Final days...

Friday August 6
Last day! I skyped with Evan for three hours this morning because I finally didn’t have class to have to go to at 8:30 am. After that I hung around the center for a little while and used the internet for a little while. I went to Morning Star and ate with Jeremy, Reza and Joe and then headed back to the center for my test at 2 pm. It was the last section of the proficiency test, the writing section, and was also the most annoying to take because it takes so long. There were only 35 questions but some of the reading passages were 2 pages long! So its just tedious and takes a lot of energy to concentrate for that length of time. BUT, we finished and then we were done!! DONE! Done with our classes, done with our exams and done with being in Tajikistan.
We started the party soon after everyone finished their exams. After we got all the food ready, my class performed our play. Just when we got to the end, the part where the jen comes in and we are all scared, Atepha leaned on the ping pong table and it collapsed with all the salads and bread on it! The legs completely fell out from underneath it so the surface of the table fell flat on the ground! All the food was ok tho, we only lost part of the fruit salad and one of the vegetable salads. I rinsed off all the spoons and forks so everything else was still ok. The party was a success, the aush was good and I think we finished off the salads. After everyone had finished eating we made some speeches, thanking the teachers, and gave them flowers. Then Jake and Niso, my host mom, came around with little gifts for all the students who are leaving. We danced a little after that and talked and hung out at the center for a little while longer and then people started leaving.
I went with Kyle over to the other office building and we booked a hotel room for our time in Paris. So now we will definitely have a place to stay and keep all our stuff. When we had finished at the center I went home to change out of my Tajiki clothes and then went over to Brett’s house for a little while. I got home around 10 pm when they were all heading off to go to Opera or Samera’s house.

Saturday August 7
I got up and went with my mom to the bazar pretty early today- I think we got there around 7:30 or 7:45 and then we were home by 10. We just zipped in, found the things that I wanted, and then left. I only had to go to get a few last gifts for friends and family. My host mom tried to buy most things for me and I tried not to let her but she succeeded a few times. When we got home I found out that my host dad was taking the kids and Nodira to a honey exhibition so we jumped back in the car and headed out with them. On our way to the exhibition we stopped at the food bazaar and got a huge sack of flour and then delivered it to an orphanage. I think that it was part of my host dad’s job or something to drop it off.
When we got back to the house I was really tired from all the walking around and going to and fro and getting up so early in the morning. I rested for a little while but then got back up to pack up all my stuff to be ready to leave tomorrow night. I called my mom and talked to her for a while until my phone ran out of money and then the call got cut off because they suspended my service. Have to put more money on it tomorrow...

Sunday August 8
Last day in Tajikistan! I slept in a little bit and then hung around the house for the day until 3pm when I went to the office to fill out the evaluation for the summer and then I walked down Rudaki with Max on a few last minute errands. He was trying to change a few Euros into Somoni and I needed to put money on my phone so that I could call Evan tonight. On my way back to the house I stopped at Merve to get some baklava to give to my family as a going away gift.
For dinner I ate with Nodira and my host mom because Nasiba and the kids were still at their grandmother’s house. We had a good dinner and chatted for a while afterwards. Then I went back to my room to finish packing. I gave my last gifts to Amena and Azamat and the chocolate I had brought for my host dad. I talked to Jake today about the “rules” for giving gifts and he said in Tajik culture that you give gifts when you arrive somewhere and you receive gifts when you leave somewhere. So, I got even more gifts from my host family on this, my last night. Nasiba gave me a necklace and my host mom gave me another gift to give to my brother.