The more I live the more I realize there are not many things that I am afraid of. I welcome change. I need adventure. Bugs are much less of a big deal in my life than they were prior to starting the Race. Alum, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve found myself smack in the middle two riots and an attempted break-in since I’ve been on the Race, each episode with a knife in hand, adrenaline preparing me to do God knows what a 25 year-old, mellow white girl would do to defend herself. This has earned me the nickname ‘Shank’ from my squad leaders.
Between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon I was blessed to experience the two things I was afraid would happen to me on the Race.
Being served Balut, and being tossed from a boat through raging white water rapids.
I would go through each experience again in a heartbeat, though I have to say the later was more fun.
Balut is a delicacy in Asia, and something I had despised hearing about. A fertilized egg is soft boiled and served with vinegar and salt. Crack the top of the shell off, add the vinegar and salt and suck. Like a really twisted shot, substitute the tequila with duck urine. Turns out, that’s the liquid I was sucking out of the shell. Why would anyone be sucking duck urine out of a shell you ask? Oh, that’s because the duck fetus is partially formed inside. Say hi to the little head, beak, eyes and occasional feather as you pull the rest of the shell away to eat the 1/2 duck/deviled egg with a thankful expression on your face. Disclaimer: I was blessed that this was a voluntary activity, saying no would have caused no harm or fowl (get it?), but how could I pass up the chance to try something new?
The next morning most of the Racers working hard at Mt. Moriah camp departed for an amazing day of white water rafting. This is something I have always wanted to do, but never shared with anyone my fear of being tossed from the vessel to roll around on rocks under white caps. I have spent my 25+ years on the ocean, I am most comfortable near the water. But, a near drowning experience when I was in my early twenties has kept me out of anything but dead calm water since. Who do you suppose was the first one to fly from the raft on rapid 1 out of 14?
I was a big advocate of mocking the safety gear on land prior to loading the boat. I’ve never felt more attractive in the sexy helmets we were required to wear, along with the reinforced crotch straps built in to our life vests. There is a ‘no dating’ policy on the Race. If there ever was an area of interest for anyone, this outfit did me the favor of closing that door.
After my first plummet out of the raft through white caps, along rocks that have left patches of my legs blue, purple and yellow, I’ve never been so thankful for safety gear. I’m pretty sure the crotch straps are what saved me. Within seconds of bobbing along, trying to keep my head elevated for air and my legs up to avoid getting cut on the rocks, a safety diver was behind me, dragging me to a safety boat. How did Filippino men half my size pull my frame to safety? By the handy crotch straps that kept all of me inside my life jacket. These guys are pros, and if you’ve ever experienced a weggie that involves most of your body weight as leverage, I would like you to write about it in the comment section below.
Me and Stacey, bringing sexy back to the Philippines.
These may seem like silly stories, I hope you laughed instead of changing your opinion of me, but truly, these were the two things I knew I had a good chance of experiencing sometime throughout these eleven months, and I really had some fear inside of me regarding them. I laughed a lot through both experiences and can praise God even more now knowing even if my fears seem miniscule to me, HE still cares enough to protect me and show me a good time navigating through them.
