HEAR YE, HEAR YE . . .
In the past 60 HOURS:
I was given a new team,
have been practicing a new language,
have been in three different countries,
had my bag searched four times,
FLUSHED an indisclosable amount of toliet paper,
drank Starbucks,
had to find a sweater because the a/c is freezing me out,
watched five movies,
listened to over 500 songs,
slept on an airport floor,
have been flagged TWICE for having liquids in the Beijing airport,
and had a hot shower- fo' freeeeeeeeeeee.
It's been quite the adventure but I suppose that's what
happens when you switch continents on the third month(ish) of the World Race.
Our time in Central America has come to an end and now we're off to Asia – well actually we are IN ASIA.
I'm sitting in the Beijjing International Airport on the shorter end of our layover here (a total 15 hours) and am not looking forward to our remaining flight time to Bangkok. BUT –> enough about that.
WE WERE IN AMERICA!
We had a mini layover in Miami, followed by a 6 hour layover in LAX.
Travel days can be super stressful or super random and fun.
Take for example, when the wheels of the plane touched down in Miami and Becki cheered – America!
We all laughed amongst ourselves but can I just admit to you how stoked I was to be HOME?
America will always be my home.
I was joking about kissing the ground but I really would have done it.
(Customs even welcomes you home.)
Suddenly I was surrounded by ENGLISH speaking people.
I could flush toliet paper,
I was FREEZING because there was air conditioning,
and the electiricity wasn't going off every thirty minutes.
Funny thing about being back in America after living for three months in
Central America is that it only takes 21 days to create a habit
so I found myself instinctively responding to questions or remarks in spanish.
I also forgot that I was surrounded by ENGLISH speakers
so I couldn't just say ANYTHING that I wanted to.
When I first used the restroom I looked around in panic,
trying to find the trash can to discard my toliet paper in and when I saw myself
in the reflection of a full length mirror after THREE months,
I was shocked.
I found myself hesitating every time I went to order something
because my mind thought it needed to translate
and had to remind myself that the water was
safe to drink when the waiter brought in tap water.
And then, suddenly, I find myself on a 15 hour flight to Beijing surrounded by a much more reserved and conservative culture than the one that consumed every waking hour for the past ninety days.
Announcements are made first in Chinese, followed by English.
Rice and beans are no longer a main food group and there are veggies!
Each person has their own interactive screen with movies, tv shows, games, music playlists, and shopping. Anything you might need is at your fingertips with your very own remote control.
And here I am now
.. sitting at my gate, awaiting the plane to take us our (almost) final leg of the journey to Bangkok.
I'm in the middle of an airport that is bursting at the seems with technology.
I had to scan my passport to get internet,
take off my scarf for an up-to-date photo upon entrance to the common area of the airport,
and was able to take a shower in a random bathroom in a terminal I probably couldn't find again.
I've experienced the humility and intimidation when I got my lunch and realized
I had to use chopsticks in front of Chinese people!
I had to get over the pressure and awkwardness when the waitress waited at the
front of our table until we order everything and I keep resisting the urge to sit on these
oversized horse looking things they have on the mini playgrounds throughout the terminals.
Oh, China.
Oh, America.
Oh, life.
How random all of this is.
(I'll be in Bangkok within the next 15 hours and will stay in that city for a day or so for culture debrief. That will be followed by a 21 HOUR (yes, hour) bus ride to Chang Mai and a month of ministry. We were given NEW teams this past week. I'll be updating my page with their information so you can meet my new teammates!
My learning thai is coming along but we'll see what the extent of my knowledge is in a few hours.
I can't wait.)
<3tasha
