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So we have finally arrived back in Bermuda and I think all of us were extremely sad to leave Thailand as it was amazing.
Gyu basically said everything that happened between my last post and the point where we all left each other so I'll go from there...
We arrived at the Marriot at 7:30ish in Bangkok and went and got some stuff for dinner and then went to bed as we had to get up at 7 for the tours the next day. We first went around the markets to see them and buy food for our cooking class that afternoon which was really cool. That night we went to the night market which was amazing and the prices were really really cheap...Ms Chase and I had fun haggling the prices down.....sometimes by more that 70%!
The next day we had to get up at 6 am (8pm the day before Bermuda time) to go on a tour to the Orchid Farm and Rose Gardens. At the Rose Garden we saw a cultural performance which was amazing as we saw an example of Thai boxing and some amazing dances over bamboo poles...sometimes the dancers were moving so fast we couldn't see their feet. We then went back to the hotel and relaxed, showered, cleaned our rooms and packed before heading to the pool for dinner while we reflected over the trip and had a "prize giving". We then went back to the rooms, got our bags and said a last goodbye to Thailand before getting on the bus and going to the airport at 10 pm (8 am BDA).
Once at the airport we found out the second flight (as we were split into 2 groups going to Dubai) was delayed, and some people got really stressed out that we would miss the flight to New York and miss the Bermuda flight, so we panicked for a while until we got on the plane and realised it was all going to be ok and we were going to make the next flight (which we did, although we didn't get on the plane until 3 am on the 31st (1 pm BDA on the 30th)). Once in New York after our 18 hours of flying (6 1/2 hours to Dubai and 11 1/2 to New York) we found out we had to go through immagrations, get our bags, go to the 3rd terminal (we were in 1) check back in, get rid of our bags, get through security and to our gate in less that an hour. We got our bags and got through immagrations, but when we went to our flight representative from Emirates airline, we were told we wouldn't make our flight and would be spending the night in NY. After about 45 minutes of Mr. Walter organizing everything for today (April 1st) with the representative we got booked in the Holiday Inn for the night, were given coupons for dinner and flights and transport to and from the airport were arranged, all paid for by Emirates without and arguments! We found out we would be flying to Atlanta, GA at 6 am, and would have to be at the airport for 4 am (which involved waking up at 3!) and from Atlanta we would fly home, adding an extra 5 hours to our travelling...making our total journey of flights to get home 23 hours....from 6 am on the 30st to 3 pm on the 1st.....and we only had about 6 hours of sleep in a bed in those 3 days.
It's nice to be home, but its really really quiet now without everyone and I'm exhausted, as I've only slept for about 8 hours in the last 3 days, as it is really hard for me to sleep on planes!

I think before we were told how much of an amazing, life changing experiance this was but none of us really understood what Mrs. Nash and all the other teachers meant until we've come back home to Bermuda, and have had time to reflect on the trip and words can't describe how amazing this journey was for me personally. We arrive back in Bermuda and although we're home and I thought I would be glad to be home, I miss the people with us, and the amazing things we saw and learned along the way, and I even miss the digging. I think about how much work we did by moving 75 TONNES of soil, how much we perservered and the amount we accomplished and how digging the site, although it didn't involve us to spend any money on the digging as it was all volunteer, manual labour, and it just proves how money is not everything, as we didn't need a huge amount of money in our perspective to make someone's life better. This was a surreal experiance, and although the flights were long, it was hot and we all were exhausted by the end, I would go back in a heartbeat. The way we saw Thailand gave me a completely different outlook on life and makes me appreciate what I have and encouraged me to live in the moment, as you only live once and not only should you live for yourself but how you can help other people, which in turn, helps you to grow as a person.
This trip was a life changing experiance, and the things we did and the people we met are unforgettable.
Ash

P.S - To everyone at Regent's....WE MISS YOU BADDDDLLLLYYYYY......if any of you get this would you please post your e-mails and facebook names (you all promised to get FB!) on as comments or if you group them all together as a post or something for the people (like me!) who forgot ( :( ) to get them before we left so we can all keep in contact?????