On the up side of things

So it's looking more and more like we will be returning to NZ probably in September but I cannot say that as an absolute yet. We have gone through some days of tears and frustration and a mixed variety of emotions. I was watching a slide show of photo's of our time here at Kollegal. It was on a big screen with all the girls from the home and I must admit that I felt a bit teary at the thought that our time may be coming to an end sooner than I thought.

I do not regret for a minute the time here in India. It has been hard at times, in fact, it has been very hard but I have also had some of the best times and experiences of my life . I look at the places we have been, the people we have met and the great privilege that we have had of being immersed into a culture so different from our own. I have seen and lived in the city life and the rural life of India and have discovered that it's the villages that really stir me. It has changed me forever and I would give up everything all over again if we need to. I do not regret that we will only have a 2 bedroom flat to go back to and no work for a while until we get sorted. I don't regret that money will be non existent for a while because we used all of what we had to come to India. And do you know why I don't regret it..... because I know we gave it our best shot. I know we have impacted lives and been taught so much ourselves. We are taking with us a rich new outlook on life and the biggest thing I see is that we have options before us and that is something that so many people here do not have. We can start over and although it might be tough for a while, I know that we can get work and slowly get our lives sorted again in NZ if that is what happens. I don't have the western expectations of wants anymore and I hope that remains and I don't fall back into trap of wants over needs.

Our kids have had an amazing experience. One that has given them outlooks and opportunities they could never have had in NZ. The girls  have been involved in teaching, getting up at 5:30am to milk the cows and then again in the afternoon. They have met people from all sorts of back grounds. They have seen poverty and had the joy of giving, They have seen palaces and great history. The boys have taken it all in their stride and spend the days up trees, making huts, catching bugs while Jax spends his days making mud pies and being completely filthy all the time. All the kids have had a taste of another culture, living in community, eating different food and adjusting every time we move. Hats off to them, they have been amazing and I know it will impact the rest of their lives.

So it could be a busy time of packing again soon and working out the ins and outs of what we do from here practically. It sounds like I have given up on India but I am ready if we get the chance to come back or if circumstances suddenly change but right now I have settled on the fact that returning to NZ seems to be where we are headed right now and then lets see what happens from there.