Here’s 200 things I’ve learned so far from being on the race. Enjoy some laughs and giggles. See you soon!
1. Ketchup is more like tomato sauce in other countries.
2. Lice is a thing (don’t be ashamed if you get it).
3. Bring toilet paper where ever you go.
4. A bus that holds 25 people can turn into 55 real fast.
5. India people love their chai.
6. Nepali people love there tea.
7. Cows randomly walk in the street.
8. You’ll see puppies everywhere.
9. Mopeds are the big transportation around town in Asia.
10. You can get an orange for 20 cents in Nepal.
11. Lizards can fly.
12. Always have a snack on hand.
13. Asia babes wear eye liner until their almost 3 years old.
14. Some places will want you to order food just for you to use their WiFi.
15. Headphones are a blessing.
16. You’ll get used to cold bucket showers within the first week.
17. Some days you might just eat a snail.
18. Always have a pen on hand.
19. Ya just might want to bring a watch on the race.
20. Bring Advil every wear you go.
21. Oils do come in handy on the race.
22. You’ll get used to loud music in a different language you can’t understand.
23. Baby wipes are a miracle.
24. Hand soap is good for washing your clothing.
25. Squaty potties help you get better at squatting.
26. Don’t get dust in your eye when playing v-ball.
27. Always charge your phone before you go to bed.
28. Make sure you have Spotify premium before the race.
29. Dust in Asia can make your burgers turn black real quick.
30. When you think of cheese don’t think of America cheese.
31. Diarrhea is a thing it’s gonna happen (a lot).
32. Indians like their selfies.
33. You’ll see women holding at least 20 pounds of stuff on there head without holding it for support.
34. Don’t leave your water bottle at ministry.
35. Bug spray is a must in an Indian village.
36. Your teammates will want to wear all your clothing (it’s like going shopping).
37. When you have 5 cent ice cream In Lesotho you’ll get it everyday.
38. You’ll get really good at charades.
39. Tooth paste in other countries is not good (bacon, charcoal mask, peppermint).
40. Some days you might just have to fart during church service when it’s so quiet and people will look at you and wonder if there was just an earthquake or what?
41. Trash fire isn’t only out in the country, it’s down the Main Street in a big city.
42. Pedestrians DON’T have the right away crossing the street.
43. Honking continuously for awhile might seem pointless but hey they’re just trying to get there point across.
44. Off days are more like adventure days (you’ll never sleep).
45. Budget before entering a country.
46. Don’t give out your number to everyone you meet at church (they just might text you everyday until you respond with “hey”).
47. A bat tastes like rubber from a tire.
48. Putting your head phones in backwards in the opposite ear actually makes the music loader for you.
49. Don’t teach a local cuss words or they will say them to you all the time and you won’t think it’s funny any more after the 3rd time.
50. A chocolate shake is more like chocolate milk .
51. Taking a rock to scratch the dirt off of your body is a good idea before you take a shower.
52. Don’t keep your snacks in your tent or else ants will get to them.
53. Label your stuff or it just might get taken/eaten.
54. Bring sharpies on the race!
55. Open cards to make you excited for certain days and holidays (make people write you them before you leave for 9 months).
56. It gets cold in Africa.
57. Bible with a concordance will help you with preaching.
58. Vaseline can be really handy if your feet crack easily.
59. You can use a bar of soap for washing your hair.
60. Trash can be used to make cars.
61. When you take a taxie and pay for it the people in the car will say “I’ll pay back when I get change.“ But just keep in mind you won’t see that money again.
62. It’s really hard to learn other languages.
63. Monkeys are just about everywhere and after awhile they’re not so cool as you thought.
64. Don’t bring chocolate on a hike. It just might melt all over your phone in your back-pack.
65. Pollution is a real thing.
66. In India they will give you tons of rice and curry even if you say “no thank-you.”
67. Toilet seats can be used as sleds.
68. A pringle cup can be used as a place to go to the bathroom.
69. Bring a couple of plastic bags when you go on a 14hr bus drive.
70. Make sure you break in your chaco’s before the race.
71. A 15 pound bag of American snacks just might last you for 6 months.
72. Hand washing your clothing is more easy then you think.
73. Gaining weight is normal (you’ll get used to it).
74. A packing cube can be used as a great pillow.
75. A portable charger can save your life.
76. Make sure you have Netflix so that you can download movies or your favorite tv show.
77. Flipping people off in India is a way of just saying hello.
78. There is a such a thing as 2% water.
79. Some times you might think you look tan but really it’s just dirt on your body.
80. Don’t take everything so seriously.
81. Games on your phone can make a bus ride go real quick.
82. Don’t tell kids you have games on your phone.
83. Don’t give kids a piece of candy just because they remember your name (then everyone will remember your name for next time).
