Howdy from the Deep South! When we started out on this journey we decided that our team motto would be “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. Little did we know that we would actually experience the meaning behind that phrase. We have learned how important it is to not only look beyond our comfort zones, but to dream and actually reach beyond them. We had dreams when we left San Diego for the Deep South but we didn’t know they’d be realized before the month of May. We have had the incredible blessing of experiencing so many “firsts” with our teammate Santo. So here is a brief narrative of some highlights of our journey in pictures.

It all started at the San Diego airport when we finally became complete
Shortly thereafter we found out pancakes are what Santo would love to eat.
Later we made it to our first host home in Jackson, Miss.
And just like our team date with Team Texas, it was pure bliss.

Despite the cold water, Santo jumped into his first pool like a duck.
A bit later, he experienced his first ice cream truck!
The fun doesn’t stop there though, because then he went on his first jet-ski Whoop!
Guess what—the very next day he learned how to hula-hoop.

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen came to a screening and showed her support

And Santo got to play his first Deep South game of soccer—his favorite sport.
We made some dear friends in Orlando—we had lots of fun on the lake
And later at Disney… to be away makes our hearts ache.

Cover the Night included trash clean-up, exciting!
And a whole lot of students’ letter-writing.
There was chalking galore
& murals were painted to end this war.

We’ve seen the most wondrous sunsets
& cityscapes we’ll never forget.
The people are most beautiful of all.
That’s all for now folks, peace out y’all.