To my Family at SMAN 5,

I didn’t sleep Friday because my heart hurt so much. And now, as I’m completely exhausted and trying to sleep on the plane, I can only picture your faces and our memories together and I can’t sleep and can only cry. I’m stuck in a middle seat with two old men next to me and I think they think I’m crazy.

I know I’ve cried a lot over the last few days – you say “jangan menangis” (don’t cry) but my love for you is overflowing and I can’t keep it inside of me. These tears are my love.

You are my family. You’ve been there with me through it all – my highs, my lows, every moment of every day in these last nine months. I wouldn’t trade living in the asrama for anything. Not a mansion, not a beachside villa, not even my home in America. My home is with you and I’m leaving a huge chunk of my heart there.

Thanks for saving me from scorpions (shout out to Loge!) and rats, for making pancakes and s’mores with me, for playing UNO and Bananagrams, for always inviting me to eat at your table in the RM (dining hall), for singing and chanting at all hours of the day, for teaching me Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Dayak… I’ll carry these memories with me forever. Whenever someone says, “Selamat Pagi” (good morning) I’ll be waiting for you all to shout, “SELAMAT PAGI!” (shouted – military style)

I’ll never forget our Scout Camp, when you all hugged me and got me covered in mud and then we swam in the swamp together. And then you walked all night long and I was waiting for you in the roundabout but I fell asleep on the ground before you got there. When we did aerobics and the penguin song in the morning and then as you were all lined up, someone played “Timber” and I started to dance. I messed up your apel (announcement ceremony at the end of each day) as we danced together and you laughed. These are memories I’ll keep forever.

All my love,

Miss Mackenzie