thanksgiving and deadlines

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Despite the fact that I got up at 7:05 like usual and experienced a full day of classes, it really did feel like Thanksgiving today. At lunch my cooperating teachers threw a little goodbye party for me and the other Bluffton student interning there. It was lovely and I had to smile at the thought of how brief the tough times of student teaching were, and how wonderfully everything turned out. Yes it was rough at times, but the student teaching experience i'm leaving is one full of warm friendships, valuable lessons, and shared lives: a bright and beautiful version of the trembling and unfamiliar thing it started out as.
As I talked and laughed with the students, letting them relax and enjoy our painting exercise, I was made aware of how thankful I am for these students: for my time with them and the teacher's who have helped me to ease into my role as a teacher.
After school, the Hands for a Bridge group that I help out with threw a little Thanksgiving party for me and the other Bluffton intern. We had turkey and cranberry sandwiches, fruitcake, and other little adapted thanksgiving dishes. It might as well have been a kitchen table instead of a conference room table. We ate and talked to one another about the tradition of Thanksgiving, and the Americanisms as they appear to Irish students. Thanksgiving is a somewhat confusing holiday when you think about the history of it versus what it is now.

All of these wonderful activities have made me feel like have so much more to soak in, and so little time to do so. This last month has been wonderful, and it seems strange to try to wrap it up in just a few days. I leave in exactly a week, but I really only have one free day next week before I fly out. Monday and Tuesday I'll be in the school collecting materials, saying goodbyes and etc, and Thursday I fly out...so wednesday will be my day to soak in Derry...to say goodbye to it and the people i've fallen in love with here.

Its a strange thing to leave. There is nothing like home and I'm still thrilled about coming home soon, but adopting a new home for three months is a hard thing to wrap up in a day.
I will enjoy my last week indeed. :)