Buckle up, folks, this is a long one. Here’s a sample pack of the many questions you have all sent me. If you don’t see yours on here, have no fear! it is answered, it was just too long/too similar to fit on here, but I’ll make sure to send you my response.
Longest time between showers?
A week. I think. When we were transitioning from the village to the city in Moldova, things got pretty bad. We only sometimes had water that trickled out of a hose and it wasn’t heated and it smelled like sulfur. And it was cold outside. So I decided to just wait until we got to the hostel in the city to shower next. Also maybe Romania? It’s really hard to be motivated to shower when it’s cold outside and the water isn’t hot.
In Thailand, we were expected to shower every day. But let’s not kid ourselves. There’s no chance that happened.
Best food/most sketchy food?
Best food: Thailand. Thai street food is where it’s at. I’m going to be on the lookout for a quality Thai restaurant in New York. Suggestions are welcome. Also here in Nicaragua, but we have American hosts who are passionate about cooking, so I don’t really count that.
Most sketchy food: India? Sometimes organs ended up on my plate that I couldn’t quite identify. And they fed us weird green mush with white chunks for breakfast a few times. I honestly can’t even begin to guess what it was.
Poop stories
Sadly, (thankfully), I don’t have any great poop stories personally. Apparently I have a really baller digestive system that nothing really phases.
The worst that happened was running out of water and the toilet not flushing. No one wants that.
I can share a pee story though. We were in a village in India, and it was pretty remote. When we got there, I really had to go to the bathroom, and so I told our translator, and he asked about a bathroom. In India, there are mostly squatty potties, but by this point, that didn’t really phase me anymore. I had mastered the art of squatty potties. So I follow the lady to the bathroom, which is an outhouse behind their house. Thankfully, this one had a door on it, because many of them didn’t. But when I open the door, there’s a huge pile of sticks covering the toilet part of it. And I mean huge pile. Like up to my waist. And so I start to panic, and I call my teammate over, and say “What do I do????” And she suggested that I climb on top of the pile of sticks and try to go that way. And I said HECK NO. And so I ended up just going on the cement floor in front of the pile of sticks, and trying to rinse it down with the bucket of water that was in there. And then I get out of the bathroom, and the lady whose house it is splashes water on my feet to rinse them off. And so I have no idea if that’s what they do when they go pee, but it left me with the question of where they go poop!
What are the types of transportation you have used?
Airplane, train, boat, bus, car, minivan, tuktuk, auto, taxi, chicken bus, feet, dirt bike, moped, microvan, safari truck, pickup truck bed, semi-truck bed, elephant, electric bus.
What was the hardest thing from home to live without?
The hardest thing from home to live without was independence. I haven’t been by myself since I got to Atlanta on June 29, 2014. Like literally, never. And it’s really hard and exhausting to live that way. I find myself craving to just get up and leave and not say anything to anyone. Not to go anywhere specific, but just to be by myself. At every single second of every single day, someone has known where I am and who I am with. Isn’t that weird?
But tangibly, the thing I’ve missed the most is clothes dryers. There’s something magical about clean clothes fresh from the dryer. When you hand wash clothes, a lot of times they’re crunchy after leaving them dry in the sun, and they don’t smell nearly as good.
What was the overall theme of your year?
This is going to sound weird, but stay with me. I think one of the biggest themes was beauty. Not in a superficial way. But in the sense that I have so much worth. I am beautiful because God made me. I have value because the Lord thought about me, dreamed me up in His mind, and then used His hands to create me. I don’t need to hide who I am, but I can operate in the confidence of who God made me to be.
And I learned that that’s true for everyone else, too. You are beautiful. You have so much worth. Because the Lord dreamed you up in His mind too, and decided that you are worth creating.
And the beauty of humans as God’s creation was just so much more apparent through the beauty of the places I went. Each country was so different from the others, and so different from home. But they were all so beautiful. I would often times just find myself staring out in awe of what was surrounding me.
