So I was just kidding about Delhi, we landed and spent launch week in Hyderabad, India. I’ll back up and start at the beginning though, this has been one crazy week. If it wasn’t before, my faith in prayer has definitely been strengthened.
(As close as I got to Times Square)
I didn’t even officially start the World Race before the adventures began. After an 8 hour train ride to NYC on New Years Eve, I stepped off the platform in Penn Station with about 60 pounds of luggage hanging on me. I made my way through the crowd and immediately lost my cell phone while waiting on the platform for the subway. With my only line of communication gone, I tearfully stumbled around the station for half an hour trying to figure out my options and desperately praying for my phone to appear out of thin air.
Eventually-
I didn’t even officially start the World Race before the adventures began. After an 8 hour train ride to NYC on New Years Eve, I stepped off the platform in Penn Station with about 60 pounds of luggage hanging on me. I made my way through the crowd and immediately lost my cell phone while waiting on the platform for the subway. With my only line of communication gone, I tearfully stumbled around the station for half an hour trying to figure out my options and desperately praying for my phone to appear out of thin air.
Eventually-
- I made it to the hotel,
- found out I couldn’t stay at the hotel,
- met up with fellow racers in the city,
- walked through the mob to try to get into Times Square,
- gave up on Times Square,
- got a pep talk from a nice NYPD officer,
- watched the ball drop from an Irish pub near Central Park,
- crashed at another racer’s friend’s house for the night and,
- got back to the hotel in the morning.
[I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my mom for the homemade banana bread she packed for me. It fed about 6 hungry racers at 2am while waiting at a bus stop. J].
(Emily, Robin, Rachael, Andrea & Me) New Year’s Party!!
Lauren rocking in 2011! Tabi, KK, Elaina & Suzie on the long subway ride
When I got back to the hotel Saturday morning, a prayer was answered as I was informed some kind stranger had called my mom from my cell phone and left it at a nearby hotel. We (Robin, Rachael, Andrea & I) picked it up and spent a fun New Year’s Day/Night wondering around New York City.
When I got back to the hotel Saturday morning, a prayer was answered as I was informed some kind stranger had called my mom from my cell phone and left it at a nearby hotel. We (Robin, Rachael, Andrea & I) picked it up and spent a fun New Year’s Day/Night wondering around New York City.
Rachael with some of New York’s Finest My last U.S. Pepsi!
Ice Skating in Central Park Clancy the Lucky Pig bemoaning his relative’s fate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
You know it’s the World Race…. India bound!
Sunday, the girls and I met up with the rest of the squad at JFK to head to India. 19 in-flight hours, and 1 layover in Qatar later….
