Some (72, to be exact) of MY FIRSTS ON THE RACE, from ministry to food and adventures to other random facts (it’s funny that some of these things were first-time things for me on the Race rather than back in America):
- worshiping on a rooftop (first morning of the Race!)
- ziplining
- eating ugali/posho in Kenya & Uganda (cornmeal, staple carb in east African diet)
- teaching Spanish classes (to L Squad in Guatemala and to kids we homeschooled in Malaysia)
- worshiping on a dock over Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
- hiking up a volcano
- getting a massage (only upper body. I’m too ticklish so I squirmed/laughed for half of it)
- canyon hike/swim
- eating rolex in Uganda (chapati rolled with fried egg and veggies)
- making daily visits to a house to pray for healing
- fainting at a restaurant (from dehydration/heat exhaustion? unsure of cause)
- hitchhiking
- leading worship by myself (for team, L Squad, and church)
- losing a guitar on a public bus (twice) :'(
- kayaking
- eating roti (fried flatbread)- Thailand and Malaysia
- white water rafting
- preaching a Sunday sermon (Christmas Sunday!)
- being in a typhoon- on the island of Mindanao, Philippines upon our arrival
- snorkeling
- scraping/sanding a car (for ministry)
- taking only one real shower within the month
- trying goat (aka mutton)
- watching 24 (the show)
- using a wrecking bar all day- manual labor ministry
- elephant riding
- bamboo rafting
- living above a coffee shop
- eating Auntie Anne’s pretzel (surprising, I know)
- eating McDonald’s dipped cone (also surprising, probably)
- working out on a rooftop- Insanity, baby!
- doing a night of bar ministry in Thailand
- getting a haircut on a rooftop
- living off of $2/day for food
- walking for about 2 hours with 75-80 lbs of belongings on my back and front- in the middle of Kuala Lumpur (“pregnant turtle” style)
- doing a canopy walk (Taman Negara National Park)
- trying crocodile and ostrich meat on a stick- New Year’s Eve in Thailand
- washing hair in a crazy thunderstorm
- destroying a termite mound on a tree using a pickaxe
- drinking a 7-11 slurpee- Malaysia loves its 7-11s!
- peeing on train tracks (from the train, but the ‘bathroom’ was an open hole over the tracks!)
- eating Malay food (mee goreng, nasi pattaya etc)
- using code words for Christian words in a closed Muslim area
- riding a motorcycle
- drinking milk tea from a plastic bag with a handle
- working out in a hotel hallway/balcony/staircase in Uganda
- doing #2 in nature, aka our backyard in the Philippines
- visiting Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
- eating at a Hard Rock Café
- pulling an all-nighter talking about theology for fun
- buying a Study Bible (Fire Bible! from a Christian bookstore in Malaysia)
- running regularly (starting in Cambodia, month 7 with Team Daughters of Zion)
- going to the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
- trying snake meat- quite tough and chewy!
- eating fried tarantula- good seasoning, not a fan of the hairy texture
- chopping open a small watermelon with my hand- challenge accepted in Cambodia
- seeing zebras on the side of the highway- first day in Africa out of Nairobi Airport
- playing the flute to help lead worship- K & L Squads joint debrief in Kenya
- running 10K on the hills of Swaziland
- bungee jumping (over the Nile, tandem jump with teammate)
- rafting the Nile
- living in a hut (our Swazi home!)- they were warm at night and cool during the day!
- peeing outside with no coverage (at night of course!)- why run to an outhouse in Swazi winter at 2am when you can pee right outside your hut under the stars?
- seeing wild penguins at Boulders Beach, S. Africa
- running on the beach- month 11, South Africa
- not eating Korean food for 11 months (longest period of time without Korean food :O)
- attending live rugby game
- making first fully knitted scarf! (in the last two weeks of Race)
- attending Hillsong Church services
- going to Hillsong youth conference
- flying Cathay Pacific and Emirates (two of the nicest airlines ever!)
- running a 7K trail run (Tygerberg Natural Reserve) on the last day of the Race- finishing the World Race with my first race ever!
Also, here’s a list of ALL MODES OF TRANSPORT ON MY RACE:
- foot
- plane (even a double-decker on Emirates flying back to America!)
- ‘el clasico’ car- old Datsun
- chicken bus (old public school bus) in Central America
- regular sedan
- SUV
- raft
- tuk tuk/mototaxi
- pickup truck
- elephant
- minibus
- 12-passenger and 15-passenger vans
- jeepney
- side car/trike
- charter bus
- kayak
- taxi
- luxury van/minibus
- ferry boat
- train
- LRT (light rail train/subway)
- bicycle
- school van
- motorboat
- motorbike (as a taxi, called ‘boda’ in Uganda)
- mutatu/kumbi- taxi vans in Africa
- church bus
