We said goodbye to Asia last Friday and stepped into a 52 hour travel day to Europe! Though sleep deprived, and clearly jet lagged, I wouldn’t trade this travel day for anything. More to come on my night in Rome!
First, let me update you on Linus: Though our fundraising campaign is unofficially closed, we are still waiting on a decision from some possible corporate donors. Once we get the final word back from them, I will wrap up the Linus Fundraiser. We are currently sitting at about $6,000 and praying for these last few donors before making the final decision about how the money should be used for the ministry, as mentioned in my last blog. The final update will come soon, I promise! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your prayers, your donations, and your encouragement in this project!
Now, back to Asia. Here is what my squad learned about Asia the last 5 months.
One hard goodbye is Asian hospitality. We have meet some of the most genuine people here. They love really well and are so giving!!
…. unless you’re a night bus driver, then you aren’t the nicest..
Goodbye Ministry hosts.
Goodbye Asian Malls, thanks for giving us a taste of America.
Goodbye South East Asian Beaches.
Goodbye Mountains.
Goodbye Monsoon Rainstorms.
Goodbye Chai Tea.
Goodbye Potato Crisps.
Goodbye Night Markets.
Goodbye versatile and affordable healthcare.
Also goodbye Zumba in the park, if there’s a park, there’s a class every morning and evening.. it’s not something you see all the time in the states but it’s fun to jump in until they ask you to go to the front because you’re American.
Goodbye wildlife like tigers and monkeys and elephants, freakishly large bugs (that you eat in Cambodia)
Goodbye monks, and seeing temples on every corner.
Goodbye Tuk tuks / motorbikes/cheap transportation
Some things we won’t be missing:
Cambodian heat
The smell of burning trash
Pollution
Squatty potties
Having to take off your shoes before you go into a room
Not having toilet paper in every bathroom (its always a gamble)
Sewer rivers
Garbage waterfalls
Being told you’re fat because you’re not xxxs
Transportation:
Asian night buses
Overstuffed auto rides
Sleeping in humidity
Sleeping with bugs in your bed
The many smelly smells of Asia
No public trashcans ANYWHERE
Sweating constantly.. even when youre sleeping
Stair steps not being even
Taking a shower next to the toilet with no shower certain #flood
Just the weird set up of bathrooms in general
People taking selfies with you ALL THE TIME.
People peeing in public.
Men walking around in towels or with just their belly hanging out.
Taxi drivers saying they know where they’re taking you, but they don’t, they get lost, then charge you extra..
Being charged extra for everything because we are white Americans.. the assumption of being rich is real!! Little do they know we are ballin on a budget over here!
Heres some food that some people will miss or not miss:
Indian Curry
Nepali Momos
Vietnamese Phu
Cambodian Fried Tarantulas/snakes/beetles
Sweetened condensed milk in coffee
Baby bananas
Bones in meat
Rice for every meal (for now)
Shoutout to all the treasurers and the currencies they had to deal with every month:
The Indian Rupee (65/$1)
The Nepali Rupee (103/$1)
The Vietnamese Dong (22,600/$1)
The Cambodian Reil (4,000/$1)
The Thai Bot (34/$1)
Something we take advantage of in the states is being able to use our debit/credit cards, over seas it’s rare to find a place that takes card and it’s always a guessing game..
Some sayings like:
“Same same but different”
TShirts that have bad English on them
—- A kid at church wore a shirt that said “99% pervert” … awk. One of my squad mates posted a blog a few months back with some other cool shirts.. check it out
(http://kaitinavarrete.theworldrace.org/post/say-what)
Later Asia.. Its been real.
A blog about my 14 hour layover in Rome, Italy and our ministry in Albania- coming soon! (I’ll post it by the end of this week!) Albania is AMAZING! So beautiful and feels so homey. This is going to be such a great month.
Thank you again for your constant prayers. Thank you for loving me well through this journey. The past 5 months have been some of the best of my life and I wouldn’t be here without your support.
Much Love and Blessings,
Allie
