The adventure begins!

35F- my seat on the plane. "Window seat, yes!" I said to myself. At least I could lean on the window to sleep. It would be a long night. My flight left at 11:45 pm and would be arriving in Atlanta at 7:35 the next morning (4:35 Seattle time). Then come walking down the plane aisle four Asians, speaking loudly. 2 sit by me. "If they talk the whole night....les voy a decir algo por que sabes que I'm tired," I thought to myself. The plane takes off, the lights turn off and the talking continues. "Aye, Dios ayudame." About 10 minutes later, silence. Yessssss. I start to doze off and the homeboy behind me starts snoring as if he's sleeping on a King size mattress with 7 pillows. "Are you kidding me!?!?!" But it's not just the normal kind of snoring....it's the snoring with his mouth hanging open mixed with funny breathing and occasional coughs. The definition of annoying. "Ok, Candice, relax. Just turn on your ipod." So I do. But does Candice have any slow, quiet music to sleep to? Of course not! So I decide to listen to "Alpha and Omega" by Isreal & New Breed. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. So after about 5 times of listening to the song and dozing in and out of sleep a few times, I thought maybe the snoring would have stopped?

Nope...needless to say, long night.

The plane arrives on time. I get off the plane and Atlanta is up and moving. There's no way I can sleep in the airport. Great. I head to the bathroom to try and freshen up. After heading to my gate and looking over my passport and boarding pass, I noticed that my ticket didn't have a seat number. What!?!??! I'm a little worried, so I go to the service desk.

"Uh, sir, my ticket doesn't seem to have a seat number on it? I can't miss this flight!" I must have sounded very nervous. He asked for my ticket, looked at me and smiled. I gave him a nervous smile back. "There you go Miss Garza. Enjoy your flight."

"Thank you sir," I said back without even glancing at the ticket. Once the Delta staff starting announcing boarding zones, I finally looked to see when I could board. No zone number. "Aye," I thought, "they just fixed it. I'm boarding anyway." They scan my ticket and I head onto the plane. As I board the plane, I look at the seat number 1D. 1D? "Cool, I get to sit in the front!"

As I go down the aisle looking for my seat, I immediately notice that my seat is indeed at the front of the plane. The very front. FIRST CLASS FRONT. "Holy crap! Is this a mistake? Should I tell someone? Maybe they messed up? Heck no, I want to sit here! What is this is someone else's seat and then I have to wait for the next flight? Crap, what do I do?" I thought to myself.

"Uh ma'am. Is this right?" I asked the stewardess.
"Yes, Miss Garza. Here's your seat. Would you like something to drink? Champagne? Orange juice? A mimosa?"
"Uhhhhhhhhh...I'll have an orange juice?" I answered, still with hesitation.
"Fantastic. Coming right up. Let me know if there is anything else you need." There was a pillow, a blanket, and a water bottle waiting for me at my seat. Another window seat.

How did this happen? I mean what are the chances? "Really, Lord? This is too awesome!" I sat down and began reading a provided magazine. As others began boarding the plane I got countless looks like, "Dang, I wish I was sitting there." I just smiled back, thinking, "Mi Dios es Grandeeeeeeeeeeee"

After a pleasant flight, I arrived in Santo Domingo. Just walking off the plane, the humidity hit me like a ton of bricks. "Here we go!" I thought.

I had to wait at the airport for about an hour for another team from Orlando that would be traveling with me to Barahona. This would be another 3 hour bumpy bus ride. That might of been the longest hour of my life. What if they left without me? I didn't know who I was looking for! I just scanned the large crowd for White people. As funny as that sounds, it was the truth! Finally I spotted a man with a COTN shirt. COTN is the organization I was coming with. I ran over and introduced myself. "O si, Dulce, te tavamos esperando."

"Gloria Dios," dije, "ya estoy lista pa irme!" Bueno ya estan todos. Vamonos.

The bus ride was quite bumpy. The traffic in the capitol was unreal. Much worse then Seattle. Maybe because there aren't any stop lights at intersections here! Everyone just kinda goes when they want. Go. Brake! Go. Brake! I could feel the headache coming...

I started dozing off, as it had been way past 24 hours since I had actually slept. Then I started seeing some flashes. The brightness woke me up. "Is someone taking pictures back there?" I asked one of my new friends. No, that's lightning. See. She pointed outside toward the mountains. Multiple strikes of bright lightning lit up the sky. I'm talking fireworks! "No way! This is incredible!!" I stayed awake watching an incredible light show, in awe of God's might hand. Never did I think lightning could be so beautiful. We still had about another hour and a half of driving and it was getting dark. Suddenly the rain starting falling, hard. "Lord, protect this bus."

The bus driver looked like he was getting nervous and I started feeling some shaking. "Oh my God, are we having an earthquake!?!?!?!" Noooooooooooo!!"

No earthquake. But suddenly the bus turned off. "Alamangas!" In the middle of nowhere!! The driver announced. "Uh, people we're having some bus problems, but don't worry I have a backup plan!"
"Lord, start this bus! Por favooooooor!!!!"

Minuets late the driver hopped back on, turned the ignition and the bus turned on.

"Alabale quien vive!!" I shouted. The dominicans on the bus laughed and said Amen. The white people looked at me like I was talking jibberish.

"I speak Spanish," I enlightened them.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, really? How did you learn?" I gave my regular shpeal...
"I know, I look White...blah, blah, blah, but I'm Mexican, blah blah blah, my grandparents are from the ranch in northern mexico blah blah blah..."

Soon enough we arrived to the casa. I met my team, settled into my room, went over some plans for the week, showered, and hit my pillow.

"Thank you Lord for getting me here safely...please just keep me healthy..."

3 Days and counting!

Since my departure from Barahona, Dominican Republic last December, I've been praying for the day that I would get to return to that small town that I'd fallen in love with. Although my purpose for going was to do some reporting on the I Love Baseball program, God's purpose was much more meaningful.

Baseball for me was work, entertainment, fun. Baseball for these guys was HOPE. Hope for a better future, an escape from poverty, a chance to better their community. What I learned in one short week is difficult to put in words, but I can say that my faith was challenged, my heart was filled with joy and compassion, and my life would be changed forever.

Now, 6 months later, God has finally said "It's your turn, mija."

I am excited. I am anxious. I am nervous. I am................GOING!

3 more days, and I will return to the place that captured my heart to teach English, inspire a team, and work with an organization with an incredible goal, to educate future MLB players in mind, body, and spirit.

Thanks for following me on this summer adventure! I am so excited to share my heart and update you on the progress of the team. Expect to see many pictures, videos, and posts on what God is doing in Barahona, Dominican Republic.

Mi Dios es Grande!
Dulce