Tuesday January 14, 2014
Today was our last day working at the sites and saying goodbye to the neighbors was a little bit sad. We worked until 1pm then all traveled to a church in Balanya for a goodbye ceremony with both families, the masons we worked with, the affiliates and our team. Many kind words were said and everyone seemed very grateful for the help we rendered. To the affiliates, thank you for organizing everything so well and making sure we had everything we needed at the worksites. To the families, thank you for allowing us to come into yours lives for a short period of time and work on your future homes. To the masons, thank you for being willing to teach us new tasks and not getting annoyed or angry with us when we would take breaks to play with the kids or nap after lunch. To Lila and Melissa, our field coordinators, thank you for being so helpful both at the worksite and the hotels and for taking time to play games with us in the evenings and get to know us on a more personal level. To Dr. Schafermeyer thank you for organizing a fantastic trip, being a great leader and making sure everyone was having a good time. To Dr. Zlatic, thank you for always giving us a good laugh and for making class fun while teaching us lessons we will certainly take with us into our future careers. To Mrs. Zlatic, thank you for always being willing to translate or teach us anytime we were having trouble speaking Spanish. And last, but certainly not least, thank you to our team of students. You guys were incredible. Thank you for being willing to step outside your comfort zone and learn new tasks, for being willing to try new foods, and for taking time out of your lives to travel to a new country to help others. I sincerely hope each of you had a wonderful experience and will take with you memories and lessons that will last a lifetime.
~Lauren
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