Well one team was ushered out and another one took their place. The team I am working with this week attend Faith Bible Church in Texas, it is the biggest team I will work with while I am here. In total including leaders the team is about 35 people! It is comprised of students from their youth group so many of them are high schoolers. They had quite the adventure getting here. Like normal plans often fail and fall apart when you travel abroad. They were supposed to arrive late Friday night as one group. Instead, they arrived on Saturday in four different sections. The drive from Santo Domingo where I was staying previously to the place we are staying (which is an hour outside of where we are working) is about 2 hours. So the team had to split up to travel to San Francisco. I was traveling with the translators and a team leader plus Ramon. Guess what happened? The van made a popping noise and then began smoking and overheating. We sat on the side of the road for about an hour while we tried to figure out how to fix the problem. We tried plastic bottles and jugs of all sorts but couldn't fit the exploded part. We ended up getting to San Francisco safe and sound. Finally the whole team was together and in San Francisco, tried, stressed and worn out. This team is working in Cotui which is pictured on the map below!
This area of Dominican Republic is very rural and extremely poor. The team from FBC has been involved with this project for 8 years which is insane! They have built most of the school and sent countless teams to the area. This trip is focused on VBS in the mornings and construction work in the afternoons. Paint. Mix concrete. Build roofs. Repeat. Not to mention doing this all in 90 degree temperatures with 90% humidity and zero AC. Due to an illness I was put in charge of leading crafts which might I say is quite a challenge. Kites with multiple little pieces and one translator and kids who don't always listen will be the death of me if I ever have to do it again.
I can say that meeting groups of strangers and getting attached to them only to say goodbye really stinks. Also having to transition to fit different roles within different team structures has been difficult. I have no clearly defined role as an intern so I fill any role that I am needed in. I love this country and was struck driving back from the beach that I would be completely content and comfortable to just never come back. If I spoke Spanish I can guarantee you that I wouldn't board my plane to Atlanta in July. I am at home when I am here and it is comforting to know that home can be anywhere. It also helps that I look Dominican! All my Dominican brothers tell me that if I didn't speak people would just assume I'm Dominican!
Keeping y'all (the Texans are rubbing off on me) updated is going to be difficult due to the fact I have limited access to internet for the next two weeks but I will try my best!
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