This is a note I’ve been keeping the whole race of my random thoughts and musings from a life lived on the mission field. Sometimes things are funny. Sometimes they are so challenging it makes me angry/mad/sad, which is one emotion. Sometimes things make me cry. And honestly, every emotion in between!
INDIA
Mosquitoes in India laugh at deet. Seriously, they do not care if you bathed in it, they will still bite you until they pop. Literally.
There is such a thing as running out of water (like for 18 hours at a time).
The dogs are adorable and are all related because they look exactly alike (they also hate people so they don’t want to be pet).
The women and children are curious and think you are hilarious and the men either ignore you or try to take selfies with you.
Dirty feet are the norm.
It’s possible to go days without showering while wearing the same clothes 3 days in a row.
All of the food is spicy…even the green beans.
NEPAL
The dogs are not cute. They are dirty and bark at all hours of the night.
Cheap food is good until you get a parasite.
Coffee made from an espresso machine (and not instant grounds) is a rare gift.
Temples are beautiful and eerie.
Living with 50 people is fun until the toilets don’t flush.
Walking for “5 minutes” really means 45.
THAILAND
Songthaews are the way to travel!
Fresh pineapple and fried chicken is the best meal ever.
Eating a bagel with cream cheese after being away from America for 3 months feels like heaven.
Parasites are not fun, even when you name them (see Nepal).
It’s perfectly normal and accepted to dart across a street backed up with traffic if you are carrying a red flag.
Kapow Guy is the best meal ever. Unless the meal is pineapple and fried chicken….
CAMBODIA
Biking to all the places is one part fun, one part good exercise, and three parts terrifying.
Teaching swim class in a pool the color of grass is normal, and encouraged.
Cambodian kids think most English words mean “monster who eats food.”
Cambodian coffee is terrible.
You quickly become an ant assassin and feel no guilt as you watch them perish in puddles of poison.
VIETNAM
Dogs are sometimes pets, and sometimes food (sad day).
Rescuing 3 day old kittens and nursing them back to health until a kind stranger takes them home is fine!
Vietnamese coffee is the worst I’ve ever had.
You can eat crackers for 3 meals a day and survive.
Cooking your own meat over a candle lit fire is not a great idea.
Sometimes you get a second parasite while on the field (see note above).
ETHIOPIA
Living on a compound with 25 children and 40 squad mates is so much fun (and so much noise). And so much tired.
You can make gourmet meals if you try.
Lighting a gas stove is terrifying.
Wool blankets are the best.
Worshiping under an African night sky with 40 of your closest friends is completely overwhelming in the best way.
RWANDA
A person you met 15 minutes ago can become family.
Potatoes for every meal is the best way to eat.
Goats are cute (and delicious).
Teaching English to kinder-aged children who speak no English is hilarious and adorable.
African children are the happiest children.
Having your parents visit you on the field is THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!
BOLIVIA
El Alto is the coldest place on earth. Definitely colder than Antarctica.
Wool blankets are not only the best, they are actually life.
Coca Cola shuts down your kidneys.
Cable cars are the best way to travel.
Loving on teens with addictions is challenging, heartbreaking, and incredibly fulfilling.
Lighting a gas stove is actually really fun!
PERU
Fresh fruit markets are the best markets.
Gas stoves can light themselves!?
Living with a family is like a little piece of home.
Having pet dogs is LITERALLY HEAVEN ON EARTH!
You can have diarrhea for 17 days in a row and not die.
Hiking is fun. And also terrible.
Coffee=WIFI=coffee…
Fried chicken is still the best.
South American jean sizes are *not* the same as American jean sizes.
There is still an import tax on most American things.
Thanks for reading through my musings. It’s kind of funny reading back over them and remembering what spurred each thought! Happy weekend!
Momma, Dad, Sarah, Austin, Liam, Skout-I love you more than all the words in the world. MISS YOU TERRIBLY!
