Our Last Hooray

I'm sitting in the Manchester Airport right now, waiting for a plane to take me to Heathrow and then on to Houston. Because I don't want to burst into tears, I'm just going to recount our last two, amazing, spectacular, fantastic nights in Leeds and address the sappy stuff later.

How cool is our teacher, Alice?!

Sweet Jemma

On Friday evening after our day trip to Haworth, the entire Leeds International Summer School got together one last time for a Farewell Dinner. We all got dressed up and went into town for a three-course meal at the delicious restaurant, Giraffe. For three hours, we laughed and cried (a lot): our wonderful Program Directors, Clare and Gill, both said a few words about how amazing this time has been, we all gave our stupendous Social Assistants countless rounds of applause and hugs for their hard-work and invaluable friendships they've provided us with and several students spoke and even sang. (A group of people saw Wicked in London, so two girls sang "For Good", which made us all teary-eyed it was so beautiful). Even though many of us weren't leaving until Sunday, we were all aware that this was the last time we'd all be together as one unit. And it was quite heartbreaking.

Brittany, Beth and Kathryn: three beautiful ladies.

Luckily, we are all very fun, cheerful people who recognize that having fun is much better than being sad, so we all approached the night with a celebratory disposition rather than a mournful one. At the dinner, there was more laughter than tears, and since none of us wanted the night to end, we went to the same Karaoke Bar we had gone to a few weeks earlier and had a great time. Highlights include Ken and Beth's Eminem showdown and Clare's adorable Queen serenade. It was simply brilliant. We then made our way to a bar called the Smokestack, which absolutely takes the prize for the coolest club I've been to: they only play old music and the mood is very old-fashioned, speakeasy-esque, yet it was such a lively and energetic vibe that couldn't be matched. When we got back in the wee hours of the morning, several of us hung out in the common room, playing games, telling stories and just enjoying each others company. We even participated in what we Aggies call "pond hopping" (to everyone else, it's just getting into the fountains on campus). There is a giant one at the University of Leeds, and part of our "LISS Bucket List" included going in it. The water was freezing so we just stood inside for a few minutes, but it was worth getting to say we accomplished splashing around in the fountain. By then, the sun had come up and it was a new day, much to our disappointment.

I have so much love for these people!

Anna and Emma en route to the Run

That afternoon consisted of a tearful goodbye to Jodie and Beth, two of my favorite Australians, and us getting ready for that night. We all wanted to go out with a bang, so our group of friends decided it would be fun to go on the Otley Run, Leeds's famous pub crawl. (They all participated in it a couple weeks earlier while I was in London, so this was my first time). Traditionally, your group dresses up to a theme, and we decided to pretend to be a "Hen Party" (what England calls a Bachelorette Party). Making it even sillier, Carwyn, one of our social assistants, played the role of "Bride".....We all made t-shirts with our respective roles in the wedding party on the back and got a person from each bar to sign them -- definitely a fun souvenir! Needless to say, the night was eventful, and it couldn't have been a more perfect way to end our time in Leeds. It's nights such as those that make me appreciate being young: when I look back on my twenties, I can smile and reminisce on crazy-fun times like Saturday's and know that I am one lucky girl. I got to spend my last hours in the city I love with the people I love, and I'll never forgot the memories we made. 

The best friends anyone could ever ask for.

Thanks and gig 'em,

Rachel

PS- My next post is going to be a tear-jerker; I just have to bring myself to write it. Prayers appreciated...