So, I thought it would be amusing, and interesting to post up random phrases that I have heard so far on the race. These phrases would have made very little sense to my American ears this time last year, but now they take on a whole new meaning, and story.. I’m going to update this blog with random phrases throughout the race,(this blog will be in the favorites section on the bottom left of my homepage) and hope they put a smile on your face, or a tear in your eye (from laughing so hard..)
“So who wants to kill a puppy?”): asked by the nurse here in Canaan to our team, because the puppy is full of maggots and dying, and wimpers every night from pain by her window… None of us volunteered..(O.K..that’s a sad one..)
“There’s a bull in front of the school..” Said by me, as a random bull was being chased by the Canaan dogs here in Haiti..then the kids joined in chasing him out of the compound..
“Yea..there was blood in my poop .” Said by a squadmate in the D.R., who will remain anonymous, in the Dominican Republic when asked how they were feeling..(O.’…that was gross..but it’s a VERY popular topic of discussion here on the world race.)
“How many parasites and amoebas do you have?” asked over meals in the D.R, by several of us..
“Another propane tank?”, asked I… As the Hatians added a second propane tank to the back of the truck that my team and I were on, along with 20 other people..
“Two sheets of toilet paper for every minute you use our headlamps”said by Mari and I, to the girls here (in Haiti) in the dorm. They are amazing, and beautiful, but they are teenagers… and are holding out on T.P, while they wanna use all our stuff! We’ve been giving freely..but NOW they have to PAY! (In toilet paper)
“It was worth a shot” said by one of my squadmates, here in Ireland, after he blew out the circuitry in the camping lodge all 300 world racers are staying at. Oh.. did i mention, that i had JUST found a free outlet to charge up my laptop after waiting a week.. OH.. and did I mention that his teammate JUST blew out the circuitry at the hotel nearby by trying to plug in the same power outlet…
“I should have gotten the hummus” said by one of my squadmates as we sat down to eat at a Persian restaurant in Ireland… and the reason why she said it was because there was leftover food from the completely unknown customers before us, and there were a couple fries left on the plate.. and she decided she wanted to try them out because at the register she was debating whether or not to get fish and chips or hummus and bread…
“Well these pumpkin seeds are only a month old, we can still eat them.” Said me..as my team here in Ireland took a lunch break from painting to eat a conglomeration of foods. One of which included a package of pecans that we ate, and then realized had an expiration date of 2007..
“Excuse me duck”. I didn’t even realize I said excuse me to a duck until after I finished the phrase. Ducks and geese abound in Moldova. So naturally they will get in your path every once in a while. And naturally, you do the polite thing and say “excuse me.”
“It’s pretty cool in there.”- Me “You just said an outhouse was cool.”- Cinthia
The norm for Moldova are outhouses. Each has it’s own unique, if you would call it, flavor.. or “style”. Some are more horrifying than others, and some smell way more deathly than others, which is why I am grateful for a stuffy nose this month. But my team leader’s host home has an outhouse which is freshly dug and has silver insulation. Def a 9 on the outhouse scale.. if not a 10.
Me: “Jake, where did you sleep last night?”
Jake: “Under the bus”
Me: “In the luggage cubby?”
Jake: “No…under the bus.”
This conversation took place somewhere in the middle of our 80+ hour bus ride to Malawi from South Africa. One of the nights at the border, the guys all slept outside of the bus while the girls slept inside. I have some awesome guys on my squad. They slept in the luggage compartments, under trucks on cardboard, and as Jake mentioned, under the bus…
Me: “What did Will come in here for?”
Amanda: “To ask Sarah if she wanted to go buy the goat.”
Me “Oh.”
In Mzuzu, you purchase your food… but usually it’s living. Sarah and Will have decided to purchase a goat to slaughter in a couple days, and let the team enjoy for the weekend meal.
“We ran to the head chief’s house and back” Said by my squadmate Michelle in the Dzuwa Village of Malawi, when I asked where her and my teammate Sarah went for a jog at. How many people can say they went for a jog to the head chief of a village’s house and back every morning?
“Who got the Obama?” Who got the Bin Laden?” said by my team leader John.
Those are the names of pastries that they sell in Kusungu (a town near Dzuwa village). Ironically the Bin Laden’s were way sweeter than the Obamas… things that make you go hmm…and yummm.
“They will swarm you and destroy you.” Was my team leader’s response to me when I asked him if we could swat the bees that were in the living area of the hostel we’re living at in South Africa. Apparently there is a “bee turf war” going on today and there are bees EVERYWHERE…btw… have I mentioned that i HATE bees too? Makes today’s events just a tad bit more interesting.
