LAST NIGHT IN THE DR

The day started moist. I, Davis, sat there astonished as I had just been waterboarded by everyone around me. I barely managed to spit out, “thank you,” in between each time a bucket of water was dumped upon my head. This near drowning experience was a part of the Dominican culture and I accepted it soaked, yet grateful. Around me sat people with images of a model (me) plastered on their shirts. By day's end, the same people who had pampered me all day bestowed me with a cake, knowing that I was a big back. I ate two pieces, of course, as did others. I could not have felt more appreciated and loved on my birthday. Now passing it on.

Hello again. It is our last day, we are tanned, better at Spanish, and blinged out in jewelry from the market. We had to do the hard thing of leaving our families today. I woke up with Maya, and we removed our bug net and got ready for the day. This may be TMI, but I did not brush my teeth this morning because last night there were two huge spiders in the bathroom and mentally, I couldn’t handle going in there.

Next, I, Sophie, woke up in complete darkness to my favorite sound, roosters (rooster sound) and donkeys (eee-orrrr). I will miss these beautiful sounds. I will, in fact, be making my new alarm sound a rooster. After packing for the day, I walked into the living room to see Maya and Caleigh awaiting my presence. The morning was bittersweet. Carmen, my mom, offered me my last cup of coffee, and gave each of us a flower. Carmen is awesome. We exchanged numbers and then left for the day. Breakfast was fun, we ate sausage and eggs. I will miss the salami here.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye. Looking back, the Dominican Republic has helped our class in so many ways. For one, campo has truly helped each and every one of us to see the humanity in all of God’s children across the globe. Whether it was in the small acts of dancing at night with the locals, eating together as a community, coming up with nicknames for all of us, or trekking the treacherous mountains, we did it in unity. We were men and women with and for others. Throughout the process, we learned about some of the root causes for the difficult situation within the campo, like the lack of water sources, or power dynamics within the Dominican Republic between the Dominican and Haitian people. Something we discussed in class before the immersion was the question of whether or not these short mission trips are beneficial for all or purely beneficial for us. The main point is that it is always beneficial to experience other cultures. The Dominican Republic helped us for much more than we could have ever helped it. The DR connected us to the common ground of God’s love. It was easy to see how the people loved their community in both small and large acts. With Carmen, I saw her love in the ways she always supplied me with coffee, no matter the time, or when she let her son, Isaac, win UNO. In the community, I saw love in the way the locals gathered every night to play dominos or plucked flowers from the mountains to give to each other. The love that the Dominican people expressed is the love that our class is going to continue to portray in our daily lives.

While we are sad to leave behind our newfound Dominican brothers and sisters, we are prepared to live by the lessons that they taught us. They taught us to establish time to sip hot coffee and enjoy one another’s company. They taught us to work hard, because a minute effort can make a world of difference. They taught us to dance our hearts away, because the night is always young. Finally, they taught us to dignify one another with love and respect, and to ensure that all in our community do the same.

Signing off for one last time. It's us, your favorite people: Gang, DR. D, and Bama Swass. (Sophie, Caleigh, and Davis)

P.S. Maya’s teeth are okay. It is just hard to drink water, because the water is very cold, and the cold does not feel good on the back of my teeth. I also had to eat watermelon with my back teeth. It was a struggle. For those of you who are not my parents and have not heard the story, I fell on a rock at the waterfall as I was getting ready to jump off it, and I chipped my front two teeth. Oops. I fall a lot. All good, I have a dentist appointment on Monday. Yay!