Well, here we are… sitting in an airport in Ho Chi Minh.
By the time you read this, I will probably be on an airplane heading towards Europe. We have a short layover in Istanbul, Turkey and then we will board another plane to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As you know, we are doing a month of ATL. We aren’t 100% sure where we will end up this month but we are very excited about what the Lord is going to do. For the first few days, we plan on staying in the capital city, Sarajevo, to see what we can get in to. As of now, we are planning on (in the words of my teammate Heidi) “taking the guitar out” to the local parks, singing some worship songs and just seeing who the Lord brings to us.
We are so excited to just adventure with the Lord this month and take every step led by the Spirit.
I still cannot believe that we are in month 6 on the race!
As a way to celebrate and remember, I thought I would share a list of things I learned in south east Asia. These things became “normal” very quickly.
Enjoy!
- Just because the computer says you have train tickets, doesn’t mean you have train tickets. Ergo, sitting in a Dunkin’ Donuts in Jakarta with your 6 new friends, 6 packs, 6 backpacks and a guitar quickly becomes real life.
- Jet lag is VERY real.
- It only rains in Kota Baru, Indonesia when the bus doesn’t show up and you have to walk home.
- You quickly learn how to sleep through the 3am Muslim call to prayer. You also quickly learn how to fall asleep in the first 3 minutes of The Lion King. You also learn that you can fall asleep in the first 3 minutes of yoga. And maybe the real thing is that I learned I can fall asleep anywhere at anytime.
- When the Eagles are in the SuperBowl and you have a teammate from Philly, you realize that you suddenly have to become an Eagles fan too… or else.
- One word for Indonesia: GoJek. You can get food from anywhere delivered to your house. The only problem: no one speaks English. Sometimes you got the hashbrowns you ordered at 10pm.. and sometimes you don’t get anything.
- Dutch Blitz is a highly underrated competitive sport.
- Squatty potties are not my favorite thing.
- Squatty potties on moving trains.. also not my favorite thing… and really not a good idea.
- Eating cobra means seeing it killed first.
- Jeroan means cow innards. We didn’t know what we signed up for.
- Cats are the squirrels of Indonesia.
- Dengue fever suddenly becomes realistic when you are sick for over a week and covered in mosquito bites. Praise the Lord for hospitals in foreign countries that confirmed that I didn’t have it.
- Being sick without AC is much less fun than being sick with it.
- Who says you can’t put seven people on a trike?
- Chips and salsa under the stars = manna from heaven when you haven’t had it in a while.
- Ordering a coke, doesn’t mean you get a can or a glass bottle. Sometimes it comes in a plastic bag.
- Chickens are the squirrels of the Philippines.
- When you have a leg cramp in a pool, your teammates WILL try to put you up the slide.
- Just because you used to be a good basketball player, does not automatically mean you can beat the 10 year old… or the 5 year old. Filipino kids are ballers.
- When you hear the voice of Dolly Parton singing from a passing vehicle’s radio, you forget where you are.
- There are 1000s of Chinese tourists in Pattaya, Thailand.
- Durian smells the same in every country. Don’t eat it, don’t touch it, don’t look at it, don’t even think about looking at it.
- The corner 7/11 becomes fine dining. Yay for ham and cheese!
- A green bag of Lays potato chips does not mean sour cream and onion. It means seaweed.
- Monkey beach actually has monkeys even though no one we met had ever seen them.
- Monkeys in Thailand are thieves just like monkeys in Tanzania. RIP to Alyssa’s water bottle.
- Huge spiders = team building activities.
- There is always the possibility that you will get spit on. (While the culprit lounges against a statue of Ronald McDonald.)
- When you steal your water bottle back from the fruit lady, it WILL smell like durian. (Refer back to number 23)
- When you have an entire building to yourself, you feel like royalty.
- Then you don’t know what to feel when forty Thai people show up for a retreat unexpectedly…or a spur of the moment Bible study happens when you come home.
- Sometimes when you only have 20 minutes to buy bus tickets and have to run to the bus station, you board said bus with 2 minutes to spare.
- Cambodian cows are fairly accurate at predicting the weather.
- Real life becomes riding in a Tuk Tuk while Cambodians throw buckets of water and baby powder on you.
- Sometimes truth or dare in Cambodia means hugging a stranger without explanation or picking up cow poop. You can decide which one is worse.
- Just because there is an ATM every 100 feet does not mean a single one of them will work.
- If your US Dollars are not crisp they are not acceptable in Cambodia. (yes, they use USD)
- You can have tight friendships with cows. Hey Bessie!
- You can have a 3 hour conversation with someone you just met.
- Cambodians think balut tastes like cheeseburger. “Eat it sister. Tastes like cheeseburger!”
- Just because you say “chicken” doesn’t mean you won’t get fish.
- When taxi drivers call the number you used to set up the app on your phone and it’s your moms phone and she answers, she will think that you have been hospitalized, kidnapped or taken to jail. Sorry mom!
- When you spend two hours in a really cute café and you walk out, you suddenly remember you are not in America.
- When you are American and you walk into certain cafes they try to play music that they think is suitable to your ears. Hence the reason why we listened to two hours straight of Alan Jackson albums, Christmas and all. There’s nothing like singing O Holy Night in the middle of May.
- Just because you agree on a plan for the day, doesn’t mean that you agreed on the same plan.
- Amusement parks in Vietnam, are just as fun as ones in America and much cheaper! Plus, most locals do not want to go during the heat of the day, so you have the entire park to yourself. (shout out to SunWorld!)
- Toilet paper is the equivalent of gold in South east Asia.
- “Eating with the locals” means many things. Morning glory and shrimp, ground snails, noodles and intestines, skate soup (think stingray), and many unknown delicacies.
- The World Race really just means rolling with the punches.
But for real, I have absolutely LOVED this five months in southeast Asia! I have met so many incredible people, built fantastic relationships, seen unfathomable things and stood in some of the most beautiful places in the world.
I still can’t believe that I get this wonderful privilege to join my brothers and sisters on this journey. What a time it has been so far.
Peace out Southeast Asia!!
& Hello Europe!!
