Time to, say goodbye...

My last day in school today, so lots of saying goodbye to folks who don't believe me when I say it's my last visit! "Why?" they say, "See you next year!"
This morning I paid a third visit to my friend with Parkinson's, that was a hard one. His wife has been so lovely and welcoming. I took her a box of chocolates last time I went and told her she was to eat them all and not share with their son. She said they were delicious and she'd eaten every one herself. That made me pleased. It's hard when you can't actually do anything to help.
Next into school, late, but I can get away with it these days. I visited the classrooms and spent time in 'my' early intervention class with the physio . With her help I've made some recommendations for purchases with the money I brought out and also arranged that some of the equipment be serviced. I hope this physio continues for a while - she's got great empathy with the children and thinks outside the box in a gentle and creative way.
The extra collage has a selection of goodbyes, including the dining room. It's very normal for people, especially children, to sit on the floor to eat. A donor had provided today's meal, it's a way to share the celebration of a birthday or anniversary, to pay for a lunch for the school pupils. It costs around £20-£30 to feed them all, dependent on what is provided. The closer up selfie is Lily, the physio and I . Stella, the warden and second in charge of the school, is in the green saree. She's the one who turns over her bed to me after lunch every day to have a rest on, she's done it for years and won't hear of me being anywhere else. I've tried going to sit in an AC office but she came to find me. Unmarried school staff are expected to live on the premises. It's a residential school, they share rooms and have next to no personal space so I really do appreciate it, even thought I do feel somewhat guilty. The little girl is the one I sang with last week she called me over and held out her hands to sing again, then waved goodbye as you can see.
The main blip image has a herd of goats which just walked across the main road in front of all the traffic! The boxes of twirly things are called Murrukku, a local snack, these are in the bakery just downstairs from the room I'm staying in. The staff (who are all deaf) have got into the habit of giving me samples of lots of different things as I walk past - I may walk past very often, lol. These had just come hot out of the boiling fat and I was given one to try. They're one of my favourite snacks anyway, but so freshly made, yum! There are two metal boxes full which will be put into trays ready ready to sell tomorrow. The flowers came from Raja's children, he brought them to see me today. Deborah is 6 and Jebin is 14 and as tall as his dad. Raja had been a very good friend to me over the last 18 years. He drives me everywhere in his auto but is also good company. His English is better and clearer than most people here and he's very good at explaining things for me too .
The final picture is of the kittens, I blipped them 3 weeks ago when I arrived. There were 3 then but only 2 now. Life can be hard here.
I put up an extra extra too - I used to pretend I had blonde hair, lol.