Our last day in the DR was full of laughter and bonding from beginning to end. It kicked off with the girls successfully pranking the boys for the second time, followed by a delicious stack of pancakes. After the laughter had died down from the prank, it suddenly hit us that we were watching the sun rise over the misty Dominican valley for the last time. It was bittersweet knowing that we had a full day ahead of us with the girls at the Mariposa foundation although it would be our last.
So we embarked on our daily party bus driven by DJ Juan Martin making a stop at the local public school where we were greeted by a very enthusiastic principal. After receiving a tour of the grounds we were all much more appreciative of both our beautiful learning environment and advanced education system.
Upon arrival at the Mariposa foundation we immediately assumed our usual positions that we had now become accustomed to and grabbed the hand of our favorite little girls then ran off to play. We savored every moment we had with them knowing we didn't have much longer, but the party we had to look forward to at the end of the day keep us in good spirits. The activities we had planned for the girls the previous night quickly dissolved into a party themselves as the girls ended up just running loose and taking numerous pictures. With photoshoots galore, every Mariposa girl had mastered the art of the selfie. We had prepared a slideshow of our own for the girls, composed of the best out of the thousands of photos accumulated throughout the week. Immediately after the slideshow ended a heavy feeling of sadness fell over us all and we knew the time had come to say our goodbyes. Hug-a-palooza broke loose across the grounds of the foundation as we said "Adios" to every little girl, whether we had had her by our side the entire time or only said the occasional "Hola". After exchanging Facebook information; we were simultaneously holding back our tears while mentally planning our return trip to the Dominican Republic and the Mariposa foundation. We boarded our bus and headed back to the hotel to pack for our very early flight.
-Mati & Leia
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