We survived our first Race Day in Thailand! For over 6 hours four members from each team raced ALL over Bangkok. Our racers were Mark, Sarah, Christie, and I. Although we did not win the first race, we were winners in our hearts!
The race consisted of a list of tasks to complete in no particular order, with pictures verifying each. The highlight of our race for team Seven:Eleven actually occurred within the first 10 minutes of the race. One of the tasks required that someone on our team bowl a strike at a bowling alley. Our team headed to the local bowling alley and made it there after two of the other teams were already in the process of bowling. Well our champion bowler of the team, Christie, throws on her bowling shoes, picks up the nearest bowling ball, and rolls a perfect strike her first time up! Oh, the joy that brought our team to be one of the last teams on the bowling alley and the first to run out the door and on to our next task!
The rest of the day went well also. We had about eleven tasks to complete which included trips to a local Hindu Temple, pictures beside the lovely Versace, Gucci, Burberry, and Maserati stores in the fanciest mall I’ve ever seen. We also had to buy mangosteen, rambutan, durian meat, and farang (types of fruit) at a local market. Other aspects of the race included locating the Nana district and finding one of the three Starbucks which had a June Racer waiting to receive her birthday gift, visiting the tallest building in all of Thailand known as the Bayoke Song (song means 2 in Thai), and finally ending at the Suan Lum Night Market which is totally cool and full of restaurants and shopping. By the time we reached the market though, all we could think about was getting some water and stopping sweating from the intense humidity and major running we had just done.
Overall, the race was a great experience, especially because my team worked so well together. Even with the urgency and competition, we never got too frustrated or impatient with each other. I’m so excited for our team and cannot wait to see how God brings us together over the next year.
