Goodbye MCC and Chennai

So almost 2/3 of my trip has gone by and today we are leaving our second home in India, Madras Christian College. Yesterday, we had a day of goodbyes and thank you's to tell everyone how much we've appreciated their hospitality towards us. We started the day with a brilliant lecture on aesthetics and the perception of beauty in India. It was a very interesting lecture because our speaker tried to give us their perspective in how they look at different art work and the importance of the fine arts within their culture. As you can probably imagine it was a very enlightening topic to discover and a fitting lecture for our last lecture here.
After this we had a valedictory ceremony in which we were graced with our host speaking of our time with them. They offered us praise for being open to India and everything it has brought us and invited us to come back to stay with them or just keep in contact. Next our professors spoke on behalf of our group and thanked them again for all they've done. Lastly some of us students had to speak to share our opinion on our journey thus far. Of course, I got nominated but my task was just to thank everyone we've encountered here in south India. Although I was nervous I didn't do as bad as a I thought! At the conclusion of this ceremony, we were all given gifts from our hosts which was beyond nice and we were all so grateful!
To celebrate one of our last meals here, we had a traditional South Indian meal ate on the banana leaf. Again it was very nice and tasted pretty good. Then we set out for a little time of packing and relaxing to enjoy our last day. A group of some of us girls went out to get some food and explore. We picked up the necessities, kit kat's, snickers, and some more chocolate and pop!
That was all good, but now more on to the important stuff. We had a scheduled event for the evening as we were going to be having a cultural program. Before, many students came over and it a really good to talk to them about our different cultures. I think we were all really excited to finally meet people are age. It was perfect timing too... Right before we left. Not! Anyways, we still had fun talking with them and it was good no matter what. Then we went to the cultural program in which we were enlightened with the talent of some students. They sang mostly and one performed a monologue, which were all very good. But then we had to perform. So none of us are that musically gifted, and we didn't know what to do, some of us were brainstorming earlier in the night on something we all could do. We decided on the cha cha slide, let's just say it was pretty interesting! We all wrapped up the night hanging out and enjoying our final stay here. We are learning this morning for a few flights to take us up north. We have one week to experience the north and see the Taj Mahal! So I'm excited to see what this final week will bring!!