My 11 Most Memorable Moments from My time in Africa! Enjoy!
- During our trip to Lesotho, we ate a lot of blander meals such as maize meal and porridge. To sweeten our food we had sugar, honey, and cinnamon to use. For some reason I was really struggling to eat the food because it just didn’t taste good to me and everyone else seemed to love the food! We were in Lesotho for a grand total of seven days but on the third day, I figured out that there were two containers of finely ground brown substance. To my horror, it was that instant that I realized for the last three days that I had been using the instant coffee (I don’t even drink real coffee) as cinnamon to “sweeten” my meals. This circumstance became the biggest joke instantly. Not only did I do this for three full days month one, that is nine meals total, I also performed the same mistake during our squad month in Swaziland for one meal. The only difference was there were more witnesses and I wasn’t a rookie anymore which made it even more hilarious.
- Upon arrival at our host home in South Africa we were so pumped that there was a washer and dryer to use to clean our clothes instead of handwashing them. We were equally excited for actual beds, running water, and the use of a kitchen. The first thing we did when we got there was collect all of our dirty clothes and throw them in the washer because we had been traveling for three days at this point and used clothes at launch so it was dire need. We got the clothes washed and threw them in the dyer only to our dismay, the dryer was broken. No big deal we will just put them outside to dry… only it rained or was so humid outside from the rain that even on the days it didn’t rain our clothes did not dry. So we hung them in the house but it was damp inside the house because of how muggy and humid it had been outside lately that our clothes began to become damper and started to smell moldy. On the day before we left for Lesotho (we needed our clothes dried because it was very cold there and all of our warm clothes were still wet from trying to wash them) we hung our clothes outside and prayed over them. I had never prayed over clothes before but there we were praying to God that we would have dry clothes for our trip. We woke up the next day and our clothes were miraculously dry. Our clothes did smell worse than before we washed them but they were dry.
- Any day at the beach is a great day. Even if your day and the beach was during the winter in Africa and it was slightly misting outside. Even if you just shaved and your hair grew back instantly when you touched the water. Even when the water was warmer than the air outside. There was just no way I was missing a chance to go into the ocean. I was not letting anything stop me. I went swimming in the ocean in Africa’s winter with our host that became like our African grandpa named BB. Hannah, Kristen, Kacy and I swam. I punched, jumped over, and got knocked down by the waves. It that moment I knew I was meant to live by the ocean. Before I get all little mermaid on you, it was time to leave so I broodingly drug myself out of the waves to join the others. I was the first one in and the last one out. Upon getting out of the water, I realized that there was sand in the liner of my swimsuit. I had a solid baseball sized amount of sand chilling in the bottom of my swimsuit and it was not coming out. We dubbed it “the sand butt” and I had to walk home with that much sand in the bottom of my swimsuit. Our host Paula, was so kind to help me get rid of sand in my swimsuit because I had no clue how to remove it. I had tried squishing it out, running water, and stretching it. I was about to cut it but then Paula worked magic on my suit. After it was all said and done it turned out like new. She then later commented on a picture on Facebook of us at the beach and she had said “I got half the beach out of that suit.” To me, it just made it all the more memorable. J
- During all squad month, we played a game called Assassin. It was where you picked a name out of a hat and you had to squirt that person with water in order to kill them. Inside the kitchen and houses were safe zones and if another person called Assassin in the middle of an attack, then the person you were trying to get was safe. So I started off the game pretty well considering Shaylee found a piece of paper with who my assassin was just sitting on the floor after squad worship the night before. All I had to do was avoid my assassin but I ended up making allies with her but still kept my distance. I killed my first person right off the bat once she stepped outside of the house, just finishing the treasury meeting. I killed my second person when she was in conversation with another person while walking to chapel one night. Then Shaylee and I realized that if we teamed up together that we could hatch a plan with our sheer intelligence to kill off all of the guys on our squad because they had made an alliance. We then made “alliances” with some other girls in order to hatch our plan. We slowly had the men of the squad killed off by faking deaths, having other girls kill each other in our alliance, and keeping others alive to do our dirty work. After all, I knew who had me and Shaylee had an agreement with her assassin. All the girls just wanted the boys to lose. The best kill that I was apart of was when Shaylee and I sat in the dark corner under a grey blanket with mustard bottles full of water in order to kill Kyle. He and Micah took the back way to squad worship one night and then when they walked close enough to where we were on the ground, Shaylee barely hit him with water but still enough to get out. Kyle’s kill got the ball rolling. We continued until we got all the boys but one. The next best kill that I was in on was with Shaylee and Racquel. I was Racquel’s assassin so I agreed to let her live long enough to get Jace out. We then came up with this plan that Shaylee and I would “betray” Racquel and get her out publicly while she was trying to get Jace out. That way there would be no question if we were lying or not. Instead of me actually getting her out, we made it look like I did but really Shaylee got her wet which means that she was still in the game. She then made it look like she was really upset for betraying her the rest of the night and being really chummy with Jace so it looked like I got her out. Once Jace trusted that Racquel was out and that I was after him, Racquel got Jace out. So many plans created and deception but it was definitely a highlight of my race thus far. The squad also found out that Shaylee and I together were masterminds.
- My favorite ministry day in Swaziland was when I decided to do a buried treasure hunt with the children. I showed up to breakfast dressed as Jack Sparrow. Bandanna, beard drawn from eyeliner, bead in my hair, borrowed boots, baggy pants, scarf tied around my waist, gold necklace, one gold hoop earring, and a treasure map that I had drawn which turned out to be useless. My thoughts exactly was to try to get as many people to dress as pirates as possible but showing up in full character to breakfast. It worked within minutes my friends Christina and Anna jumped on board followed by Janelle, Hallie, Ryan, Lyndi, and Chantai dressed as Tinkerbell. I had hid clues around El Shaddai and I had all of them rhyme using pirate language. Janelle started off the day by reading Peter Pan and then we walked around playing Pirates of the Caribbean music. The day was a hit as they raced around trying to collect clues and with everyone in costume. Each kid got some buried treasure which was a fat cake (a greasy, baked dough ball). Despite some kids that tried to ruin the day by switching around the clues, it still has been my favorite ministry day by far.
