Snapples...

That's a rap for camp this week. We had such an amazing turnout of neighborhood kids this week. There were consistently 450 kids that came. Camp ran so smoothly for that many kids. Baseball camp was awesome too. Wednesday and Thursday I went to the Batey in the afternoon. Richard drove us so it was fun to get to hang out with him again. He hasn't been around much since he's been working with the rice plantations. Me, Erickson, and Richard had some fun jam sessions in the bus. Of course it was Spanish music so I didn't know much of the words but we still had fun. Oh Dominicans. Luis Alejandro (from Batey Woltario) came and visited me while we were at the other Batey. It was fun to catch up with him and chat for a little while. He's a good kid overall I just wish he could have more opportunities. We left for the Batey earlier Thursday so we could be back for the big baseball game (Americano vs Dominicano). They killed us of course. The game ended early though because of a huge downpour. The youth pastor of the church that was here this week started all the kids sliding into home in the mud. They had so much fun. It was a great way to end the afternoon. Then we had a huge revival for the community that night. Unfortunately not many people could get here because of the storm and the conditions of the road. We still had 150 or 200 people I think. It was a good night overall.

Friday morning was the best! We had our cultural day around Monte Cristi in the morning and then got ready for our beach trip. We went to Punta R. which was an incredible beach. The water was so clear and gorgeous. Very blue and green. We took our awesome Dominican friends that helped us out with camp this week. That made the trip so much more fun. They tried to make a huge human pyramid in the ocean. They almost got to 3 levels but Jose Luis kept slipping off Edwinson's shoulders. We had an awesome peanut butter/jelly picnic for lunch. After lunch Kelly, Allie, and I had handstand contests for a good 20 minutes. Dustin was our judge and made us all winners. He's a good sport. Bebo joined us for a little bit but then went back to making the pyramid. Right before we left, we burried Edwinson in the sand and while I was taking a picture I stepped on a stick and it's thorn went through my foot. Awesome feeling. On the way back home (2 hour drive) I tried to practice my Spanish with Andres our bis driver. It was rather amusing as that usually is. When we got back Edwinson and I played one on one basketball and I scored 4 points on him. Friday nights with the kids are fun too because everyone comes out to play. They are always so hyper and full of energy. I taught Nena some new hand games. She memorized them and now she's a pro. We had a small tarantula hunt also before dinner. It wasn't very successful but still I think they had fun. I played tag with Mineli, Nena, Yoanni, Yenifer, and the twins. They go crazy and run around like mad. After closing, we had our final intern meeting together. We then brought a bunch of mattresses to the roof and had a final bonding session. It was a lot of fun to just cut up and let loose with each other. It definitely made for a harder morning.

I had been dreading this morning all week. Every Saturday groups come and go but this week was different for me. I had to say goodbye to so many new friends. Some were heading back home to the States, others were heading to Jaibon for the remainder of the summer, and then of course Bebo left with Graystone for Georgia to start college. I'm used to people coming and going from here but this morning was harder. The interns that left were my family for this month. We did everything together literally. We ate all of our meals together, ran camps together, siesta-ed in the comodor together, spent time in God's Word together, and hung out on the roof every night together. It was the best community I've had for a while. I'm so thankful for the new friends I have. I'll definitely be in touch with several of them.