We made it home around 10:30 last night after a long day of flights. Everything went smoothly except there was about an hour delay from Atlanta to Des Moines. Everyone was pretty tired so there was a lot of sleeping going on during the flights.
To say I am exhausted would be a pretty good understatement. I have never worked that hard for a week straight in my life. I went to bed last night when I got home, and have been taking long naps in between grabbing food and checking work emails. Yesterday as well, there were some of the team members that had uneasy stomach aches and I was one of them. Its scary going on a plane for three hours when your stomach is pretty unsettled. All went well, and we made it home safe and sound. I am still not feeling the best, but that is expected with the change of food and things like that. I am dealing with the after shock a little better this year. Last year I took it pretty hard as far as feeling guilty of all the things I came back to after seeing how happy the Dominican people were with all they didn't have. The great people of the Dominican are constantly in my thoughts though, as I have been telling family and friends about the memories of the trip. I am sure it will take a week or so to get back to normal and feel "right" again, but I would do it all again in a heart beat.
Saturday morning we took one last final tour of the campus and hung out for a bit before we took off for the resort. We all went and helped serve the students breakfast in the new kitchen, and that was a pretty amazing sight to see. There was a proud moment for all of us as Project 52 donated quite a bit of the supplies that it takes to make the food each morning. The kids are so happy to have the food available to them so you can't help but smile in that kitchen. We took team pictures under the gym sign that was made in memory of Treye as well. It was extremely bitter sweet to leave camp Saturday morning. On one hand you can't wait to get back home to see your family and friends, but on the other hand, you want to stay down there forever to help Lighthouse School and the people of the Dominican in any way possible. The community down there holds a special place in my heart and always will. It even rained during our daily devotions on Saturday morning. It was a pretty amazing sight to see the rain falling down when it hasn't rained in the Dominican for quite some time.
Saturday afternoon we went to Columbus Square and shopped a bit. We then took off for the resort for a day of rest and relaxation (and drinks) by the ocean. We spent the afternoon on the ocean talking about memories and playing volleyball. It is always good to have a day of relaxation to get to know the team better. One of my favorite parts of the trip is getting to know the team better and by the end being pretty sad leaving everyone for the last time.
Saturday night was really fun as well. The resort has shows each night where they dance and sing and do that type of stuff. We were all sitting in the front row when they had their dancers come down and pick out 12 guys. Everyone who knows me knows that I do NOT dance or anything like that, so of course I got chose to go up on stage. As well as Adam, Chad, Matt, Ryley, Scott, Wayne, and Mark. We had a specific dance we had to do by ourselves, and the winner was chose by how loud the crowd got when they called your name. It was hilarious and Toni Nederhoff took videos that hopefully will make their way to Facebook soon. Ryley eventually won the dance contest and it was possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen.
That pretty much wrapped up the trip. We had a few more drinks and called it a night, and the rest is history.
This trip was a lot like one I went on last year. Though there was not a specific "thing" we needed to get done, we worked extremely hard so deserved the day at the resort. We didn't really get off the campus much, other then for church and the community walk, but I had seen it all last year so it was good to get work done at camp.
It is pretty hard to talk about the trip right now. We talked in our last meeting how we try to tell people how the trip was, but it is almost impossible to sum it all up. People from America just do not get how the Dominican people live unless they see it. The poverty level there is terrible, they do not have running water usually, and they do not get the privilege to have cable or the internet at any time they want it. I always feel guilty coming home to a nice apartment that has warm running water with cable and internet. Luckily, there are many pictures and videos we took that sums up what it is like in the Dominican pretty well.
The trip for me was enlightening. It is so nice to go down there for a week and work hard for a great cause. It seems as if we get so caught up in work and life so much that we do not have time to step back and take a look at our life here at realize that we actually do have it pretty well here. We get stuck complaining about all types of things that go wrong, when in actuality, a lot of the problems we have are not that big of a deal. I am not meaning to say that all of our issues are not big deal, but a lot of them are not worth getting worked up about. When I get down to the Dominican and see how much love and care the people have for everyone, it gives me hope. Hope that proves there still is good in this world filled with evil. The Dominican people have the biggest hearts and I love being down there. It also makes me hope and pray that eventually people in the states can become more and more like the people of the Dominican.
It was also refreshing to disconnect from the internet and television for a week. I get so caught up in watching shows and being on the internet that it was really nice to just take a break from that for a while. I know I was on the internet each night blogging, but that was it. Life can be simple and I am going to try to make my life as simple as possible.
The trip was something I was looking forward to from the moment I got back last year and it didn't disappoint. I just can't get over how grateful the Dominican people are with what they have. Like I said in a previous post, the people here are content and I love that about them. They love the American people and know that we are there to help them, so they show us a lot of love.
The last thing I will say is that I really enjoy how much the team comes together for a common goal. It is so nice to have strangers come together to work hard and become a family by the end of the trip. I will never forget the 9 days we spent together and the memories that were made.
I said I would post a link to the blog from Jon Kelling. He was on the trip and blogged about it while we were down there. He blogs on a regular basis so his blogs are so much better to read then mine. The one he wrote about Debbie, a worker on the camp, was great. I encourage everyone reading this to check out his blogs from the trip. Debbie is a girl that I look up to even though she is younger than me. She is a hard working girl and is striving to be the best person she can be. This blog really touched me because when you meet her you know she is going to do something special in her life.
http://my-fathersvoice.blogspot.com/2013/02/rolling-santo-domingo-style.html
That is really all that I have right now. I want to thank Bill Clark for running the Mission Trip so well. He is the best leader we could have asked for and he deserves all the credit. Also, I want to thank Pastor Jon Dawson from Sioux Falls. He led the daily devotions, and does an incredible job. He is the type of Pastor that connects with everyone so well and I could listen to him spread the word all day. I also want to thank my family and friends for all the support and prayers along the way. Lastly, I want to thank my finance Lindsey for cleaning the apartment before I got home and also picking us up at the Airport last night. Even though the apartment is already dirty with my luggage, its the thought that counts!
Lastly I just wanted to thank everyone who read my blogs along the way. I do it as a way to journal my memories as well as give people an insight to the people who have never been down to the Dominican. I encourage everyone to look into going on a Mission trip. It will change your life in the best way and will be something you never forget.
I will post pictures that I took on my Facebook page, and you can also check out a lot of pictures from the Lighthouse Schools Facebook Page. The search for them is under LightHouse Projects.
Please do not hesitate to ask any questions you may have about the trip. I love telling stories and sharing memories from the trip.
Thanks again, and I look forward to connecting with you all soon!
Take Care,
Corey
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