Thursday Evening

Dear readers,

This will be our final post from England.  I am sitting in the Begdebury library as I type these last impressions of our trip.  The sun is shining outside, although the weather is definitely turning, the mornings are chillier and the sun doesn't warm you as it used to just a few days ago.  We have been very fortunate in that we only had about three minutes of rain during our whole stay in this country, and that was while we shopped in Oxford Street, in London.  Aside from that, the weather has not only been balmy but rather downright warm.  While I write, the children, or the members of the Chilean Expeditionary Force, rather, are saying their good-byes to Bedgebury.  Most of them have said that they don't want to leave, but all things must come to an end - including the good.
Once again, this has been a very good trip.  Aside from a couple of accidents, things have all gone according to plan.  We have packed an incredible number of experiences into our three weeks which, when you think about it,  makes you wonder why no one has collapsed yet.  It has been a very intense time in England and I'm sure that the boys and girls will remember this experience forever.

Here are some of the things we did on Thursday evening.
First we had a final ceremony where our Eighth graders presented a short show and then some awards were given out.

Elisa was not looking her best that evening.

And this is a short video of that ceremony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMpS77rZbDE&feature=youtu.be

Next, we had dinner and then the Redland teenage Force left for their rooms so that they could change into proper attire for the main activity to come, Casino Night!
The following are only a few of the many pictures we took.

Here is some video footage of that amazing experience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz8fu5JdPLw&feature=youtu.be

As the evening came to a close, we all met in our Common Room where we would be informed about the following day's schedule.  Fergus, the Centre Manager, spoke to The Force:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od0P9XpiVHk&feature=youtu.be

And then, surprise!  PIZZA!!  This was a surprise farewell pizza that Fergus and his team, Lalita John, Callum Palmer, Karen and Hazel had prepared for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7P8dRDfTlY&feature=youtu.be

One of the boys, who shall remain unnamed, was able to gobble down four, maybe five, slices of pizza - and would still ask for more after all the pizza was gone. But his name shall never be revealed.
We could, perhaps, provide his initials.
We'll sleep on that.

And then it was time to go to bed.
We have a long trip ahead of us before we are reunited with our loved ones.