Our Last Day

Hey this is Shannon Dominic and Emily Hoffmann (and Nicole Stenerson) writing to you all from Guatemala on our last night here. Today was filled with bittersweet moments that we will never forget. Our morning started out with our usual routine of breakfast made by our very talented Sinito, devotions, and getting ready for manual labor of brick hauling. We then took a special trip to the NPH high school house, which is located just outside of town. It was really interesting seeing how kids our age live in this situation. Following the trip, we returned to our brick hauling and finally concluded our sweat-filled manual work here at NPH (and let us tell you, that was very good feeling). So with the physical work finished, we took in every last possible moment to hang out with the pequenos. Music was shared, smiles were exchanged, and many laughs filled the afternoon. We weren’t prepared for the surprise that awaited us before dinner and were blown away by a talent show put on by the pequenos. Three different age groups danced up a storm like it was Dirty Dancing Havana Guatemalan Nights! As if that wasn’t enough, we were all presented with Guatemalan satchels and a side of many hugs. Dinner followed the gifts and a spontaneous dance party erupted in the middle of the cafeteria (started by none other than Stevo). So many moves were busted but nothing could top the moves of the joy-filled, smile adorned pequenos. Leaving this cafeteria could not have been more difficult. Although we miss our home in Minnesota, NPH has become our second home and leaving those kids on our last night was one of the hardest things we’ve had to do thus far. Now we’re all back at our dormitory and about to start our nightly devotions. Reminiscing on this past week and a half, we learned things we never expected to learn. One of the most obvious was the amazing ability to share smiles, laughter and most importantly love even though a language barrier stood in the way. We’ll always remember this trip for the rest of our lives. Looking forward to hot showers, our own beds, personal space and your much missed faces when we land in Minnesota. See you all very soon!