Day 17: Heading Home

Time to head home... what a bittersweet day it is today! We had a 7:30 flight, so the bus picked us up at 4:00 am...ugh... but all the kids were ready to go in their teal shirts... boy, were these shirts life-savers today! (We had an extremely short lay-over in Paris that I had to snake us in lines to cut and make our flight).
Here are some girls jumpin' for joy... either to go home or about their amazing 2+ wks in Europe, or that Kathryn finally got her ticket figured out so that we didn't have to sprint thru the Paris airport again! lol
Tyler is all excited as well :)

Mario took us thru check-in and up until security and then we had to say our good-byes.
Many hugs were given, laughs exchanged, no good-byes - just see you soon!!!
We made Mario an honorary teal shirter and the kids all signed the back of the shirt. We were all humbled that he wore it to the airport to see us on our way, and to head back to his hometown in Sicily. The kids really bonded with Mario & I love how they took to him but more how he took to us. Not all TD's are like Mario - he really went above & beyond with 'my' kids, and I am quite protective of them on tour but didn't need to this time. He listened to them, played soccer with them, took them to the beach, for gelato almost every night, found fun things for them to do, judged their photo competition (Team Senorita!), played music & movies that they would like, told stories they would enjoy and could relate to...treated them with much respect...he was all they could talk about on their way home. A Tour Director can really enhance a tour and Mario helped shape the minds for travel & tolerance and foster a love for travel so much that many cannot wait to travel again!
Making kids life-long learners is what this whole process is all about. Watching how they mature & grow over the 17 days is the most priceless part of my job. I love watching kids come in who know no one and after only 17 days, have now bonded and made life-long friends, no matter the age-level. Although this was my biggest group ever, it really didn't feel like it... the kids meshed extremely well and got along - no drama! I was reflecting about that on the plane home (when I was conscious - woke up sick on Sunday - ugh). On the flight over, the kids were moving seats so they could sit next to their friends... on the way back, no one switched because they now had 19 other friends they could sit next to. Just watching them mesh together makes my heart sing.
So, I sit here this morning, finishing up my blog, but not wanting to since that means our trip is over... but it's really not. It will live in the hearts of these kids for the rest of their lives. They will always laugh when they hear Single Ladies, when they think of Platform 9 3/4, when they hear the word "Cuckoo", when they 'drive' thru McDonalds, anytime they eat ice cream and compare it to gelato, when they watch Gladiator, etc...
I am so honored to have been able to take these amazing, worldly kids on a trip of a lifetime. Yes, I'm exhausted, yes I'm a bit bruised, but it's all worth it.
As one of the kids wrote in my journal, "There are many moments I'll remember. I can always go back to these places, but our group on this trip is something I could never replace or re-do."
Well said, well said...

So for now, I saw Ciao. Not sure if July travels will happen... my passport still has room for more stamps... I need to get going to catch up with 91+.

Hope you've enjoyed our blog - we started at 5500 hits going into this trip... the last I looked we were over 11,000!!! WOW!!! Thanks for reading and following along! Thanks for the continuous support you've given us over the 17 days and beyond! I'm hopeful the kids thanked their parents for making this trip-of-a-lifetime come true! They will be forever changed for the good! Thanks for all the airport hugs - I missed having breakfast with you all this morning and our "Wakey Wakey".

Abrazos to you all!
~steph :)