Orientation Day!

Today we got to sleep in for like the ONLY time all summer.

The interns and I had orientation, there are only about 9 of us this summer.

Our job is to oversee the outreach missions teams that come to the base (just like I did in January) and to be an assistant to our site leader.

I will be at the girl's sports site, working with my site leader Jess. She is who I was with when I came in January, and whom I immediately clicked with back then, and was so excited to jump on her this morning when she came to see me!

We met with our "bosses" Josh and Vicki to go over rules, responsibilities and things like that.

It was a little bit overwhelming, but after a bit, I think i'll get the hang of it. I hope! One of the major things we have to do, is for every team that comes.. we take them into the city of Jarabacoa and hang out with them as they shop and show them the stores to go to there and stuff, and we don't have a staff member with us, it's just US.. we are their main leader.That made me very nervous, especially since I don't know Spanish, like.. at all.

But to help us know the city a little bit better, we went to lunch, then we had a scavenger hunt. We had to find each store on there, then take a crazy picture in front of it, then when showing the pictures, come up with a unique way to present them. Mack and I will put the pictures up later, but we split up us four girls, and the three boys. Boys vs. Girls. Needless to say.. the girls definitely won :)

We went to ice cream afterwards, and are now taking a two hour break before dinner. There isn't really anything planned for after dinner.. But I know that we will find something fun to fill our time with :)

Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. I've Arrived

My day of traveling wasn't the most fun either.

I started it off with only 2 hours of sleep (b/c i was nervous, anxious, and stuffed up), I also woke up with a swollen left eye that was so red I couldn't see the white part of it. My nose was also red from being blown, and I was still really stuffed up. I'm not sure what I was allergic to, or if the fact that I had a lot of makeup on t

he day before made any difference, who knows? I immediately put on my glasses and started my trip to the airport, my good friend David Maurer drove me.

Then I realized that I had left my make-up bag with no

t only my make-up in it, but my toothbrush, other toiletries, and the phone charger I needed. I silently tried not to get frustrated, and just prayed that the

battery would last for the time I needed it to.

I've never traveled internationally by myself, and for some reason I was scared, nervous, and freaking out to say the least. It's a completely different ballgame than traveling home to Cali alone. I think I talked to one person, for a little bit. But other than that, no other words came out of my mouth for the entire day.

I got off the plane in Santiago, at around 8:30, and went to get in line to get my tourist card then go through immigration, then customs. As I was standing in line for my tourist card I saw the director Lowell waiting for me, but then I saw the most familiar face of all, Mackalah. I have never been so excited to see a familiar face in my life!

We drove back to the base talking and laughing, when we got back I got to meet all the other interns. They all s

eem really nice, and one boy is even from Chico, Ca.. which is close to my hometown!

I unpacked, and set up me and Mackalah's room with my stuff, played on my computer a little and went to sleep.

Here are some pictures of what our room looks like :)

Our room.. Mackalah and trying to get out of the picture.

The bathroom...

My bed.. Mackalah let me have the big one.. and soon another girl will join us in our room on the top bunk.

Jordan and Jered's Wedding

I was so excited to be apart of two of my special friend's once in a lifetime days!

It was a wonderful day, and everything went as planned, and it was so beautiful for the both of them.

It was also a very hectic day, and I knew that this was going to kick-off my summer of craziness. Some of the events weren't what I was hoping for.

The night before the wedding, a few of the bridesmaids and some of our friends were playing cards, and my phone dropped into my drink. I quickly tried to save it, but it still got wet. I let everything dry, and it worked for the rest of the night, so I thought I was good to go.

The next morning was wedding day! I knew it was going to be a busy day, so I packed the night before and then loaded into Kate's car. As I was turning on my phone, I noticed it actually wouldn't turn on. I tried not to freak out, but remembering I was leaving the country the next day, that was kind of hard.

Kate's mom was SO amazing to me the whole week I was there. She was willing to help me with whatever I needed. After finding out about my phone she quickly suggested I change over to Kate's old phone so that I would have at least some form of communication as I was traveling and then she offered to do it for me.

So we headed to the church to get ready, hair done, makeup done.. you know.. the works!

Kate's mom then called to tell me I needed to be there in person, so I borrowed a car and drove to meet her. I got my phone all switched over and thought that the day was starting to look up.

I realized that having a phone was way worse than having a big zit on my face, or getting a present from mother nature that morning that I was complaining about earlier... it just added to my worries and stresses :)

I had so much fun with the other bridesmaids and Jordan, getting ready, taking pictures, being goofy, walking down the aisle, and taking group pictures. It was a full day that ended with such a cute reception that we all ended up dancing like crazy people at together!

We saw the newlywed couple off, and knew that this was the last day in a long time that all of us would be together for a while. It was a sad feeling, but I was also excited for what the summer was going to hold.

Weekend Before Leaving

So first of all can I just say that packing up all you own and separating it into three different places is really hard?

I had to do that with everything I owned in Greenville the weekend of graduation. Luckily, I had roommates and my mom to help me calm down and put everything in order. But of course I still forgot things that were important.

I had to pack for my next semester at Greenville, living in the Walker's basement and everything I would need there. Next, I packed my suitcases for the Dominican. Then I added things in those suitcases in which I would need for my two weeks home after the Dominican, and also the things I would need before Jordan's wedding. It was crazy and insane, for the most part I figured it out!

The weekend before I left was graduation, in which my whole family was together again. It was so awesome to finally have them there, and to be able to share in another big step in my life. I thought that graduating would be a time in which I cried like a baby, but since I'm coming back in the fall for my student teaching, I knew that I would see most of the people again. That didn't stop me from taking as many pictures as I could, as my mom followed me around like my own personal paparazzi. My brother and dad left that night to start the long drive home, and I got some girl hangout time with my mom and sister. We left the next morning at about 4 in the morning, my roommate Kate drove us. Kate and I then stopped for breakfast with my wonderful friend Angie to say bye for the summer. Then we headed to Kate's hometown for the week before Jordan's wedding!