I’m gonna walk y’all through my last 4-5 days of the World Race.
Wednesday, aproxiamrely 6 pm: ate an incredible burger in Baños from Hickory Burger
Wednesday, 10:17 pm: board a bus in Baños
Wednesday, 10:25 pm: depart for Huayaquillas- an Ecuadorian border town
Thursday, 7:45 am: arrive in Huayaquillas
Thursday, 8:30 am: leave on bus to Tumbes, Peru
Thursday, 9 am: get off bus to official exit Ecuador and enter Peru and stamp your passport for both
Thursday, 11:30 am: arrive in Tumbes and say good bye to the boys and Myles before walking with everything to a different bus terminal
Thursday, noon: arrive at the bus terminal and get checked in. Begin watching movies, hanging out, showering in the bus terminal bathroom, or buying snacks
Thursday, approx 1 pm: find out that there has been an error in bus scheduling and your bus that was supposed to arrive at noon in Lima the next day actually arrives around 4 which means you will miss your 2 pm bus to Cusco so, you will now be spending the night in Lima.
Thursday, 4 pm: Get on the fanciest bus you’ve ever seen (two stories, massive chairs that recline a lot, pillows, blankets, a bus attendant, two meals, etc.) to go to Lima
Thursday evening: watch movies half in Spanish and see awesome views of the Peruvian coast
Friday morning: watch sad dog movies on the bus and continue with the awesome views
Friday, 4 pm: arrive in Lima and chill at the bus station while your squad leader, team leaders, and logistics go out to find y’all a hostel for the night
Friday, 5:30 pm: find out that hostels in your budget don’t exist in this area of Lima and the new plan is to potentially sleep in the half indoor/half outdoor bus station if security will allow it. Ponder this while half the group goes to find food
Friday, 6:30 pm: Get permission from HQ to spend more money on a hostel and find one that will take all of y’all for the night.
Friday, 7:30 pm: Eat Chinese food on the floor of your hostel in Lima, Peru
Friday late night: stay up watching intriguing, action movies with your roommates because they are in English
Saturday, 8 am: walk to a Starbucks not too far away and stay there for breakfast and lunch while enjoying the wifi. Talk to all of your fellow frogs at College Gameday and see all their pictures (GO FROGS!).
Saturday, 1 pm: take a taxi back to your hostel, buy snacks for the upcoming bus, and pack a few last minute things
Saturday, 1:30 pm: have your incredible teammate Lyndsee hand you a cherry Dr. Pepper that she found at the grocery store and obviously bought for you because she knows you’re obsessed with Dr. Pepper
Saturday, 2 pm: meet up and walk back to the bus terminal while drinking your first Dr. Pepper in two months
Saturday, 2:30 pm: Check your bags and somehow avoid the overweight baggage fee
Saturday, 3 pm: Go to the bus station cafeteria for microwave pizza, an empanada, and a Coke as well as some last minute wifi and chargers before the bus ride
Saturday, 4 pm: Pray for a woman in the cafeteria who is about the have her first grand-baby but her daughter is having an emergency C-section
Saturday, 4:30 pm: get on our bus to Cusco (same fancy type of bus)
Saturday, 5 pm: manage to connect to the bus wifi and cheer on the Frogs as they beat WVU to go 5-0 (only team in the Big XII) and then snapchat your happiness wearing your TCU jacket on your overnight bus in Peru
Saturday evening: watch Freaky Friday and laugh at how well your whole team seems to know the movie
Sunday morning: watch Flicka with Paxtyn and begin the zig-zag, winding part of the journey
Sunday, 3:30 pm: arrive in Cusco and have your host show up minutes later and take you to your hostel for the night
Needless to say, it has been a wild travel adventure! We have spent 3 of the last 4 nights on overnight buses but let me tell you, the Lord is awesome and we are thrilled to be heading out of town again tomorrow (only about 4 hours away thankfully) to begin our ministry. This month, we will be working with Zona Zegura and we will be living in and helping with a rural orphanage. We will also be working to help plant a home church in the area. It doesn’t look like wifi is going to really exist this month so sorry if you’re trying to get a hold of me!
Love y’all and thanks for reading my ramblings/thinking I’m funny!