What was your biggest fear?
Honestly, my biggest fear was having diarrhea in a squatty potty. Thankfully that fear was never realized. My other biggest fear was doing all this, going on this trip, and at the end of it deciding it wasn’t worth it. But it was. As often as this was the worst year of my life, it was definitely the best year of my life as well. Through the struggles, I was able to see the Lord shining through. And as much as this was a journey to help others, I’m fairly certain my life was changed most of all.
What surprised you the most about yourself?
I’ve sat on this question for a few days, trying to come up with an answer. And the one I came to seems sort of silly, but it’s true. I found out I like people. I’m like meeting new people. I like finding out about their lives. Learning their stories. I actually really like children. I know. It’s shocking. I don’t believe it myself. But I’ve lived pretty much my whole life as an introvert, and through the Race, I’ve realized that stemmed mostly from my own insecurity. Yes, people still drain me when I’m around them for a long time, but I’ve gained the confidence to put myself out there and seek out meeting people. I like people. Who would have guessed.
What advice would you have for others who may think about making this type of journey?
Go into it with no expectations. Whatever you expect to happen is wrong. Learn to go with the flow. You’ll quickly learn which things in life actually matter, and money is not one of them. Nor is fashion. Or hygiene. Also, expect to buy clothes in each country. You’re not packing for 11 months. Pack for 3 months max.
What was your hardest month and why?
There were a lot of hard months, but never for the same reason. Sometimes it was hard because of team dynamics, sometimes it was hard because of living conditions, and sometimes it was hard because of ministry.
Taking all of that into consideration, I would have to say that Moldova was one of the hardest months. The place that we were supposed to do ministry for the month didn’t have enough for us to do, and so we ended up leaving after a week and moving to the city of Chisinau where we did something called Unsung Heroes. UH is when you look for ministries for future Race teams to partner with, and so you don’t really have any set ministry.
In Moldova, we were fresh off of team changes, with little organized ministry, and living in a hostel shared with other people. It was really hard to be away from my previous team, and to be searching for people to meet up with and talk to, on top of having even less privacy than usual. I was struck numerous times with my sinfulness, and found myself sitting in a pit of darkness and not knowing how to get out, and not wanting to open up about it.
But I also really loved a lot of things about Moldova. We met some really great people, and got connected with the only Christian school in the whole country.
What was the month you flourished the most and why?
For some reason it’s easier to talk about the hard months than the easier months. But I think that as much as I disliked India at the time, it’s the month I grew the most. I was so outside of my comfort zone I couldn’t even see it anymore. I was pushed to do things I had never done before, like preach, I was in a culture that wasn’t the most comfortable, I was freaking hot all the freaking time, and I was with 40 people that I didn’t know well. And so through all of these things, I was forced to rely on the Lord. I grew new appreciation for life in America, and I grew in trusting the Lord to meet me where I ended and take me the rest of the way. So I don’t know if flourishing is the right word, because it certainly wasn’t easy or comfortable, but the result was beautiful.
What country/experience changed you the most and why?
Nepal. I could not have thought up a better start to the Race. To be broken of so much week one on the trek just set the stage for the rest of the Race. We were loved and poured into so much by our hosts, and they didn’t try to hide or sugarcoat things for us. We got to go into the cabin restaurants where women sell themselves, we got to go into the slums where people live in huts made out of trash, we got to hike the mountains and see people who lived a 6 hour hike from the nearest town. But we also go to see the hope and the joy that is Christ.
It would be interesting to hear how your travels impacted the people you touched. I’m sure your squad “let their lights shine” brightly. How did this light affect the people? Positively or negatively? Was there some hesitation from people when you met them?
I joined a few questions together for this one because they’re all sort of getting at the same thing. What did people think of us? This varied widely by culture. Some cultures are much warmer and much more open in general. Some cultures are more closed off and take years and years of relationship building, and we’re there for a month.
