Week 11 - The last week of placement!

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Here is an update on my final week in Ruse...

I had a lovely final day at Church last Sunday, saying our goodbye's to the congregarion and thanking them for being so welcoming to us. We stood up in the service, did a short speech nd gave gifts, thanking especially Elijah, Emilia, Daniel and Daniella for their hospitality and the amazing memories they have shared with them. It all got very emotional, which we were not expecting, but it was so hard to think we will be leaving soon. We went into town afterwards to meet Petar, one of our other Bulgarian friends and got a taxi to St. Basarbovsky Monastry, just of the outskirts of Ruse, in the counrty side. This quaint little town was lovely, with a monestary which was build in a rock face, up some wooden steps. It was lovely. We entered and wandered around, enjoying the 35 degree heat and the amazing view of the countryside beyond. After the monastry, we walked to a clearing next to a river and had a lovely BBQ together, enjoying some beers, listening to music, tanning and generally enjoying eachothers company. Such a nice day!

On Monday I had an early morning Skype conversation with Mum and Dad and opened cards/presents in front of them. Had a nice morning with the girls - they got me a lovely phooalbum filled with happy memories together 😊 Went to the childrens centre to spend time with them and finalise some ouf our outcomes and interventions, doing evaluations on their progress. In the evening I met with some friends for a birthday meal which was lovely, then went to do Karaoke where everyone sang Happy Birthday and we had some fun singing songs dedicated to our time out here. We even managed to get Elijah on the stage, and sang 'My heart will go on'... still unsure how we got through it without any more tears!
Had lots of paperwork and finalising to do this week to not had as much 'hands on' work. Spent the majority of Tuesday doing documentation and sorting out final learning outcomes for university, then met with a few friends to go swimming...only to find the pool booked out for a party 😞

We all had a lovely day on Wednesday with the children. It had been two of the children's birthdays that week so we took up some presents for them, and I spent the morning making posters of the children carrying out their interventions and what not, to hopefully remind staff or appropriate methods for doing things! Spent our break planning our next week and booked hostels and busses and taxi's etc for Romania and Varna. All sorted now! In the afternoon we returned to the Children's home for a party, enjoying spending time with the children outside, singing Happy Birthday' and enjoying some lovely cake together. It was lovely to share it with them and see them all content.

Had another day of documentation and finalising learning out comes with my educator on Thursday, ensuring all important things had been achieved. We met with friends in the evening to say more goodbyes to thanyou's, receiving some lovely Bulgarian gifts and very kind words about us and our generosity and motivation to help out here. We then went out for some foor with Elijah and enjoyed a lovely meal together, going for a walk through the park afterwards. 😊

It was our final day of placement on Friday and was the most difficult day of all. I never thought saying goodbye would be so hard. We went in the morning and spent quality time 1:1 with the children which was lovely but very emotional. At lunch we met with our educators to find out our results from placement. Receiving a pass, I was happy with the feedback I was given and couldn't believe this is it, ten weeks on... I feel like I have achieved so much more than I ever would in the UK, and half of the time I had forgotten I was doing the work for part of my universtiy degree. I have just felt so motivated to help and to do the best I could throughout, despite having to pass a placement. We returned to the childrens home in the afternoon which was an even more emotional time! These children have been fantastic to work with and it has been so nice to see them develop over the last 11 weeks. It was hardest saying bye to the eldest who understood the situation. He kept saying 'Tuka Ruse...Nyama Anglia', meaning 'Here Ruse, no England'. Hated having to walk away. I felt like I was abandoning them...

I can't believe this is now placement over! Just one more week of fun...and my god are we going to have some fun.... Got lots planned for the week ahead so stay tuned for details on Romania and Varna (again!)

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