On endings and beginnings.

It is so strange that we've been here for only a month. It seems like ages ago that Lucas, the manager at the Zav center, led me onto the sketchy lift that he admitted was not legally an elevator since it didn't have a door. And now here we are, unfazed by the lift that we use every time we are on dish duty and need to take the cart of dishes down to the kitchen.

Sunday morning we woke up for church - still utterly exhausted from our weekend excursion. Still in a haze, I don't think it hit us that it was the beginning of our final week in Belgium. Kelsey, Amy and I had a wonderful lunch in Brussels and then headed back to Zaventem, hoping to recuperate. After about an hour, one of the couples in our church group invited Amy and I to dinner with them, so off we went for some traditional Belgian stew and Chimay beer. They're moving to London after the training in Belgium, so they had some great tips on London! From what I remember, Sunday night I collapsed, tired, sick and full from a wonderful meal.

On Monday, it started to hit everyone that our time was coming to an end. But the first thing we realized that day was that we only had to watch the kids until 12:30... What a relief! With our afternoons free again, we headed into Leuven with our objectives being chocolate and waffles (oh, and a new bag for me since my little backpack broke while in Paris... I had to divvy up my things among everyone for our last day there, which was actually quite nice for me).

After all of these objectives were met, we headed back to the train station. I realized I needed one more thing, so I popped into a store and told everyone I would meet them at the platform. Well, it turns out we had been wrong about the times, so I didn't make it to the platform in time. Thankfully, they went ahead and I enjoyed my last thirty minutes in Leuven, wandering around and giving it the goodbye it deserved. Monday night was ladies night, and we all went out and had a lovely dinner together in Zaventem.

Ever since Paris, Mallory had barely left her bed. She had been sick there, but everything just got a lot worse when we got back. So, by Tuesday afternoon, she was ready to just get out for a little bit. We headed into town with two objectives. Well, I already told you the first one - just get out for a little bit. The second objective was a much more daunting task: figure out what we are doing next in life. 

So, with drinks and determination, we drew up a pros and cons list for the next two years of Mallory's life. What a scary, scary thing. I am so happy that I came somewhere where there are so many other people trying to sort out the next step. After much brainstorming and deliberating, we came up with a solid plan that left Mallory feeling great about the future. I was so happy for her that I didn't feel the need to sort out my future anymore... Or something like that.

Tuesday night was the farewell dinner, which was catered by the lovely kebab place down the road. People cried... I didn't. 

And then probably about 10 of us hung out in the main area - everyone exhausted, but no one wanting to miss anything from the final evening. Eventually people started to drop off and we all went to bed dreading the goodbyes of the next day, but looking forward to the final presentations of the morning.

The interns started off the final presentations with our own rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Our version was, of course, entitled "The Twelve Days of Child Care." We sang of the most momentous moments like, "Alex has a weird face," and we sang of the most common occurrences, "I need a tissue." Suffice it to say, I think we did a great job of highlighting our month and setting a high bar for the "presentations." One of the first couples up did a lip sync battle for theirs which blew our song out of the water. 

The best, by far though, was the award show that Ben and Julie did. They came up with a title and award for every person (just like the "Dundies" in The Office.) They definitely put the most time and money into theirs, and from my standpoint, it was worth it!

After the first set of "goodbyes" were said, those of us that were left went into town for one last Belgian brew before our departure. Then, we enjoyed our last falafel sandwiches together and said our goodbyes. 

At this point, Amy, Mallory and I were some of the last ones left, and wanting to thoroughly enjoy our last night, we relaxed and curled up for a movie, said goodbye and went to bed.

From Zaventem, some went to the States, some to Paris, others to Prague, one to Berlin, another to Cambodia, some to London and still others to Scotland. I'm sure I'm missing several places. There was sadness that we were all leaving each other, but also excitement that we were all going our separate ways and have soooo many places to visit now!