I have hiked an active volcano, been to beautiful beaches, seen Victoria Falls, gone on a safari, and so much more. I get to play with orphans, talk with widows, teach English, visit hospitals, and pray for people. The ministry I get to do is amazing and the places I go are breathtaking. I’m so glad you guys get to see that glamorous part of my life but that is only a small glimpse into daily life on the race. So I give you… a day in my life!
What happened is in black and my thoughts are in blue
1:14 am- wake to all the neighborhood dogs having a howling and growling contest
again?
2:36 am- wake to Alfred, our security guard, running into my tent as he is headed for the shed behind my tent. Sounds like he is doing laundry, again
Alfred, it’s the middle of the night
4:30 am- wake to the neighbors blasting African music
Why do you never sleep? I need a solid 8
8:01 am- wake and swear that if I open my eyes the neighbors will be in my tent with me because they are talking that loud
Did I lock my tent last night?
8:02 am- open my eyes! Good news, they are just next door!
Added bonus, none of them are peering at me over the fence this morning!
8:07 am- walk into the house and see Dave standing over Kels as she is sleeping. He runs to me and asks in his 4-year-old African accent, “what are you doing?”
Hmm… Dave, the real question is what are you doing? Must be learning from the neighbors
8:26- reading my Bible in my tent and hear Meg say, “that creepy guy wasn’t staring at us over the fence last night!”
1 point for us
8:40 am- made my 112th PB&J of the race. Not my normal breakfast but we are pretty much out of food and going to the store is a process
District 49 problems
9:02 am- packing snacks in my purse for church
Never know how long the services last in Malawi
9:22 am- headed to church
9:27 am- still walking… Katherine and Kels are trying to be African and balance water jugs on their heads
FAIL
9:46 am- arrive in the village
10:03 am- Finally make it to the church after being followed by herds of kids, hundreds of shouts of “mzungu” and a few near bicycle hits
yes, we are white. We know
10:12 am- singing
how can they sing so loud and still sound so fantastic?
10:26 am- Christian preaching the word!
Go girl!
10:27 am- 6 pairs of eyes staring at me through the window smiling and saying “mzungu, how are you?”
I’d be better if you stopped calling me white person
10:38 am- boob- breast-feeding in church with the boob out for all to see
That’s new in the church setting. We can’t show our knees but the boob is just fine. Interesting?
11:58 am- Meg is preaching the word
Holy Spirit is all over this place
12:10 pm- church is over
Only 2 hours? That was short. Must be because the mzungus preached
12:23 pm- walking through the village! Lots of thumbs ups from the kids
Still not sure if this is a good thing
12:38 pm- Blessings waiting for a mini bus with us
He is a saint of a man
12:40 pm- first mini bus pulls up and tries to make 8 of us get on a bus already jam packed. Yeah that’s not going to happen. Man keeps saying, “it’s okay. Get in.”
No sir, it’s not okay. Are you going to strap us to the top of the bus because we aren’t fitting anywhere else?
12:44 pm- 24 people in a 12-passenger van
This is Malawian local trans life
1:02 pm- get to café to use Internet and realize I left my hotspot card in my backpack
Fail
1:03 pm- Should I walk to the hotel to buy another hotspot card?
1:17 pm- no hotspot card- just sitting here drinking a coke and talking about getting peed and pooped on by children
I guess it’s normal on the race
1:25 pm- waiter puts a plate in front of Kerry and it looks like hummus. She takes a huge bite. It’s not hummus… it’s hot chili.
Feeling the burn!
1:26 pm- I take a bite because I’m curious
sometimes I really am a blonde
1:46 pm- Kayla’s team shows up! All sorts of hugs even though we saw each other a week ago
I wonder what it’s going to be like to see my family and friends after 11 months?
2:02 pm- kid steals something in shopping center. 2 security guards chase him for a few second but give up.
Boy, that kid sure does run fast
3:30 pm- walked a mile to the grocery store to find out they close at 1:00 on Sundays
Malawi problems
3:35 pm- walk to another grocery store but it’s too expensive for our team budget of $3.80 per person per day (or 1200 kwacha) so we buy only peanut butter and bread
world race problems
4:00 pm- walk to the market for fresh produce
4:12 pm- “Are you Married?” “Yes”
yes, vegetable man I am. Lies
4:15 pm- Kerry is still bartering with apple man 10 minutes later
Wow! She will probably barter with the whole foods people when she gets back to the states
4:29 pm- man selling bootleg movies- “Do you have maze runner or season 4 of homeland?”
4:30 pm- No Maze Runner
Depression hits
4:33 pm- Season 1 of OC sighting! “We don’t have any money. Can you just give it to us for Christmas? It will be like you are Santa!” He hands us the DVD and says, “you asked so how could I say no?”
Who is this angel?
4:38 pm- being yelled at by mini bus driver, “Are you going to the hospital?” “Sir, do I look sick?” “What about district 12?” “Of course not, it’s been obliterated.”
Hunger Games might be on our minds too much
5:21 pm- Finally home! Greeted by a screeching Dave
Welcome home!
5:24 pm- Mud and dirt all over the inside of Kerry’s tent. I hear Meg say, “Dave, you can’t just go inside people’s homes?”
Oh wow, when did our tents become our homes?
5:43 pm- to shower or not to shower? Well at least there is a light bulb now so it won’t be dark but carrying all my stuff is so daunting
What is happening to me? The shower is next to the room with all my stuff
5:51 pm- cold water
still not used to the cold water showers after 6 months
6:43 pm- Morals with Meghan happening- “Dave, sometimes you have to think of others before yourself”
Preach!
6:49 pm- random people walk into the house. “Hi, my name is Good Luck. Are Faith and Happiness around?”
What is this life?
7:26 pm- finished eating dinner- Katherine: “all I can think of is a tall glass of cold milk and brownies.” Christian: “warm cookies.”
Talking about all the good food- 6 more months
7:41 pm- Team Time! Sharing pics of family and friends
Do these people really have a life outside of the world race?
7:48 pm- In the middle of team time- a naked Dave walks by to take a bath
Hey, at least he didn’t throw a tantrum this time
7:49 pm- Wait… spoke too soon. Tantrum is happening
7:51 pm- Happiness is mocking Dave and throwing a tantrum back at him!
Laughing!
8:25 pm- Find out Christian was on the Auburn hip hop team called AU rhythm
What?
8:45 pm- Em is sharing a heartwarming story about her cat and Kerry is laughing the whole time and then she finds out it has 3 legs
9:14 pm- Feedback is happening. Trying to kill the malaria mosquitos while still giving and receiving feedback
Distracting
9:31 pm- Team Time is over
These incredible women blow me away every day
9:34 pm- Happiness has Dave in chitenje on her back
What? Why don’t we have these in the states?
9:42 pm- talking about buying a chicken to set loose in the yard and then see who can catch it first for Hunger Games Chicken Edition. Kels asks, “Which ones are the slowest?”
When did this become normal?
10:32 pm- Bedtime. Comfy in my tent
There is a chill tonight… maybe I can sleep under my sleeping bag
10:50 pm- another barking and growling contest
you dogs are a few hours early tonight
11:56 ppm- the neighbors dog, Mangy (nicknamed by Meg), jumped over the fence again
I hope he doesn’t pee on my tent
