Under Siege XI: The Last Evacuation

Khallas. It is all finished. The last boat left at 7pm tonight and Dom and I are left with a pregnant bird (not sure if you can call a bird sitting on an egg pregnant, but I will anyway), fewer friends, and a desire to try and acquire some sort of normality. So we went out for beers after work, a pizza and a couple of cocktails with friends. It is now half past eleven at night and we are knackered - so not too different from normal now!!

The last evacuation went well. I'll miss the military and their work - they've taken off so much of the pressure and their lack of emotional involvement has been really useful. In a situation where you are evacuating so many people, you cannot let individual stories affect you. Yesterday we evacuated a woman who had just buried her husband, and a family who had lost their Father in the fighting. You cannot even begin to understand how these people are feeling.

So now we are physically tired and emotionally exhausted. The feeling of achivement however is still there - we did evacuate lots of people and I feel personally quite pleased that I managed to help many get out - especially those who I helped individually. It certainly has helped me deal with the reality of what is happening here. Over the next few days I plan to rest and then start volunteering to help the refugees who are flooding into this city. I've already made a few contacts so we shall see how it goes. Not entirely sure what I will do - whatever I can seems to be the best place to start.

Sydney update: still fine, still sitting, still waiting. This nesting lark is just a waiting game!!!