Leigh in Azerbaijan

As my days draw to a close here, every moment has become precious - the smiles of students coming to ask a question, those wanting to teach me a new word, listening to Turkish accents sing Waltzing Matilda, the student delight in learning She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain…

This afternoon, I dropped by the auditorium where there were some performances happening and I happened to see the complete performance of my 5C girls doing their folk dance. They came out dressed in traditional, very colourful Turkish costume and then for 10 minutes danced an intricate series of steps in lines, circles, rows, merging and separating and all done very smoothly. I was amazed at their rhythm, their grace, and their peaceful mature ability. I grieved that I didn’t have my camera with me but on Monday they perform in the highschool for the award ceremony so I will ‘capture’ them then.

One of my mums today said her daughter was sad that I was leaving and many children have indicated that to me personally. After these five months there’s plenty of regrets in leaving them all behind.