When I started on this Race, one of our Squad Leaders, Mike Sanders, asked me what my favorite candy was. I told him Reese's, and he was excited because they're his favorite, too.
"But," he said, "you won't be able to find them anywhere outside of the United States."
Well, as I write this blog, I am enjoying Reese's in my fifth country out of the five that we've been to on the Race.
In Guatemala, I heard rumors of Reese's in Antigua, a 20-minute bus ride from the orphanage in San Lucas. I dragged three of my teammates around the brick-and-block streets and sidewalks for an entire afternoon before finding them in a tiny corner store with a terrifying elf logo.
In Honduras, our contact Tony ran a pulperia, which sold Reese's. One day, he and I went to run some errands and get to know each other better, and he took me to the grocery store that sold them. Not only did I find a goldmine of Reese's, I also found Reese's Puffs, my favorite cereal.
In Nicaragua, I had my first real Reese's scare, but my future teammate Courtney found one in a street market and gave it to me. It was the meltiest Reese's I've ever seen, pressed flat like a pancake and utterly spectacular.
In Thailand, I found them in a grocery store at the mall. Lame, I know. But they also had Reese's Pieces.
Now, there is a minor technicality that, during our month in Thailand, we took a week-long trip to Laos and an afternoon in Burma. I didn't find Reese's in either of those countries, but I wasn't looking for them either. So I omit those countries from the count.
And before we even went to our ministry site in Cambodia, while we were still at the hotel for debrief, I walked into a gas station, looked left and right, started walking right and snapped back to the left. I was with fellow team leaders Brandon Boyd and Ash Garcia, and Brandon looked puzzled by my sudden change in direction. Ash wasn't. She just looked at Brandon and said, "I bet he's found Reese's."
I ate one every day for four days straight at debrief and packed three more for the road.
Vietnam, consider this fair warning: I'm coming and I expect my favorite candy. Stock up.