In the warmer cultures, people sought us out. They wanted to know who we were, why we were there, and why it mattered so much to us to do this. While we definitely stood out in every single country, we were also well respected.
In cooler cultures where relationship building takes much longer, our ministry often focused more on pouring into the people who were there long term. Because while we might not have been able to make a difference, they will. And if we can encourage them and fill them and refresh them during that one month, we are helping them to last longer in the position they’re in. They won’t burn out, and they will be able to build the long lasting relationships and reach the people in those countries.
Where would you go back to live? If you could only return to one country, which would it be and why?
This is an easy one. Hands down, Nepal. It stole my heart month one. There was just something so special about the Nepali people. The ministry we worked with was awesome, and we were truly welcomed in as family. They are still the people that I contact the most, and if given an opportunity to go back, I would take it in a heartbeat.
I’ve tried to identify exactly what it was about Nepal that drew me in so much, other than our amazing hosts, and I’m not quite sure there are words for it or how to describe it. Because Nepal, it’s a broken place. It’s dirty and hurting, especially now after the earthquakes. But there is still such hope. God isn’t done yet. My host posted on Facebook that as serious as the earthquakes were and how much damaged they caused, hardly any of the hospitals were even damaged. But many of the Buddhist and Hindu temples were destroyed. And from a historical standpoint, that’s terrible. But from my standpoint, what a testament to God and his power! The Lord is about to do big things there.
Where would you go back to vacation?
If I could only choose one place, and money was no issue, it would be South Africa. It’s freaking beautiful there. And in a lot of ways it’s very western and comfortable, but it’s vacation, so there’s nothing wrong with that, right?
I got to spend a weekend in Cape Town, and that certainly was not enough time. There is so much to do and so many adventures to be had! Plus, they speak English. Which is really nice and convenient.
If I was on a budget, and was trying to be fiscally responsible, it would be Guatemala. It’s also incredibly beautiful, and there are many adventures to be had there as well. Antigua was one of my favorite places I’ve been on the Race, and I would love to go back with a bigger budget and be able to enjoy more of the restaurants that are there, but also explore more of the country as a whole.
Most beautiful place – spiritually and visually?
Visually: I don’t know if I can give one answer for the most beautiful place, so I’ll give categories.
Most beautiful place to go to the bathroom: Nepali mountains. On the side of a mountain in the middle of a cornfield, overlooking the valley and mountains beyond.
Greenest place: Cambodia. Cambodia was picturesque and wonderful and green with cute little raised houses.
Best stars: Botswana. I’ve never seen a more breathtaking set of stars. The Milky Way galaxy was in such a distinct band across the sky, and you could actually see stars twinkle.
Most beautiful city: Antigua. Every street you turned down was the cutest one you’d ever seen.
Most beautiful beach: Thailand on Elephant Island. Crystal clear water, with swings and hammocks hanging from trees just asking to be sat in.
Most beautiful clothing: India. There’s no such thing as too much color or pattern. It was beautiful to drive by and just look out the window at all of the women.
Spiritually: I think I would have to say Swaziland. The church we went to was amazing and so full of the Spirit of the Lord, and so helpful. They allowed us to worship in the band with them, and welcomed us to all of the events that they were having. And on our last Sunday, they took up a special offering for us, even though we had only been there 3 times. Everyone was so passionate and went above and beyond to help, and everyone was receptive to conversations. It was a really special place.
It’s a place that needs Jesus, because the whole population is in danger of dying out because of AIDS. But there is so much hope there, too.
If you made it here to the end, congratulations! I barely did myself, and I wrote the dang thing. Feel free to continue to send me questions, as I would love to continue to answer them. I feel like I should give you a prize or something for sticking it out, but I would have no way if you actually did or if you cheated, now would I? If you did, you can sleep well tonight knowing I’m proud of you. If you cheated, I won’t hold it against you, because lets be real, I would have done the same thing.
