Saying Goodbye to Woodlands

August 11th, the first day of Ramadan, the last day at Woodlands. Today our students begin their month of fasting and tonight we head down to Delhi for our flight to the US. The day passed along rather leisurely. The students slept in until 9 and then had their departure meeting/PDO review with Tom all morning. Some of the kids were a little woozy, the first day of fasting is difficult for some and with the heat of northern India, dehydration was a concern. So they took it very easy and we didn’t have them do anything too rigorous (only fill out US Customs forms and review PDO material). At noon, they all piled into a bus and went to pray at the mosque and make phone calls home to their families. All was quiet back at the ranch and us staff busily closed down the classrooms, packed our clothes, preparing for our imminent departure. Tom spent most of the afternoon compiling the slideshow, which took on epic proportions. Thanks to his new MacBook Pro, there is so much that can be done in a slideshow that it was a bit overwhelming. Still he got it done with pics and vids to what was a entertaining slideshow. Now if he can figure out how to burn it onto a CD for everyone, he’ll be content.
The slideshow was completed and Tom’s things were packed just in time to inaugurate the Gills’ new Weber gas grill that arrived the day before. As the students broke fast with a meal in the dining hall, the staff enjoyed one last evening with the hospitable Gill family, grilling chicken tikka and mutton, and having a few last laughs until next year. At 10 pm, the students loaded the bus of all our things: boxes of books, camp supplies and luggage. At 11, we settled into the mini theater for the slideshow and by 12/12:30, we were on our way down to Delhi.
Sadly we had to leave Martin and four boys behind since they didn’t have placements. They should be joining us a week later if all goes well. It was unbelievable to get on the bus in the middle of the night and leave Woodlands. Where did the month go? How could it end so fast? Many of us were too stunned to miss it just yet. That will come after the long journeys to our homes and in quiet reflection we may grasp what had been. Then we will miss it.
Our AC bus zoomed out of town and down the Grand Trunk Road toward Delhi in the darkness of the night. Most of us slept as best we could in the bus until 6 am when we stopped at the Haveli roadside oasis for breakfast and a freshen up. By 10 am we were in Delhi, first unloading all the boxes of PDO materials, then off to the hotel to say goodbye to Jane, Chynara, Batma, Jeena, Nick and Zia. After that, Tom and 21 kids in tow headed for the Indira Gandhi International airport for the first leg of their flight to the US. A tall man in a red t-shirt, followed by 21 blue t-shirted students, they made their way through the brand new terminal for their flight to Dubai.