Now I’m about to say something that might come across as shocking. I didn’t believe it at first myself, but I soon realized they weren’t lying. Are you ready? The rest of the world is different from America. I know, I know, it’s hard to grasp. Why wouldn’t people want to live like we do and do things like we do… it’s hard to understand. But each culture we become immersed in means another way of living life. Thailand and Cambodia are very similar, and both are very different from America. So in the past 2 months, while living in two cultures completely different from America, I have had plenty of new experiences. It has become a joke amongst the team to say “I’ve Never” while doing something we have never done before. We say “I’ve never,” because up until that point we had “never” done that. It also stems off a game called “I’ve Never,” which I’m not really going to get into, but anyways, here are some things that I’ve never done, up until I came on the world race:
1. I’ve never eaten worms
2. I’ve never ridden in the back of a pickup truck with forty people, standing up, in the rain, for an hour on a dirt road with potholes every three feet
3. I’ve never hitchhiked (sorry mom!)
4. I’ve never eaten top ramen noodles for breakfast
5. I’ve never had a massage by a blind person
6. I’ve never eaten meals sitting on the floor with thirty plus children
7. I’ve never seen a metallic colored cockroach
8. I’ve never eaten enough peanut butter to fill a swimming pool
9. I’ve never craved Panera Cinnamon Crunch Bagels before, after, and in-between every meal
10. I’ve never ridden a bicycle eight miles while stopping every few minutes to re-attach the chain
11. I’ve never talked about food—either coming in or going out—for a majority of each day
12. I’ve never slept in a twin bed in my skimpies with another girl
13. I’ve never woken up at 6am on my own every day for 3 weeks
14. I’ve never bathed in my skimpies/bathing suit at a well at night with 6 other girls
15. I’ve never swept my bed every night to clean up the 4oz of bugs that accumulate throughout the day
16. I’ve never climbed a gorgeous mountain, finding my own way to the top without using a path
17. I’ve never ridden a bicycle for 4 miles, in the rain, on a dirt road just to find bananas
18. I’ve never gotten so frustrated with the internet before
19. I’ve never visited a pineapple farm
20. I’ve never felt bugs crawling on me throughout the day
21. I’ve never worn the same clothes day after day for 2 months straight
22. I’ve never desired my couch, TV, and a cup of hazelnut coffee to this extent
23. I’ve never depended on my iPod for a good night’s sleep
24. I’ve never gotten used to mosquito bites
25. I’ve never gotten lost in Bangkok while trying to find a pedicure place because I wouldn’t settle for one that cost less than $3.00
