August 2nd, 2019

The morning dawned too early for our last day in Tajikistan. In the morning we took our final exam (which was really just a chapter test and didn’t contain any cumulative vocab). After lunch, we had the speaking portion. We had decided that we wanted to have a dance party after the exam, but everybody seemed in such a low mode it wasn’t much.

            Then we had our re-entry meeting which basically just outline reverse culture shock and had us fill out a reflection. When I get back to normal wifi I will upload a photo of the reflection. Our RD emphasized the many ways to pursue studying abroad in the future, as well as the importance of sharing our experience in our home communities. We even practiced elevator pitches about our NSLI-Y experience, which seemed in my opinion excessive. The worksheet also provided us with a list of potential skills we might have developed as opposed to letting us find our owns ways of measuring personal growth.

            After that I walked home, finished packing my bag, and made the decision to leave some stuff behind so I would be able to fit everything. One of my presents from my host family was an entire tea set in a box, which took up most of the space in my backpack. Then I sat talking to my family, exchanged contact information, presented them with the thank you letter I had written (I had given them my presents a few days earlier), and eating since that is how Tajiki people show they care. I also played with my host brother for awhile. He didn’t seem to have any sense that I would not be returning. My host sister and father weren’t there that afternoon for me to say a final goodbye to, but the night before I had said goodbye to my host sister. Still, the timing was not ideal. The whole of idea of leaving my host family (and actually leaving my host family) made me very sad. For my host brother, I’ll just be one of those friends of the family who shows up saying I remember him when he was this tall. I am pretty sure I want to return on CLS or ERLP, so I do think I will see them again and take some comfort in that. I also don’t think the reality of leaving has set in yet.

            We were picked up in the bus starting around 6. Everybody was so sad, and a lot of students were crying, but our RD just kept taking pictures of us. We then went to the hotel where we stayed our first night or two in Dushanbe. It was a funny way of coming full circle. Our flight is at 4:15am tomorrow morning, but we have to be in the lobby at 1:45am.