Day 234: I went with Amaris and Clinton in the morning to buy train tickets for our travel to Budapest this weekend. Afterward we went to lunch – the restaurant blessed us with and English menu, with the first pizza name translated as Viagra (with sausage and weenies). In the afternoon we taught English. After class, our landlord cooked us a traditional Ukrainian dinner in the front yard.
Day 235: Maggie and I went to care for the abandoned babies at the hospital and then we went with Kayta to visit a Gypsy village. We both shared our testimonies at a small church service. In the evening we went to conversation night at the English school. At night we went out to tea/desert with one of the students from the school.
Day 236: Today was a full day of teaching English. Two of our students made us bracelets with the colors of the Ukraine flag!
Day 237: In the morning Maggie, Kat and I went to the Law University to speak to a group of students about life in America and the countries we have visited on the race. We met up with two of the English teachers for lunch and taught two classes in the afternoon/evening.
Day 238: We worked with our contact to put on an underground church simulation for the church youth group. Our team played the role of the missionaries, the students were church members and had to come find us for clues about where the service would be held. The youth leaders acted as secret police, and if they took a picture of us interacting with a church member we were taken to jail. After the simulation a speaker talked about the persecution he suffered during the Soviet Era in Ukraine.
Day 239: We went into town in the morning to check out the street fair. We ate lunch in town and then went home to finish packing. We said goodbye to our contact Clinton and we left at 8pm for our overnight van ride to Budapest, Hungary. We arrived at our hostel at 4am, but without a code for the door we were locked out and ended up sleeping in the van on the street.
Day 240: We spent the day in Budapest. Dusty, Marian, Tim and I went to visit underground caverns and then went to the top of a hill to overlook the city. In the evening we went out to dinner to celebrate Kat’s birthday. I forgot the candles… so I improvised with straws and pieces of napkin.
Day 241: Left for the airport early in the morning. We flew from Budapest, Hungary to Warsaw, Poland. We then went on to New York City. We had a 6 hour layover in NYC so five of us decided to run out and explore the city. At this point it was already 9am in Eastern Europe (and we hadn't slept), but Time Square was beckoning us! Dusty was really excited to eat an American hotdog. We also went to the World Trade Center site.
Day 242: We arrived back from downtown NYC in time for our 5:40am flight to Miami, FL. Most of our squad had attempted to sleep on the floor of the airport, I was finally able to get a couple ours of sleep on the plane. In Miami we rushed to our final flight into Guatemala City, followed by a bus ride to Antigua for our 4 day (whole squad) debrief. We checked in at our hostel and almost the entire squad was passed out before 3pm.
Day 243: We all woke up around 5am due to jet lag, so we got an early start to our day. We had a session in the morning, I went to lunch with Britni, and we explored the city in the afternoon. We had dinner as a team and then had another session as a squad in the evening (although some of us were a little tired).
Day 244: We had a session in the morning, followed by our team debrief with World Race staff. In the afternoon I went with Dusty and Francis to climb a hill that overlooks the city. There is a cross on top of the hill. On the way home, we bumped into my friend Jodi (who just happens to be studying abroad in Antigua this month). We also had another session in the evening.
Day 245: Our final day of 8 Month Debrief. It was great to be together with the entire squad for a few days after being separated for 3 months in Eastern Europe. We had team meetings throughout the day and in the evening we had “Family Fun Night.” Each team performed a skit followed by an amazing night of prayer and worship!
Day 246: This month we are having MANistry and Women’s Month. All of the guys are going to a ministry site on the East coast of Guatemala and the girls are split into two big teams. I am staying with 20 girls in Antigua for the month, so fortunately we didn’t have to travel today. In the morning we went shopping at the store and the outdoor market to get food for the week. In the afternoon, we had a meeting to discuss our ministry placements for the month.
Day 247: Today we met Luis (our ministry contact for the month). He works with an organization called New Generation, which focuses on education with Christian values. He also partners with nursing homes, hospitals, and orphanages. In the morning he gave us a cultural orientation and took us to visit the ruins of a monastery, where we threw coins in a wishing well. In the afternoon we went on a tour of our ministry locations and met some of the elderly we will be working with this month.
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SUPPORT UPDATE: I am FULLY-FUNDED!
Thank you so much to everyone for all of your support!
