At the airport...

Well, we're on our way home. Jessica has already seemingly left the country as we can't find her, which leaves those of us flying to the great northwest together (Rachel, Megan, and Kate) supporting each other as we leave the country and are ripped off by buying airport food. No Brandon, 600 pesos was not too much.........
The last week was so hard and good all at once. Saying goodbye to our families was every bit as hard as we had ever imagined. Many tears were shed, but we tried to remember that it was a celebration, which Kate worked on by having one last dance party by the car. Saying goodbye to our English classes and tutoring classes was a challenge, but a cake-walk compared to our parents, brothers, sisters, and other various family members we picked up along the way. One thing that we will all miss about the DR is the sense of family there and how we really all are family through Christ. Our last small group was amazing. We got to walk with the girls to where there was flooding last fall and saw all the new growth. We had a bit of a party there, and then we went and sang a bunch of songs together. It was hard for all of us to say goodbye and there were tears shed by Americans and Dominicans together. We had a goodbye party with the staff of COTN, which was amazing and really funny. We made fun of them, they made fun of us, and then we danced. Brandon won. He won a visor. Megan came in second and received "a money belt for the outside" (whatever that means) and Rachel finished third and received a creepy doll with no face, which her partner proceeded to draw a face on so she could see.
We left Casa Betesda and Barahona on Wednesday and played tourist for a while in Santo Domingo. You know you've been in the DR for two months when going to Santo Domingo gives you culture shock. It was good though. We tried to make the most of our last bit of time together in the DR and most of us managed to sleep less than 3 hours last night... success depends on how you define it, and that sounds like success to me.
Well readers, paz afuera (peace out). I hope you enjoyed reading our blog this summer.