The time has come for me to return to Sweden after my four months in India. The flight leaves tomorrow morning. It feels so weird.
This week has been a week of farewells. One of the most emotional one was probably the one with a 1,5 year old little girl that is out in foster care, awaiting adoption. I have done home visits to her foster home and done progress reports almost weekly. She has improved so much during these four months. ..and I have drawn closer to her all the time. I almost considered adopting her myself :) She was at the hospital when I paid her the last visit. I held her and played with her and had lots of fun with her. I had to hold back the tears when it was time to leave. I wish her a good future and that she will come to a good loving adoptive home.
I said good bye to some of the kids in the slum communities... they will really be missed. I really loved those fellas. I'll miss my weekly visits to the slums.
Went to my barber in Byculla for the last time ..to trim my hair and get shaven. I got some type of special treatment this time. Totally unexpected he takes the scissors and stick the in the nose a bit and trims my nose hair! ..that was a different experience.
It turns out that even this barber has this electrical massage thing that he puts on his hand and it vibrates. I got my head, back, arms, hands, and chest massaged.
I spent Friday night with Katja and Julia, the Swiss girls. We went to Hard Rock Cafe here in Bombay. I finally made it there. I liked the place. It was in an old big wear house. It was way too expensive though... as any Hard Rock Cafe.
I took farewell of the people of TISS (Tata institute of Social Sciences) and the staff at FSC (Family Services Centre) where I had my internship. I liked those people :) I had a good time at the FSC, and it has been a great learning experience.
I have been stressed and have slept way too little every night this week. I have been stressed when it comes to get things ready ...packing and shipping things home. I have gathered so many things during my four months here.. so I had to ship loads of things.
The post office here can be a ...quiet draining. When I mailed packages last Thursday I went to the third floor of one of the post office....
First I had to sit and wait until something happened... I guess it turned out that they had lunch ... and didn't really inform that but just sat there. Then it was time to get my stuff ready.
First I had to go to one person and open my packages and show the content. Then I had to go to second person to get some forms stamped, then to a third person who sew a cloth around my packages (standard procedure here in India)- and then pay him for that, then I had to go to a forth person who sealed it with wax - and pay him too. Then I went to a fifth person who weighed my packages, stamped them signed them, and the finally to a sixth person who I paid the whole thing too. Don't remember for how long I was in there.
I went back there yesterday.... They open at 10am... but they really didn't get ready until 11am, so I just had to sit there for an hour while they were all getting ready ..slowly ..very slowly. Then the same procedure as the day before, with some minor changes. Same thing earlier today...
I will do some various activities my last evening here... and I'll write about them later... since I'm not sure I will be able to do them all.
Wow.... tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous.. and excited. I'm so looking forward to see my family and friends again. ...and so many other things.
But I have also felt uneasy with going home too.. dealing with things and issues that has been "hibernating" while I have been here in India. Some of the things I have been able to be distracted from since there has been so much going on here ...but now I have to deal with them again. Back to reality. Some issues I am happy to deal with though, since I at the same have time felt helpless in some other issues, not being able to deal with them being so far from it.
Well, got to go... got to have fun here in Bombay for a few hours more!
This week has been a week of farewells. One of the most emotional one was probably the one with a 1,5 year old little girl that is out in foster care, awaiting adoption. I have done home visits to her foster home and done progress reports almost weekly. She has improved so much during these four months. ..and I have drawn closer to her all the time. I almost considered adopting her myself :) She was at the hospital when I paid her the last visit. I held her and played with her and had lots of fun with her. I had to hold back the tears when it was time to leave. I wish her a good future and that she will come to a good loving adoptive home.
I said good bye to some of the kids in the slum communities... they will really be missed. I really loved those fellas. I'll miss my weekly visits to the slums.
Went to my barber in Byculla for the last time ..to trim my hair and get shaven. I got some type of special treatment this time. Totally unexpected he takes the scissors and stick the in the nose a bit and trims my nose hair! ..that was a different experience.
It turns out that even this barber has this electrical massage thing that he puts on his hand and it vibrates. I got my head, back, arms, hands, and chest massaged.
I spent Friday night with Katja and Julia, the Swiss girls. We went to Hard Rock Cafe here in Bombay. I finally made it there. I liked the place. It was in an old big wear house. It was way too expensive though... as any Hard Rock Cafe.
I took farewell of the people of TISS (Tata institute of Social Sciences) and the staff at FSC (Family Services Centre) where I had my internship. I liked those people :) I had a good time at the FSC, and it has been a great learning experience.
I have been stressed and have slept way too little every night this week. I have been stressed when it comes to get things ready ...packing and shipping things home. I have gathered so many things during my four months here.. so I had to ship loads of things.
The post office here can be a ...quiet draining. When I mailed packages last Thursday I went to the third floor of one of the post office....
First I had to sit and wait until something happened... I guess it turned out that they had lunch ... and didn't really inform that but just sat there. Then it was time to get my stuff ready.
First I had to go to one person and open my packages and show the content. Then I had to go to second person to get some forms stamped, then to a third person who sew a cloth around my packages (standard procedure here in India)- and then pay him for that, then I had to go to a forth person who sealed it with wax - and pay him too. Then I went to a fifth person who weighed my packages, stamped them signed them, and the finally to a sixth person who I paid the whole thing too. Don't remember for how long I was in there.
I went back there yesterday.... They open at 10am... but they really didn't get ready until 11am, so I just had to sit there for an hour while they were all getting ready ..slowly ..very slowly. Then the same procedure as the day before, with some minor changes. Same thing earlier today...
I will do some various activities my last evening here... and I'll write about them later... since I'm not sure I will be able to do them all.
Wow.... tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous.. and excited. I'm so looking forward to see my family and friends again. ...and so many other things.
But I have also felt uneasy with going home too.. dealing with things and issues that has been "hibernating" while I have been here in India. Some of the things I have been able to be distracted from since there has been so much going on here ...but now I have to deal with them again. Back to reality. Some issues I am happy to deal with though, since I at the same have time felt helpless in some other issues, not being able to deal with them being so far from it.
Well, got to go... got to have fun here in Bombay for a few hours more!
2 kommentarer:
Åååh, postkontoret..! Det där känner jag så väl igen :) Det som roade mig mest vid mitt senaste besök var när det blev lunchdags och bossen där i paketrummet mitt i allt plötsligt avbröt sig i stämplandet av mina blanketter och utan ett ord ställde upp sin attachéväska mitt framför sig på skrivbordet, plockade fram sin tiffinlåda och satt sedan där bakom och käkade tills lunchpausen var över, en dryg timme senare... :) Syns inte, finns inte? Hi, hi...
He he... föga förvåvande. Kanske har det att göra med att de är statligt anställda och har en skitlön?
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