The last full day

Today, as our fun day, we started out with a wonderful extra hour of sleep, which was desperately needed by all  the team members.  From there, we had a delicious breakfast of toast, egg casserole, and beans. We then headed out to a beach in Bucerias and had a fun time playing in the Pacific Ocean and walking on the beach (for most of us it was the first time in the Pacific). Some of us decided to try bartering and explored the local flea market. Stephanie used her mad Spanish skills and got Michele, Tami, herself, and I awesome backpacks for a steal. Then it was time to head back to the church and have lunch. Once we ate the delicious spaghetti, we were on our way to the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta. Once there, we split into groups and ventured into the amazing boardwalk. The ocean was on one side and shops were on the other--- it was completely breathtaking! The group I was in was split up and Gary and I ended up walking together. We eventually walked the whole length of the beach and saw some people parasailing and thought it looked fun, so we walked down there to check it out. What actually ended up happening was Gary and the Mexicans doing the sailing, talked me into going up and doing it. It was amazing! I could see the whole view of the shore as it climbed into the mountains. Ten minutes later I was down and we were walking back to our meeting place at the small amphitheater. When we got there a mime was doing an act and it was really cool to watch. We started to walk away and he wanted money so everyone got their pesos together and I walked down to put it in the hat. As soon as I got close, he got out a fake dog and scared me with it as I dropped my pesos into his hat. We left to go eat at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company which is a restaurant themed around the movie Forest Gump.  While we were waiting for our food a very funny Clown came and made balloon rings for the woman and hats for everyone. Phyllis' hat had a flower on it and read "Queen Over Everything", Hannah had a duck on hers which read "Baby Girl" and everyone else had other cool designs and funny names. Dinner itself was fantastic. I had a Mahi Mahi fish and other people had fish and chips, fried chicken, Cajun shrimp, etc. Then after some last minute shopping we successfully made it home from a very exciting day. Once we got  back to the hotel, we had our last team meeting for the trip. Everyone packed and got ready for our airplane ride home. Even though we are excited to go home to see our families and sleep in our own beds, we will all miss the the people at La Fuenta and everyone we were with.
Elizabeth Lanham