84. Febreez can be used a perfume ( no big deal).
85. Make sure you bring a bag scale for the race (you don’t want to be that one person that holds up the line because your bag is over weight).
86. I like Fanta more than I thought.
87. Don’t buy a saree from the mall (ya might just get charged $130 when they’re really $5-$30).
88. You’ll get used to mom’s breast feeding anywhere and everywhere.
89. Peeing on the side of the road yup! But you see it on almost every block in Asia.
90. A 6hr bus ride can turn into 12 hr real quick.
91. Asian baby’s have black dots on there head to determine how old they are (so two dots is 2 years).
92. I now have a new perspective of the world God made, and it’s awesome.
93. Pollution will turn your mucus black – especially when you breathe it in for two whole months.
94. Africa is wonderful especially Swaziland (which is now called eSwatini), Lesotho, and South Africa.
95. Public transportation around these parts is cheap, but also can be wildly uncomfortable.
96. I wish I new how to sew.
97. Indians will cut you in line if you’re not paying attention.
98. African sunsets are beautiful.
99. Africans love their pap and cabbage.
100. Indian movie theaters play their national anthem before the movie starts.
101. Flushing toilet paper in Africa WILL clog the toilet and WILL result in disgusting consequences.
102. Hammock talks at night make a good night.
103. Gringo is a really fat pug whose snoring sounds like a roaring machine at night.
104. We prayed for rain, and it happened.
105. Motorcycles and scooters can hold 4 to 5 people at a time.
106. Many signs in Nepal have misspelled English words on them.
107. Fries on the race are a go to.
108. It snows in Africa.
109. Nepal is (or at least was) 11 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Nebraska.
110. Milk tea is something that people should try at least 100 times.
111. You can find many World Racers and YWAMers in a coffee shop in their spare time. Or anywhere there’s WiFi, really.
112. There are 66 books in the Bible. I recommend all of them.
113. Trash fires smell horrible.
114. Nepal has the world’s highest canyon swing. I just decided to bungee jump.
115. On the race, we have this thing called the “free table” that we make at the end of each location to put things we don’t want and pick up things that we do want. It’s great and I think swapping things is cool, so why not do it at home.
116. Flat rooftops are awesome. I wish more American homes had flat roofs.
117. They say not to pet the dogs in other countries because you might get rabies. But the way they look you can’t help it. Other people might say something different.
118. Public transportation in Nepal is very cheap. It cost me about 40 cents to travel 45 minutes to get home one day.
119. Cinnamon roll pancakes are delicious.
120. I haven’t washed my water bottle the whole time I’ve been gone.
121. Merlins are these amazing chocolate things that we buy for 10 cents at the corner store in Nepal.
122. Sometimes I feel like I’m in Divergent because the buses in Nepal will drive away as we’re getting on them (and as you’re getting off).
123. If you have the app flow, do the daily flow with some pals! It really brings the gang together.
124. If you let Gringo the pug into the room, he will pee on stuff (sorry meg).
125. Sleeping like sardines is actually very cozy and comfortable.
126. Going along with that, roommates are so much fun.
127. Hot showers are a blessing.
128. Western toilets are a blessing.
129. In my opinion, traveling is so much fun. Even 16 hour plane rides.
130. It took us 4 flights to get from Nepal to Nicaragua.
131. In Lesotho, Swaziland (eSwatini), South Africa, India, and Nepal, they drive on the left side of the road.
132. In Central America, they drive on the right side of the road (bless up. Now I’ll be use to it when I get home and won’t die by driving on the wrong side of the road).
