Ev'ry time we say goodbye...

Ev'ry time we say goodbye
I die a little,
ev'ry time we say goodbye
I wonder why a little,
why the gods above me
who must be in the know
think so little of me
they allow you to go.
When you're near
there's such an air
of spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere
begin to sing about it,
there's no love song finer,
but how strange the change
from major to minor...
ev'ry time we say goodbye.
Ev'ry time we say goodbye
I die a little,
ev'ry time we say goodbye
I wonder why a little,
why the gods above me
who must be in the know
think so little of me
they allow you to go.
When you're near
there's such an air
of spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere
begin to sing about it,
there's no love song finer,
but how strange the change
from major to minor...
ev'ry time we say goodbye.
Ev'ry single time
we say goodbye.

By Cole Porter

Parties, prevaricating and packing...

2 weeks to go!

The past week has been brilliant! Time to fill in what I've been up to...

Last Tuesday was the last day of term...a day that I'd been longing for for some time! I followed big sis' advice and went in with my head held high, smug in the knowledge I was moving on to bigger and better things. (Haven't always had an easy time at work recently and Monday had been particularly hard after an amazing weekend at Latitude!).

I was quite nervous about the leaver's concert, mostly because I was leading my kids with African Drumming for the first time! It went brilliantly, as did the other musical performances. I held it together till nearly the end of the concert...until the moment when some of the gorgeous kids in my class sang a song they had written for me!

Here it is (complete with spelling mistakes!):

Gentle

We will miss you when you go,

So, so sad,

We hope you get on fine,

In Ecuador,

You will be great,

But well miss you,

You were the best teacher.

Rap

You were fun you were cool,

So, so fab

We learnt a lot,

We were never ever bad.

Gentle

The children in Ecuador,

Are very lucky,

To have you as the new teacher,

We hope you have fun with the kids,

As much as you had with us.

Rap

You were fun you were cool,

So, so fab

We learnt a lot,

We were never ever bad.

Rap

We will miss you,

Loads and loads,

But we just got one last question,

Please don't forget us,

Please, Please, Please,

Word.

Yup that was more than enough to make me blub!

Wednesday...a trip to Norwich; lunch - met Pete who had a bunch of beautiful roses for me! Haircut with Michelle; readings with Steph; dinner at The Mulberry Tree - yum! Home to bed to collapse.

Thursday...Jamie arrived...he's a lovely gentle soul who I've known since my degree. Lovely to see him, over a year since the last time!

Friday...me, Jamie and Pete went to Dunwich for fish & chips, sat on the beach for a while, small quantity of paddling. Then on to Southwold to hunt down ice cream! Also discovered was the amazing deli!

Saturday...after an amazing breakfast supplied by the Southwold Deli (hmm quite a food theme in this...); waving goodbye to Jamie; the day was spent chilling and a few useful piles of stuff I want to take with me were made! It felt good to have made a vague start on the packing!

The evening was spent at the Appleyard fayre in Banham, then on to friend's, for their leaving party. Lovely time spent laughing with friends and loved ones. M & L are moving their family to Bosnia soon...big adventures seem to be a bit contagious amongst my friends at the mo!

Sunday....down to London for another party - Birthday this time! Venue was a bizarre pub called The Macbeth, on Hoxton Street. Another night of fun and laughter, with some of the lovelies that I have met through Pete. A splendid bunch of folks! Also got very slightly pissed - highly unusual for me, but very funny!

So today...recovering from the weekend! Back to Norfolk tonight for the packing to start in earnest tomorrow!

So lots of lovely prevaricating!

Positive Affirmations...

Wednesday didn't only bring new things, but positivity in abundance.

Tidings which were gladly heard.

Confirmation that this is the right thing for me to do, to travel on this adventure, under my own determination, wisdom and strength. To experience life to the full, in the moment, looking forwards, but not looking back.

To truly believe in myself and my abilities. Confident and secure within and without.

New things...

New haircut, new watch, new clothes - trousers, skirt and top, new books, new chapter, new Fi?

The beginning of the end...

and the start of the beginning.

I leave for Ecuador 3 weeks today and although I'm still hugely excited and looking forward to adventuring, learning and exploring...I'm also scared and sad.

I have 3 weeks left to spend with the people I love, to let them all know how I feel. To party with them, laugh with them, talk with them and probably cry with them. Many hugs are going to be needed over the next 3 weeks.

There are many lovely things happening too: friends coming to stay; parties to go to; my own big leaving party; the end of term tomorrow - sending my year 6 kids off to the next part of their life adventure.

And some not so nice things...packing up my house, cleaning it and saying goodbye.

The story so far...

So...it all began about 18 months ago when my circumstances changed and I started to think about the idea of going and teaching abroad. I let the idea float around in the ether...mentioning it sometimes to friends and family.

Then, last October, circumstances changed again and I decided the time was now! I talked again to friends and family, thinking about where I might like to go...I ended up staring at a world map in a friend's kitchen and after thinking about all the places I haven't seen, I decided that South America seemed to be appealing!

At the beginning of December I saw two jobs advertised in South America, one in Ecuador and one in Brazil, so I thought I'd send off my CV, see what happened, dip my toe in the water so to speak! I got a huge shock when within 48 hours I had heard back from both and it looked like I was going to have two interviews! Blimey...that's what happens!

I was interviewed for the Ecuador job on the Thursday before Christmas (over the phone - which was very strange). I checked my emails on the Saturday and found that I had been offered the job...Oh My God!!!! I spent Christmas with my family, thinking about what I should do...

On the 2nd of January I accepted the job. (However I still had the interview for Brazil on the 6th of January to make sure I'd made the right decision - I had!). In the first few months of knowing, it only felt real when I talked to other people about it. It was very exciting and sometimes scary.

Reality hit a lot more recently when I started to sort out my visa...a bit of a nightmare...but perhaps more about that another time.