The last 10 days have been a BLUR. From meeting my team in the JFK airport on January 2nd to flying about 20 hours to Qatar and then another 5 to Hyderabad, India, it has been a whirlwind.
I’m not sure where to begin.
My mind is running through about 35 noteworthy stories that have taken place since I left for the World Race 10 days ago, but I suppose that is to be expected when you travel half way around the world.
I will begin with our T squad “Adventure Day” in Hyderabad. Hyderabad is a booming metropolis of India where sidewalks are non existent, horns are to notify everyone that you are bigger and WILL NOT hesitate to run them over, and autos are fighting for your business. My team and I have also learned that the people in India will not let you know if they are unsure of something, they will simply bobble their heads yes and work it out later.
We found this out the hard way.
My team and I set out on Adventure Day to a “Pearl Market”, we failed at finding the pearls but we did find the locals’ market in the middle of the city. After roaming around in Charminar, we decided to head back to the place where we were staying. We had the address written down and the auto drivers assured us that he knew where to take us. About an hour and a half later we were separated from the other auto with the other half of our team in it and we decided to try to figure it out on foot. A lost, frustrated auto driver is a recipe for an accident, or maybe that is just the streets in India. Juddson, Aimee, and I walked for about 45 minutes trying to communicate with anyone and everyone with no luck. We were lost in India with no cell phone and no Wi Fi connection, and we had the wrong address to the place that we were staying. In a last ditch effort we went into a Subway and sat down, said some powerful prayers, and decided to ask a woman sitting a table next to us. PRAISE GOD….she spoke english and offered to take us where we needed to go.
All we knew about the surrounding area was that there was a Reebok and Nike store. We didn’t even know the name of the convent where we were staying. I took out my camera and was able to find a picture of a sign that I took and we began driving around searching for the sign, and the stores.
By the grace of God we made it home safe and found out that all the teams had the wrong address and each had an equally amazing story of how they made it home. I suppose God felt we were ready for the ADVENTURE.
