The Final Countdown

Our final countdown (last full week) started on Easter Sunday. Josh participated in a service for the last time, as crucifer and then by assisting during the Gospel processional. 

The Kreys invited us over that evening to celebrate Easter, their oldest daughter's 17th birthday, and a visit from DR seminary graduate Kevin and his new wife Valentina. I contributed a salad to our turkey dinner. Afterwards, we played an intense, 16-person game of spoons. Becca, eliminated early, played a different song each round. One of them might have actually been "The Final Countdown," but I'm not positive. I might have gotten 4-of-a-kind a couple of times...

...which propelled me into the final - against Josh! I promise there was no collusion happening, and Josh was victorious in the end. 

We essentially had one event per day scheduled the rest of the week, filling the rest of our time with cards, naps, Amazon Prime, and packing. Of course we hit the botanical garden first thing every morning, and stopped at our favorite roadside produce stand to support the avocado toast habit Josh recently picked up. 

With the Stigdons, our frequent garden walking buddies. 

If you ever need a perfectly ripe avocado, look no further than Michael. 

Monday: Lunes de jazz

Tuesday: All-team Meeting

Well, just English worship and a potluck for us; we got to skip the "meeting" portion ;) I debuted the Dominican dress Josh got me for Christmas, and after a scrumptious Taco Tuesday meal, the team regaled us with a photo slideshow, lots of kind parting words, and a print of the Dominican by former missionary Lizz Warren that everyone had signed. 

Wednesday: Lunch at the Webers'

Unfortunately, we didn't take a final selfie with these dear friends who adopted Josh early on for lunch every Wednesday and eventually took me on as well. In solidarity with Iran, Katie made shawarma. 

Thursday: Lunch with Spanish Teachers

We had some AM errands to run at the mall (on the way to the restaurant), so we killed time at a local coffee shop before lunch. 

Josh had both Neli (2nd from right) and Lucía (far right), two of the five instructors at LAC's in-house language institute, at one time or another. I busted out the dress again since I knew they'd appreciate it. 

Friday: DR Ladies' Night

This was billed as a combined bachelorette/going away party that I'll share more about in a separate post, but here's a sneak peek: 

"I Will Be a Wife"

Saturday: Dinner with the Reyes Family

Josh worked extensively with Victor as part of his "Chamos" volleyball league NGO; he's also a member of Josh's vicarage congregation. Even though it poured down rain and we couldn't eat outside on their rooftop terrace (check out his view of the monument below!), we enjoyed ribs and indoor fellowship with Victor's entire family. 

And with that, we'd made it to the FINAL final countdown: our last full day in the DR. To be continued...

Until next time, blessings in Christ!