It's so quiet in the chalet. No little foot steps pitter-pattering across the slick, squeaky floor, no high pitched giggles sounding from the rooms, no pink tooth brushes scattered randomly around the bathroom, and most of all, no more little girls coming in my room just to see what I'm doing. Today pieces of my heart were dispersed to different parts of Europe. Some of it to Geneva, some of it to Paris, some of it to other parts of France and Switzerland. I didn't think I would miss some of them, but now that they're gone I can't help but admit that I wish that bus would turn around and come back for another week, even the ones I'm not too fond of. The majority of the girls are flying out today. We jammed 7 girls, roughly 13 suitcases, a dog, and the bus driver and his wife into a tiny bus to head for the Geneva airport. Before they left, they all gave me a huge hug and kisses on both cheeks (the French are very kissy). I could tell some of them were getting teary eyed. I'm going to miss those girls.
The bus almost left without Mathilda - she couldn't shut her suitcase. Haley and I had to take everything out, roll all of it up, and literally sit on the bag to zip it. She didn't even wear 90% of the clothing the whole two weeks she was here. A true girl, really.
Haley and I wrote them all notes last night, asked them for their emails, and gave them little princess necklaces. The necklaces weren't much, especially considering these kids are from extremely wealthy families (most of their parents rolled up in Mercedes, BMW's, and Range Rovers), but you would have thought they just received diamond necklaces. I think they liked the fact that they were from us. Remi told us this morning they were raving on and on about their brand new prized possessions in French.
One of the best days I have had, as of yet, was two days ago. The beginning of the day was slow. It was rainy, cold, and wet, therefore our plans to play soccer and have a relay race were scratched. We tried to find things to do inside, but it's hard to keep 9-year olds occupied in an old chalet without electronics for 4 hours. Then Olivier came to our rescue. He said, "Who wants to go get muddy?" And in an instant the kids eyes lit up, and there was a stampede of children running to grab shoes, jackets, and k-ways (rain coats in French). Next thing I knew, I was outside walking up a trail in the freezing cold. At that moment, the idea didn't seem so bright. I was hiking up a steep mountain that looked like it belonged on "The Sound of Music." I was tired. I was soaked. I was freezing. I was out of breath. When we finally got to the top, Olivier said, "Okay, now roll." We then all proceeded to roll down one of the Swiss Alps in the rain. Needless to say, it was phenomenal. After we got to the bottom Olivier's dog, Chai, a white retriever, (I suppose that's what she is. She looks exactly like a golden retriever, but she's snow white) came to our "rescue," which, in turn, meant trampling on us and trying to drag us back up the mountain with her teeth. We ended up playing freeze tag, and another game where everyone holds hands and runs around as fast as possible. What ends up happening is, because of the incline and wet grass, people start slipping, falling down, and tumbling down the mountain. Of all the people, my fall down the mountain was the best, according to the kids. After playing many wearing games, I just sat down on the side of the mountain overlooking the sun setting on lake Geneva and watched clouds pass right before my eyes while rain fell all around me. It was one of those serene, dazzling moments that makes you not want to take another breath in fear that it will all go away. Between the fun and astonishment, I forgot that I was cold, wet, and exhausted. It was beautiful.
When we came inside, everyone
obviously wanted showers. And
obviously, 20 people getting showers at once isn't the best of situations, especially for the 19th and 20th person. So everyone was limited to a 5 minute shower. After everyone was clean and had pajamas on, we all went to the study and sat around the fireplace while Olivier, Rob, and David played music for us. The only lighting we had was a small lamp and the fire. Again, I felt the same peaceful feeling I felt on the mountain, though it was a bit different. This time I was in awe of how cool these kids really are.
Well now that the kids are gone, I am officially off work until tomorrow when a new group arrives. I'll be lucky if they're even half as cool as the last group.
