Friday, July 30

Hello Blog Readers,

It is the last day of Costa Rica. No more long work days, no more sweaty clothes, no more beans and rice for every meal, no more of Austin Fletcher getting hit on the head with shovels, and no more of Wes Cole's text message interceptor. This trip will not be one for us to forget because it is simply unforgettable. From day one this trip has been nothing but fun for the whole lot of us.Through all the games of soccer, football, ultimate frisbee, and the countless games of ninja, this trip has been full of activity and vibrance and crammed full of entertainment for us all. Music was like water to us all, it was a necessity of our lives. I cannot tell you how many times I caught Lauren Bagwell and Katie McDaniel singing random songs throughout the day or the numerous amount of times I catch Gus Blessing and Phil Dieke dancing like there was no tomorrow. But not all of our time here was fun mind you. We had 4 long, grueling, exhausting days of working down to our bones shoveling rocks and sand, mixing concrete, wheelbarrowing, painting, landscaping, which was all mixed with buckets of sweat and many square inches of sunburn. The physical aspects of this excursion are by far not the best part of this trip. It's the emotional side of the trip that realy plucks the heartstrings and hits me harder than any bag of cement could. Every single person is so inclusive in everything we do! People are just friendly beyond belief. I have seen small things from two people sitting on each other's lap and people sharing water bottles on the bus to a whole room of people holding hands in unison all for the same beliefs and thoughts and feelings to create a singular energy that cannot be describe by words because at the sheer thought of it, the energy takes those words you would use to describe it, and remove them from your mind because the feeling that is felt in that single moment is indescribable to those that have not felt it. This trip has changed my life and that of my peers, and if there was to be a highlight reel of the life of Chase Dalton, I can say without hesitance, that this moment in time would be included because this small fragment of the gigantic timeline in the history of our world has had the biggest impact on me. And to me, it is a crucial time in my life, and I cannot wait for my next trip to the magical, entertaining, life-altering, emotion-filled, action-packed land that is Costa Rica. We will see you when we get home!

-Chase Dalton-