So anybody who knows me knows that I do really impulsive things for fun. Go to Walmart when I’m hungry, buy movies I’ve never seen before, and sign up for an 11 month mission trip because I’m bored. But today me and my friend/teammate/roommate Jenny just did something that was a huge reminder of home. As we walked through a farmers market in the town square we looked at all the honey, fruit, handmade clothing and rugs, woodwork, and jewelry. But out of all the wonderful things we found Jenny and I kept coming back to the same table talking ourselves in and out of it.
There, in a tiny glass bowl, swam a Kosovar Goldfish. I only had half of what I needed to buy it on my own, so I asked Jenny if she wanted to co-parent him with me? Being a good friend, she said no the first time, and the second time, and the third time. But then when I gave up, something changed in her eyes. I could see she wanted him too. Usually when we leave these markets we leave with dresses, souvenirs, or fruits. But today I became a mom to a fish without borders. Having thoroughly discussed his name we decided on Isaac Veldin Drumlordore Prishtina. But we will just call him Drumlordore for short.
I thought the race would be a year long backpacking trip across the world. I thought I would be hiking to remote villages to spread the gospel through hand movements and clicks. I thought that I would be a vagabond traveler wearing the same clothes 2 weeks in a row. To be honest, at times that is all completely true. Sometimes I have to get a few wears out off the same shirt before we can wash our clothes. Sometimes we get to hang out with people who know about 5 words in English and you have to rely on their hand gestures to tell the rest of the story. When we travel from country to country we do get to live the “vagabond” life. The race is everything I thought it would be, but its so normal too.
Everywhere across the world people get up every morning to go to work. They drink coffee over here too. People like to go shopping, see movies, grab a quick bite to eat rather than cooking for themselves. What I love most about the race is that even on the other side of the world I can feel at home. The people, the atmosphere, the comforts like coffee and muffins all transport my heart back to Missouri. I was just missing one thing, a pet. Of course I know I cant keep him forever. But come on guys, how many times in your life do you get to say you got a Kosovar goldfish?
Also, my team leader Ryan wanted me to put his name in my blog.
