only needed their medication and whatnot, so we hardly had to do anything. One of the coordinators (Jeff) came out to medic for the first time in three months and washed feet. I think he was pretty grossed out by it all; I know that I was when I first went. We stopped for parota yet again, which was pretty awesome. I slept through my entire break yet again. I'm 99.9% sure that parota puts me in some sort of a food coma. One of my roommates woke me up before activity time, and I was extremely tired. I just sat there watching the kids play cricket the entire time. At dinner, we had chapati instead of the normal meal. Everyone stood up and told the group one thing that they learned on their trip. What I learned was this: Materialistic objects and money only provide comfort, not happiness. Genuine happiness comes from finding the joy in the little things, seeing the beauty that is in everyone and everything, and being in the presence of those who care about you. Phillip and I had drawn a lotus flower on the back wall earlier today, and the girls finished painting it right before dinner. It turned out much better than I had hoped. Our names and nicknames are on it, as well as the phrase "Roomba Super" in Tamil. After dinner, we went to a dance performance put on by some of the kids. The dance instructor, Emmy, did a wonderful job; as did the kids. We then went to our last family time. Roger, one of the older men on the trip, told the kids a version of The Princess Bride, in which Inigo is the main character. All of the kids, judging by how attentive they were, loved the story. I have a strong feeling that they are going to begin saying "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die." One of the kids, Steven, mae me a sign that says "I love you so much voluntree." Honestly, it brought tears to my eyes. Sorry for sounding so cheesey and lame, but this is how I feel: My heart really is in India. It resides in every single child, patient, person, volunteer, and all of Session Five, including the coordinators. It is in the trees, animals, land, culture; anything and everything that is India. We had a going away meeting in the Mango room, and Kim 2 put together a Session 5 slide show. We left at 12:30 am, and it broke my heart saying goodbye to everybody. Fortunately, I will see quite a few of them next summer when I return to India.