Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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50 Random Things for the last 2 months…
 
  1. I used an ATM machine the other day. Money came out. And it struck me hard how much of a blessing that simple action truly is. How rare it is! I’d been in rural northern Rwanda and Southern Sudan for the past 60 days and I may have met only one person in that entire 2 months who has that same luxury. No exaggeration.
  2. It took 7 of us men 1 land cruiser, 2 buses and 2 taxi’s to get from Yei, Southern Sudan to Nairobi, Kenya passing through the entire country of Uganda. We started a timer when we left, no hotel rooms, 44+ hours. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. Please fly if you can afford it.
  3. Hearing of the Arab North in Sudan, for years, using Antanov’s (Russian made planes) to drop massive bombs on the people of Yei, Southern Sudan after Yei was liberated by the SPLA in March of 1997.
  4. Seeing too many people in church with missing limbs.
  5. Watched 3 movies in one day… because I can. Chance doesn’t come up often.
  6. In South Sudan you could hear the “buzz” of the bathroom (squattie pottie) from at least 10 feet away. That’s A LOT of mosquitoes!!!
  7. Sat on a stack of lumber in the back of a lumber truck while hitchhiking in South Sudan.
  8. Pumped water from the well each morning for bathing & laundry.
  9. Getting tested for Malaria and Typhoid twice in the same week because your 102 degree fever won’t break, and you’re tired of lying in your own sweat and being confined to your bunk while all your teammates and friends enjoy Nairobi.
  10. Cutting your beard like Wolverine in X-Men because it itches and you’re bored
  11. Buying a guitar for Paul in Rwanda and for the next 4 days straight you NEVER once saw that man without that guitar in his hands.
  12. Old Sudanese ladies coming up to the front of church and grabbing your hand to dance with you in front of the entire congregation.
  13. Coming out after church and finding 20+ kids climbing all over the truck like they’ve never seen anything like it.
  14. Stepping foot in yet another orphanage filled to capacity with precious kids who’s lost their parents to war and disease.
  15. Talking with the watchmen, Richard, of the dreamland orphanage, about his family that are all dead now, his wife, twins and youngest baby were all murdered.
  16. Waking up 2 feet above my bus seat and looking over at Evan who is also flying in midair above his seat like… what is happening? The bumpiest bus rides I have ever experienced.
  17. Had to walk 4 miles in each direction in South Sudan to find internet or a cell signal.
  18. Pitched my tent on top of the upper bunk because I didn’t have a mosquito net and that’s basically what a tent is.
  19. Saw Mt. Kilimanjaro from the window of the airplane.
  20. Spent 3 days relaxing on a white sand beach in Zanzibar.
  21. Watching my teammate have to ask the bus driver to stop in the middle of no where so he can go into the bushes beside the bus for an emergency bathroom break. FYI, don’t eat the chapatti from street vendors in Koboko, Uganda.
  22. Drank Ugandan moonshine one night in Rwanda and met the guy that sneaks it across the border to deliver it.
  23. Being brought to tears by the wall of smell in the guy’s room at the hostel where 9 of us men slept, with all our gear & clothes. We’re in our 9th month of travelling through 2nd and 3rd world countries. You can imagine the smell! Maybe?
  24. Became comfortable with being stared at 24/7 no matter where you go
  25. Saw the most amazing moonrise of my entire life in Zanzibar.
  26. Preached for the first time (Nygatare, Rwanda).
  27. Dodged landmines and traveled deep into the forest for a church service in South Sudan.
  28. Seeing goats, cows, chickens, monkeys and donkeys out in the middle of the road has become common.
  29. Used 6 different types of currency (US Dollar, Ugandan Schilling, Rwandan Franc, Sudanese Pound, Kenyan Schilling, Tanzanian Schilling).
  30. Crossed the Ugandan border 3x at $50 per crossing.
  31. Had a guy sitting behind us, piss on the bus.
  32. Listened to Samson speak of his childhood growing up in a village in South Sudan where he had to play quietly with his friends for fear of the rebels hearing him, capturing him and forcing him to fight and kill.
  33. Of the entire 2012 Summer Olympics I saw one preliminary swim one day at dinner. How were the Olympics everyone?
  34. Had my first handwritten boarding pass ever for a flight to Zanzibar.
  35. Woke up to see that some critter of unknown origin ate a hole in my backpack.
  36. Brought the congregation to absolute laughter when our team tried to sing a song that let’s say didn’t go so well. But hey… we tried… and it was so funny.
  37. Met too many people who lived the last 21 years of their life outside their home country of South Sudan due to civil war and bloodshed.
  38. Wore the same clothes at least 4 days in a row.
  39. Slept in 12 different beds in the last 60 days.
  40. Ran into a random home after getting caught in a rainstorm on my walk back in South Sudan, ended up playing cards with the kids until the rain cleared.
  41. Don’t even think twice about eating my meals with my hands because silverware isn’t even an option.
  42. Jumped a good 6 feet out from the couch while watching a movie on my computer when I noticed a rat had crawled out next to me.
  43. Continue to eat food and meat parts that I cannot identify.
  44. Almost lost my mind when a breakfast burrito and cup of brewed coffee were placed in front of me in Nairobi, Kenya after spending the month prior in South Sudan.
  45. Been bitten by 894,670 mosquitoes… ok that’s an exaggeration but too many to count.
  46. Met some amazing and remarkable people who have taught me a lot about myself and about life.
  47. Beginning to understand the importance and power of focusing on one life at a time.
  48. Spent 3 weeks sleeping only 28 miles from a very very dangerous Congo border.
  49. Come to realize that the real difference-makers in this world are those that step up. And that you can do the same, if you really want.
  50. Received this email from our contact in Malaysia after we had left: Anyway we are doing great but the kids are missing you. Latest World Race team arrived this month. Joash (Kumar’s 4 year old son) saw them and asked us: "Where is Joe? He said he would come and take us somewhere." Kenrick (Kumar’s other son) cried the day after you guys left Gua Musang. He said: "I'm sad that Joe is gone."