Last week of school and a trip to the petroglyphs

As a final road trip of the year, a group of us drove out of the city to see the petroglphs (a UNESCO Heritage site). It’s not that far from Almaty, but it takes several hours to get to (driving slower on unpaved/damaged roads).  It was well worth the trip, though!  We walked for several kilometers with our guide, and there was hardly a rock not covered with an image of an elk/mountain goat, horse, hunter or dance party.  Some of them were quite elaborate or quite large – covering rocks more than five feet high. We stopped and had lunch in a little gazebo, gazing at images of the sun and sky, eagles and turtles.  It was a great day out.

The last weeks of school were very eventful, and it included my birthday!  We had a small popcorn party in my classroom, and kids brought me flowers, cards and little presents.  My favorite gifts were the drawings they made, depicting me and them in various places (hiking, traveling, playing outside).  Michael cooked up carnitas and we had a fiesta at our friends’ house (our usual location for a Friday afternoon).  Another of my friends went to the trouble to even make horchata to go with the carnitas, and I was feeling very loved by my group of friends here.  

Another party was for the people who are leaving the school this year.  Many of them are very good friends of ours, so it was a somewhat sad event – but I’m very excited for them all to have their new adventures.  Most of them are moving on to other schools in the QSI network, so I’m sure I’ll have a chance to work with them again.  Other people went on to other adventures, traveling to other continents to return to their previous jobs (on hold while they were here) or finding new ones (like our friends now in Morocco).

The last week of school was a lot of fun, and it was on a field trip that I realized how much I am going to miss my second-graders.  We went to a park across the street, rented row boats and paddled on the lake.  Three of the boys ran up and hugged on to me, saying they wanted to ride the boat with me.  So cute!  It was fun to teach them how to row and everyone got a turn.  We took sidewalk chalk and signed our names all over the park’s walking trail, and looking down at each of their names made me smile.  I’ve really enjoyed being their teacher.


And then, before I knew it, we were at the end of our last day of school and kids were rushing out with their certificates and their backpacks, saying goodbye for the last time this year.  Most of them will be back next year, so I’ll see them in the hallway and will get to high-five them when they pass me.  I hope they will look back on this year and smile.  I know I will.