Beijing Zoo!!

"It was a great last day." So goes a line from one of my favorite sentimental and sappy children's movies "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium." The context behind this movie quote is Mr. Magorium enjoying one last day of doing everything simple and fun that he wanted to before dying (such as jumping on beds in a furniture store and using a pay phone), and while I won't say that leaving China was nearly as dramatic or final as dying :), it did feel like it at times to my passionate, all-or-nothing little heart. But I couldn't have asked for a better, more memorable last day with "my kids" than what I got....a field trip to the zoo!

A visiting team from California had the funds to take several of the stronger, more mobile kids on a trip to the Beijing Zoo and Melissa and I were asked, along with many other staff members, to accompany them as extra escorts for the kids. We were over the moon! All week after hearing we got to go along, Melissa and I would just look at each other and start grinning from ear to ear, thinking about Monday and all the fun we would have. We woke up bright and early that morning, packed up our cameras and water bottles, and headed out to the courtyard where a big tour bus was waiting. We waited, watched, and issued greetings and hugs as the kids came out with their ayis one by one, all wearing matching white Shepherd's Field shirts and big smiles. We boarded the bus with our charges (mine was Joy initially) and headed out the gates for our two hour drive to the zoo. The kids all did amazingly well on the drive, and even Joy kept her usual mischeivousness down to just screwing and unscrewing my water bottle and putting on my lip gloss. :)

We arrived by mid-morning, just as the rain stopped (thank you, L0rd!), and embarked on our parade of strollers and little feet through the zoo, admiring everything from lions to monkeys to snakes (well, *I* didn't admire the latter, but everyone else did!). Joy ended up getting testy and was transferred to Teacher Zhang (who gave me Will in her place), but I didn't care. It was heaven to have a little hand in mine all day long and to hear the voices of my students and small friends all around me. I hardly even thought about my impending departure with all the fun we were having...hardly...

 

 

It was a great last day.