every hug you gave me, throughout these insane times, made me feel like i was right back home. I put you first because your the easiest to say goodbye to, since we're going to see each other so soon. But living life with you, and experiencing indonesia with you, have been such a privilege, becuase your personality shines through any rain storm that we get here. Your positivity and caring attitude i knew i could count on when i wasn't feeling my best, because you picked up any slack that I couldn't pull. you were my safety net kelsey, and I love you so much. for letting me be yours too :) You've forever changed my view of Canada and have forever got me thinking half-full about releasing baby sea turtles. thank you for your pure, genuine love honey. you are so beautiful :)
Goobye Mama Inne,
like I said in my letter to you, thank you again, for hosting me in your house, letting me write down recipes from your kitchen, and watching you make brooches just because i thought it was so interesting. thank you for encouraging me to work out, and loving me even when i didn't play piano like i said i would :) You were such a mother to me, but more than that you were such a good friend. The one thing I'm going to remember and miss most about you is your genuine charm that you had about you, Mama. Whenever I would come home, i would walk right into a big hug and smile, a ready heart to listen to all my stories, and the most beautiful laugh i've heard in my life. Mama, you gave me comfort, and loved talking to me. thank you, for your hugs, your love, your help, and your fruit :) You knew me too well.
Goodbye Mama Shirley,
thank you so much for bringing me to Morning Star Indonesia, and introducing me to the church family there. Thank you for putting up with my expectations of your family, and truly working through the problems I had in the beginning. Thank you for your love, and your conversations, complete logic and reason- for things that I was so emotional about and needed some guidance, and for encouraging my two months of fasting. Your job in Lufthansa, you have used so many times for God, and i thank you for using it for me :) thank you for letting me in your house, eating the musli, making food for you, loving your girls, and letting me into your heart. the one place i know people don't get to often :) you are such a wonderful soul, such a help, and even if you forget me, i pray you don't forget God. the God WHO BROUGHT ME to indonesia, and the God who worked out every circumstance.
Goodbye Ailin,
you are so loving. it's ridiculous. sometimes i get so overwhelmed that all i can do is just hug you before i start to cry. like when i was leaving, thank you for pulling me away, and loving me, and holding onto me, and not letting me go. I've never had that before, especially in indonesia. Ailin you are so memorable, and your passion is so fierce, you have such a drive, and such a love for doing things. I will never forget you, or what you made me dress up in for your video :P Thank you so much for working through life in Jakarta with me, putting up with my organization, as you know me so well. and loving me unconditionally. you are so true ailin. and i love you so much. i'm already crying writing this :) so no more words are needed. we just need to hug again. i love you.
Goodbye Chloe,
what a precious gift to the world you are beautiful. Your smile, the truth in your words, the look in your eyes, i wish i could capture your personality in a photo, but you always pose like a model :) so i never can. you have such a love in you, that you hold back in such a fun way, only until the last moment. where you did break down. and i loved you for it. and i carried you through a song, as we both cried together. and through each leg hair you pluck, remember me. becuase i notice you. i notice you through the fun, the parties, and through life- i see right to your heart. i see your beauty. and i'm going to miss you :) thank you for the life you brought to me, you inspire and make things happen darling :) thanks for unknowingly pushing me off the edge into water that i'm not sure has sharks or not :) you fire me up girl. i love you.
Goodbye Tara,
I know that you didn't want to cry on the last day we were together, but as you broke down, i did too. The first time that we really got together was at the Live-In, where you would lean on my shoulder, and i would let you. just through that motion, so many things came to pass. like every single trip that you captured in the book that all 6 of you made for me :) thank you for that memory, thank you for your truth, thank you for your attitude, and thank you for the beautiful personality that i see when your silent :) you have something inside of you, something hidden. that i'm waiting to see come out- watch it, cause God's going to bring it in university :)- i know that for a fact. I love you Tara, I wish you the best, and cry tears of fire. because you have a passion inside you that will not die, even if i am not present. it will go past the boundaries of indonesia, and it will not stop even in america. your going places beautiful :) and it's such a privilege to be a part of your journey there. thank you. i love you. i miss you already :)
I thank Rotary for this oppourtunity, and this exchange, knowing that for 9 mths. I came to have a home in a country that I knew not where it was when i first heard of it. I have made a family, friends, and a niche in a place that is so far away, people in america would not know what to do with themself. But I thank Rotary, for making this possible.
And I thank each person who gave me something, whether it was their time or a present, I am so gratefully and appreciate every single thing that has happened here in indonesia, whether it was good or bad, because i have learned so much and am still learning so much from each one :) and i'm so thankful for every one of you who were deeply involved in my exchange:
Mama Shirley, Papa Ronald, Naomi, Chiqua, Faisca, The Batubara's, Pak Hardie, Chantike, Oky, Pria, Mama Inne, Rotary Kebayoran, Rotary Jakarta, Rotary Cinere, Rotary Malang, my family in America, Alan, The Rohrer's, Morning Star Indonesia, Ellen, Uchi, Helia, Ruth, the exchange students, Ibu Rani, SMA Tirta Marta, and the students there. You all have made this trip so memorable, and brought me to tears at the end.
This is not over.
This is just the beginning :)