Gule gule* to the class of '15

Their day began just after 7am with their 'pied piper' zurna and drum parade on campus,  8am buffet breakfast, nostalgia in the theatre and then the whole of the rest of the school - almost 1,000 students, forming a 'corridor' of students for the Seniors to walk through on the way to their graduation ceremony rehearsals on Konak Terrrace, then a buffet barbecue lunch, more nostalgia in the theatre in the form of film of their five years at RC and other stuff and performances and finally, after an afternoon of green and red paint ball and water pistol mayhem on the plateau, an episode of euphoric chanting in the forum under the smoke of flares and sparkles - what a perfect last day at High School these kids had, bathed in the wonderful warm sunshine of Istanbul in mid-May.  God bless them all. Tears. Miss them already.

*gule gule = translates as "farewell" - said to the one who is leaving, by the one who is staying. Means much more than 'goodbye'.