- One day all the girls woke up and headed down to the kitchen to realize that all the boys had been up for hours making us breakfast. They had carried down the picnic tables from the outdoor kitchen area and placed flowers in glasses on top of the tables. Danny, Eric, and Kyle put on aprons and served us restaurant style. They had made us pancakes with strawberries, whipped cream, and honey. They themed every meal. At Lunch they gave us our usual PB& J’s (Peter, Boaz, and Jesus) out of a “food truck” they crafted by putting up signs and handing our lunch out the window. With our sandwiches, they also handed us a choice of orange or apple, a piece of chocolate, and a handwritten note expressing how much they valued us. For dinner, they made us chicken, mashed potatoes, and vegetables served restaurant style with hot chocolate and chocolate cake for dessert. They finished off the night with a video explaining how they wanted us to know how cared for we are by God and to try to show that through their actions that day. The guy that wrote our handwritten letter at lunch also finished the night by washing our feet. I have never felt so blessed by a group of guy friends in my life or treated that way by any guy period. They just humbly served us all day long. This day will not only be in my most memorable moments of Africa but of my life and the history of The World Race. To me, they had shown us what the term Man of God really means.
- El Shaddai was located on top of a mountain. On that mountain there were other mountains surrounding the place. Once we saw the tallest mountain, we wanted to climb it. Unfortunately, Shaylee sprained her ankle by falling out of a tree we climbed so she couldn’t go but Jace, Anna, and Kacy decided to go with me. Lots of songs, hamsters that looked like toasters, and two hours later we reached the top. The mountain was really steep so at some points we would have to crawl, maneuver over rocks, and grass that was as tall as we were. When I walked through the brush that we were in a scene of Jurassic Park. We took ridiculous photos using the ten second timer. The view was breathtaking, laughs were many, and time away from everyone else was much appreciated. I guess I can’t really describe why this moment was so great other than it just was.
- I have played a lot of soccer since being gone. I have probably played more soccer on this trip than I have since quitting college soccer and I have loved every second of it. One of the most memorable soccer moments to date was when I finally got to play after being sick. I wasn’t allowed to do any physical activity because of the medication I was taking but the day came that I could finally place. It was a game with both racers and kids from El Shaddai. I played pretty well for not playing for a while but out of nowhere, Robbie passed me the ball as I was coming up the left side. I turned and got the ball with my right foot, kicked it to my left, and shot the ball left footed. It was probably the most powerful kick I have ever done with my left foot and it went in the goal. That was the first left-footed goal I have ever scored in my life and I was while I wasn’t under any stadium lights but with children that I had spent all day, every day with. It was a great game.
- It was a Sunday dinner so most people were still dressed up from church earlier in the day. Jace asked me to borrow my phone to play some oldies music such as “the way you look tonight”, “come fly with me”, and “little itty bitty pretty one.” It uplifted everyone’s mood and made dinner that much better. People were singing along with the music. Before dinner even started Kyle taught me some shag dancing moves. Before you know it Jenny, Jace, and everyone else also started to dance. It was like we were in the twenties just dancing the night away. It is no secret that I love to dance so it was easily my favorite night yet. Later on in the week, Lyndi taught us some more swing dancing moves.
- To get to Mozambique was only supposed to take 14 hours but it ended up taking 35 hours to get to where we needed to be. We were on a small bus that didn’t stop much. We packed pb&j’s and had one orange. We also stopped once for KFC for dinner but other than that I had no food for the entire trip other than the food Sarah Hawkins and Shaylee shared with me that they got at the stops. We would stop for bathroom breaks (mind you there is no toilet paper in Africa, no hand soap, and toilets occasionally flush) at gas stations but there would never be enough time to get something to eat. It was you either went to the bathroom or you got food. I would always have to go to the bathroom so I didn’t eat and we never knew when we would stop next. Also driving at night in Mozambique is not legal so we got pulled over nearly every two hours for the police to question us on where we were going, why we were driving there, and to ask for our money as bribes to continue on with our trek. Why is this a memorable moment? Because I could have choose to be miserable and complain but instead I made the most of it and was thankful I wasn’t walking outside while it was pouring down like the locals did, I had some food that day (there has to be someone in the world that hasn’t eaten for days), and I had good company. I looked to Sarah and said “I now imagine what my ancestors felt like trying to make it to America on the Mayflower… but at least they had hardtack to pass the time.”
- So while in Mozambique, we either had to buy bottled water or boil the water that came out of the faucet outside of the house to make sure it was safe for us to drink. Somehow I drank water that was not safe and I got sick from it. That month we were in our tents in our host’s front yard but that particular night I had to sleep inside because I had to use the bathroom every twenty minutes. I felt so terrible I went to sleep almost instantly every time my head touched my pillow. With all the commotion, I forgot to cover my face and arm from mosquitoes. For those who don’t know I get extreme reactions to bites sometimes. The next time I woke up I realized that my left side of my face was swollen. My left eye was swollen shut. Only I would experience this during my most awful sickness thus far on the race. I then walked around with a swollen face for the next day and half.
Hopefully you have enjoyed reading my memorable moments as much as I have enjoyed living them! I also wanted to take some time to THANK YOU for all your continued prayers, support, reading my blogs and love! Full Mozambique blog coming soon!
