Gainsville, Georgia. You might ask, “where in the world is that?” and all I have to say to you is “exactly”. It is an extremely hot and humid (especially being from CA where we have a drought) city where there are lots of trees and rain and mosquitos.
I spent the past 10 days of my life in the armpit of Georgia with some pretty rad people and a pretty rad God. It was the most draining 10 days of my life, but in the best way. I left the camp with some of the best friends and sisters I will have for the rest of my life.
Teams:
I was one of 7 girls in my squad to be chosen as a team leader!! This is super exciting news because I love the girls in my team and I know that as a team we are all going to build eachother up in love and in the way of Christ. I am super blessed already after 10 days by the girls in my team, I can only imagine how much they will have blessed me after 9 months! All the term “team leader” means is that I facilitate debriefs, deal with logistics, and help us all work as a team of sisters in Christ.
CAMBODIA!!!!!!!!
THEY ADDED CAMBODIA TO OUR ROUTE!
Instead of starting off with 3 months in Thailand, we will be spending a month in Cambodia and then 2 months in Thailand, followed with 3 months each in Malawi and Guatemala. YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!
Food:
I ate crickets, tripe (lining of a cow’s stomach), and other weird animal parts in training for the next year. Each day we had a different region of cuisine. The dishes from my favorite days were from India, Eastern Europe and Africa. The weirdest day was “Adventure Day” which showed us the kinds of food we will eat when we travel on our off days away from the towns we are stationed in. This is when we ate crickets for breakfast and tripe, liver, chicken gizzards, along with other mystery meat for lunch. I feel more prepared now to take on the foods of the world!!
Fitness:
Almost every morning, we had to do some sort of excercise at 7am before breakfast. Our biggest physical goal necessary to accomplish was hiking 3 miles in under 50 min wearing our pack (about 40-50 pounds). I am proud to say that everybody on my squad accomplished this goal! Our pack on the race carries our everything we will need. This includes a tent and rainfly, hammock, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, bowl, utensils, computer, journals, clothes and shoes, towel, toiletries, water filter, and smaller essentials.
NO running water:
Instead of showering or going to the bathroom anywhere with running water, we used buckets to shower and porta potties. p.s. It was so hot outside that after I took a shower I walked back to my tent and immediately started sweating.
Scenarios:
There were different overnight training scenarios that Adventures in Missions put us through as training, but I want them to be a surprise if incoming racers are reading these blogs!!
Sessions:
We had about two sessions every day teaching us all the cultural differences we will need to know to survive and not get into big trouble while traveling through the different countries.
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“The Lord bless you and keep you, may The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you, may The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26
xo Annie
