My Last Day...:(

So tonight, at approximately 10, I will be sitting at the CCU Airport, waiting to board my first flight back to America.

I feel so awkward about my last day...it has so far been a bust, and really depressing. Besides the amazing fact that Corina got here last night (!!!!!!!!), and I get to spend my last day with her, and she gets to spend her first day with me, everything else seems to have gone wrong.

So, parts of India are still Communist. Today, there is a huge protest/strike, that happens every year, where a lot of shops and things stay closed, and people can get violent. For this reason, the highly encourage the volunteers, especially the females, to take the day off. In the past, bombs have been planted on buses, and people have been stoned. Women, mainly the foreigners, get taken advantage of "in the name of the strike". We went to mass this morning, after very, very little sleep (last night being my last night, and then Corina got to the hostel around 3...we get up at 5 for Mass), then we went to breakfast, and we introduced Corina and Sister Corinna (more !!!!!), and she told us, "Well, you have today off!" I said "WHAT?!", and she said something about Communists and striking and violence, so there was no volunteering today. I was so upset, I said, "Today is my last day; I HAVE to go to Shishu Bhavan and say goodbye to the kids." She told me that the protesting would start at 8, so I should be quick. We prayed, and everyone sang the goodbye song, and me and Corina walked to Shishu, while Tuan actually went all the way to Daya Dan. We are still trying to figure out how he's going to get back. The metro and buses aren't running.
Anyway, we got to Shishu and I saw Sister, and told her it was my last day and that I would only be staying for a few minutes, to say goodbye and take pictures, and she said, Okay. So I introduced Corina to some of the kids, and went to see Deepa, who was out like a light in her little chair. She was super grumpy when I woke her up, but I gave her a few minutes, and she was the smiley-est and happiest I had ever seen her in the morning. I did the 'Bumble Bee' song that I've been singing to her, which is "our thing", and no one in the world knows that song except for my moms brothers and sisters. I have a video that I will put online when I get back home (I don't want to hassle with that now), of me doing that. Its so adorable...shes blind, so she can't see what I'm going to do, but I did it to make her laugh when she was grumpy one day, and now if she doesn't recognize me for some reason, like today I forgot my bracelet, or shes in a bad mood or its too noisy for her to distinguish my voice from everything else, I do that. She will stop whatever she's doing, get this HUGE smile on her face, put her hands up to her hears, and when I start buzzing (which means I'm going to tickle her), she waves her arms in the air and then I tickle her and she LAUGHS, it is the most amazing thing! Oh, man...I love that we have that. I realize that I may never see her again, but if I come back next year and she's still at Shishu, I will wear my rosary bracelet and my watch, and I will do the 'Bumble Bee' song, and hopefully she remembers me.

The only other thing I've done today is get a chicken egg roll from Taj Continetal. And talk to Corina a lot. I'm really excited that shes here! Im so happy I got to see her while we were in India!

I will see some of you very, very soon! Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to check over the next few weeks as I post more pictures, and video from my trip! I will also announce when Tuan has come back and finished the video that hes going to make. Thanks again for reading, and keep it up!

With All Christ's Love
Briana Marie Cecilia Glover