Our Trip to North Carolina: Part 2

The next big event of our week was homecoming and the events that surrounded it. The Czech students got to be involved in putting together floats, which was a first for them.

On Friday morning, Tonya and I were asked to pick up some convertibles from a local car dealership so that the homecoming candidates could ride in them. We drove to the dealership and on the way there we decided to only pick up one of the cars. When we saw what kind of cars they were, we decided we could get both. "I want to drive that one," Tonya said, pointing to the JAGUAR that was parked there. I had to settle for a Porsche. 

The parade was fun. The seniors added the Czech flag to their pirate ship themed float. It was a very nice gesture I thought. 

At the homecoming games that night, Tonya and I were able to reconnect with some of our favorite people the whole world: our former players. Not all of them were there, but it was still wonderful to see them. We laughed, we reminisced, and cheered as a basketball player won homecoming queen. All was right in the world. 

Saturday evening my family met us for dinner at Champps resturant at Southpoint mall in Durham. Our students got an auhentic USA restaurant experience, with oversized portions and free refills. We finished the night racing go-karts. it was a blast.

Sunday we met for lunch and said our goodbyes to our host families. As we drove off in the bus to the airport, a student said, "I love these people." It was such a simple and perfect response to the hospitality shown to us that week.

If you helped in any way, thank you so much. We could not have done it without you.

Special Thanks to:

GRACE Christian School, Mandy Gill, Isaiah Whelpley, Don Payne and Sean Blesh.
Red Branch Baptist Church for giving us a van to drive, free of charge.
My parents, for all your generosity.
AJ and Dottie, for loaning us your van.
Jennifer, for having your baby while we were there so we could meet him.