133. It’s perfectly normal to see monkeys just roaming around on telephone wires in Nepal.
134. Restaurants in Nepal will sometimes give you hot water instead of cold water to drink.
135. Different countries have different shows and movies available on Netflix.
136. Unfortunately, India and Nepal don’t have One Tree Hill on Netflix. 🙁
137. Our squad currently has 39 racers, 3 squad leaders, 2 squad coaches, and 1 squad mentor.
138. When we arrived in Nepal, it was cold. When we left, it was hot.
139. The currency used in Nepal is the Nepalese Rupee.
140. In India, the Indian Rupee.
141. In South Africa, Rand.
142. In Lesotho, Loti. But they also accept Rand.
143. In Swaziland, Lilangeni. They also accept Rand.
144. South Africa, however, does not accept Loti or Lilangeni.
145. In Nicaragua, Córdoba.
146. In Guatemala, Quetzal.
147. And of course, the United States uses the U.S. Dollar. Just in case you needed a refresher 🙂
148. Air India checks your boarding passes an excessive amount of times, and also does a few too many pat downs.
149. But Air India has good food, so that’s a plus.
150. I once paid 150 rupees ($1.50) to rent a bike for a day.
151. Kurtas are very common to be worn by women in India.
152. As are sarees (in India and Nepal).
153. Nicaragua and Guatemala has lots of plantains. I don’t like them at all!
154. Plantains are basically banana potatoes. Ewwwww.
155. In the month of March, my squad was in 7 countries: Nepal, India, United States, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala!
156. Guatemala has chicken busses (aka colorful school busses that occasionally have chickens as passengers) as a form of transportation.
157. I once saw a chicken on a chicken bus (hints why it’s called a chicken bus).
158. Gozosos is Spanish for joyful.
159. Bible studies are SWEET. Grab some buddies and your Bible and dive into that Word, friends.
160. Cheeks is a bunny that currently lives at the Guatemala AIM base, thanks to the boys who adopted it.
161. One Sunday, about 10 of us had church here (in Guat), and we named it “Cheeks Nondenominational.”
162. Polaroids pictures are my go to! You’ll see when I get home.
163. Buffalo milk tastes good with honey.
164. Megapaca is a thrift store in Chimaltenango that has received much money from my squad over the past few months.
165. Black beans taste good.
166. Black refried beans taste even better.
167. Drink water. It keeps you hydrated.
168. They paint the trees white covering the bottom part of them so cars know where to go at night.
169. I recommend traveling to Antigua during Semana Santa (Holy Week). The alfombras (aka carpets made of flowers and such) are beautiful and the street food is, as Sam would say, “so worth.”
170. Antigua has cobblestone streets.
171. The small bills in Guatemala are made of plastic, which is neato.
172. Guatemala and Nicaragua have Chiky’s, which are rectangular cookies with a chocolate layer on the bottom. They go very well with marshmallows for s’mores!
173. Dye your pants to get a little creative on the race with a little style.
174. The power might just go out for a couple of days (to me it’s a blessing because that means the lights are off when I would like them to be). Sorry team.
175. Some times in team time you just sit around in the circle wondering who will talk first (awkward).
176. One day my team wore adult diapers all day to see who would notice the smell… (yes we pooped and peed in them).
177. You never want to miss a day of journaling (you will get very behind and then it stinks getting caught back up).
178. Check the number on the license plate on a taxi/car in case your team mates might just loose their phone and scream “fffffff.”
179. Sam gives the best hugs out of the whole squad.
180. Christy laughs like a hyena.
181. Kumbi is the local transportation in Swaziland.
182. You just might sign up to run a marathon but instead run a 12k twice because you get lost.
183. Packing leaving a country sucks because when you get to debrief you’ll just have to re-pack.
184. Sometimes I wish I had brought an actual pillow on the race.
185. The mountains in Lesotho are so beautiful.
186. You get your exercise from climbing up those Lesotho hills.
187. Cake in Lesotho tastes like cardboard.
188. I got to spend my birthday in two different countries in one day.
189. Coffee can be used as a face mask.
190. Meghan can make the sound of a game boy out of her mouth.
191. Socks can be used as gloves.
192. Anything can be used as makeshift.
193. You can wash people’s laundry in India for a job.
194. You can set up a tienda for squad mates to buy from.
195. Guacamole from Guatemala is literally just liquid.
196. Label your charger etc..
197. Getting encouragement fills your heart and makes you feel loved.
198. Get acquainted with your local grocery store.
199. I never knew what a chalk banana was until the race.
200. I come home in 5 days.
