Sunday 2 September 2012

Coming Home!


Well here I am, sitting at home, my home, my home in Norwich where this whole adventure started. This is where the idea to even attempt a year overseas was born and I have to say what a bloody good decision that was eh? (Well you guys know you have been here with me all the way ... hopefully!)

Anyway, coming home was hard, harder than I thought actually. I think the whole hype of coming home and seeing friends and family was clouding my mind a bit. Ally and I were so prepared for coming home, we had printed our eTickets weeks ago, tried packing so we knew how much space we had, left notes and things for the new volunteers that I think we didn’t really sit down and think about what we were leaving behind. All the amazing people we met, out fantastic students, the helpful teachers, our best friends. Over a year you really do form some incredible bonds with people and in that kind of situation where you are so out of your comfort zone you turn to those around you to help you through which makes that bond even stronger, and harder to break. It was all a little bit surreal to be honest, yes we were saying goodbye, yes we were packed but it didn’t feel like we would be leaving everything in Honduras. It felt like we were moving house rather than moving half way round the world, it felt like it was the kind of goodbye you say to people when you leave on holiday, which was a fantastic thing to realise as it meant that I would definitely be  coming back to visit one day, which I will! I need to go and see if my kindergarten students still remember Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.

One of the weirdest feelings about coming home was knowing that my affiliation with Project Trust, the other volunteers in Honduras (The Hondies) and Ally would soon be coming to an end. I would no longer be living with the person who I have spent practically every moment with for a year. I will miss Ally, I will miss all of the Hondies, but Ally was the best partner anyone could have had and I have to thank Project Trust for that. They paired us up perfectly and to this day I have no idea how.

In all seriousness, I have to thank every member of staff at Project Trust for making the year what it was, for first of all selecting me (all those months ago!) and then caring for us and making everything about the whole process run with (relative) ease.

I am happy to be home, I love being home in England, and I love seeing my friends and family but I do miss Honduras and I will never, ever forget what this year has entailed.

Thank you to everyone who had a part in it!