Friday, November 18
I’m sitting in a large room in the YWAM
base in Bangkok. It’s our last night on the race, and we’re all camping out on
the floor of a conference room. I’m amidst all of the V-Squad women, most of
whom are eating their last Thai food, trying desperately to fit our last
souvenirs in our packs, exchanging hard drives to get each other’s pictures
from the year, or just sitting and talking.
What do racers talk about on their last
night together? Let’s eavesdrop, shall we?
“Yeah, the big grasshoppers were gross, but
the little grasshoppers tasted pretty good actually!”
“What? Some airlines are charging for
carry-on bags? Can you check what the weight restrictions and baggage fees are
for Spirit?” (This conversation follows for every airline that racers are using
to fly home)
“Cadence, can I use your scale? How heavy
is my bag?”
“Wow – I can smell your clothes from here!”
“Does anyone want my muumuu? It was a gift
in Kenya, but I haven’t washed it since so its nasty!”
“Yeah, that shirt needs to be burned.”
“If we started worshipping in the Chinese
airport tomorrow during our layover, would they deport us? We’re already going
home anyway!”
“Which restaurant are you going to tomorrow
night for your first meal in the US?”
“You’re ditching that purse?” “Yeah, it
molded.”
“I only have 2 pounds to work with, and
that entire pile of stuff to fit in my pack.”
“I just got an email saying I’ll see you
Monday. What? Monday. It’s not next month
or next week. She said Monday. We’re going home. I’m freaking
out a little. It’s so soon. The race is over…..”
“Do you remember when the Tanzanian airport
opened check in early to get us to stop worshipping?”
“49.5lbs! Just under the weight limit!”
“I win! 19 lbs! I ditched everything!”
“Your bag is so light, you can toss it!”
“I have four Khmer sign language books in
my pack”
“Took me a year, but I finally finished the
book of Job!”
“Do you remember that one time when we were
in a TukTuk in Cambodia…”
“Remember that one time when we were
climbing that mountain in Ecuador….”
“Hey, can I borrow some Thai Baht?” “Sure –
oh wait. No, that’s Tanzanian Shillings. Never mind.”
“I’m just going to speak that out right
now.”
“Don’t build a mall with your words.”
“Emily, are you eating Pad Thai out of a
plastic bag?”
You never know what you’re going to get in a conversation with a World Racer.
