Day 18.1 - leaving Chieri

The day has finally come. It's time to leave Chieri. With heavy hearts the boys and their families met us at the Chieri train station where we would soon be taking a train to Turin and then transferring to a train bound for Venice and the last stop on our Grand Tour - Venice.

Liam and Ryan's families

Jai's family. Three cool dudes.

Winson and his Italy mamma

Brenton with his home stay mother

Connor and family

Zaine and his Italian family

Jaxon and Sean with their host families

These are always bittersweet times. The boys and their families bond during this time and both experience a melting away of language and cultural barriers to discover their shared humanity. It often catches people off-guard, both boys and families; they go into these arrangements expecting to get to know new people from different cultures, but what they don't expect is the very real affection that forms between them. It sneaks up on them and they are helpless in the face of it.

We saw tears today. We saw hugs. We saw manly efforts to hold back tears that ultimately failed. From boys, from families. More than one home stay mother told me the boy she hosted had quickly become like a son to her, and that she was devastated he was leaving. One messaged Mrs Bamford as we were on the way to Venice and told her she and her family loved the boy they hosted.

Even grandparents came to say goodbye

A hug for an Italian brother

Last words of advice

Arrivederci

Chilling on the train

Our goodbyes said, the boys looking longingly through the glass, and one mother actually kissing the glass to say goodbye to the boy she hosted, the train pulled out of Chieri and into Torino where we boarded another train. This one would take us to one of the most wonderful places on earth.

Venice.