No Service Anonymous

The plane landed, and immediately seat belts flew off and iPhones came out. It had been six hours since the plane took off, and therefore six hours since my phone had internet. I had to check every social media platform for anything I could've missed, but nothing would load. I looked at the upper left corner of my phone's screen. No Service. I was in the Dominican Republic; of course my phone wouldn't have service. Amidst all the excitement of the trip, I had forgotten this unfortunate detail.

I disembarked the plane with five girls from my school and smiled at the sun as the February snow from back home in Rhode Island became a distant memory. After a three-hour bus ride, we arrived at our destination — Angostura EcoLodge. Everywhere I looked, there were either mountains or trees. It was beautiful, but after just one night, we had a list of things we hated about the place. The showers were cold, the windows didn't shut, and we were woken by roosters early every morning. Worst of all, there was no service. As six technology-crazed teenagers, we felt completely isolated from the world.

The initial shock faded as the mission trip began. We spent the first day planting strawberries, the second building bathroom stalls for the...