Day 8- Leaving

Today we left the Dominican Republic and went home to our families and friends. It was a very sad day, but also a day full of happy reflections of the past week.

Late last night, Emily decided to pull an all-nighter, seeing as we had to leave our camp at 4 in the morning anyway. Taylor, Josh and Serena all made valiant efforts to stay up as late as they could but they were all in bed by 2:30. Dustin and Emily managed to stay awake all night, which led to a very tired Dustin and a very hyper Emily. On the drive to the airport, however, nearly everyone was fast asleep.

Our flight from Santo Domingo to New York was relatively uneventful, as everyone slept. Our misfortunes of our flights into the Dominican did not continue on our way out. We arrived in New York half an hour ahead of schedule, and got through customs and security quickly too. We then had 2 and a half hours of time to waste in the airport, where some spent time playing games, sleeping and, of course, eating.

The plane ride to Buffalo passed by very quickly. We arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule. During the flight, Emily was sleeping with her feet sticking out into the aisle of the plane. The flight attendant was trying to get by with the drink cart, and one lady kept hitting Emily to try to get her to wake up, which was unsuccessful (violence is never the answer). Eventually, she woke up, and everyone in row 18 and on was able to quench their thirst.

We arrived in Buffalo to some family members waiting for us. It was a happy reunion with our families, but no one was really pleased about leaving. We’ve all grown so close this past week. Hugs were exchanged, and everyone parted ways (until Monday, at least).

This past week has been full of excitement and laughter. As a team, we have really grown as children and servants of God. We have all learned so much from this experience and we’re all so thankful for the opportunity to serve God by serving others. Thank you all for your support and prayers; they are so appreciated. We encourage everyone to try to get involved with a HANDS team, or other mission work- it’s so worth it. This trip will continue to affect our lives for a very long time, and we praise God for keeping us all safe throughout our time in the Dominican Republic.

There will hopefully be one last blog post this weekend with various pictures from throughout the week. Thanks again, and God bless.

Peace, love, and swag.