So I’m in the Bangkok bus station. It’s 1:122 PM Thai time, which means it’s 8:20 AM to my body – Africa time. That means I haven’t slept in 28 hours, since leaving South Africa yesterday morning. About half of T-squad is currently passed out on the bus station floor. I was among them, but a combination of dehydration, the caffeine of a poorly-timed cup of coffee, and the many colorful sounds of Thailand all around me means I wasn’t there for long. I just purchased 1.5 liters of water and intend to drink it before boarding the bus at 6:30 tonight in hopes of making up for the lack of water consumption recently. I also don’t want to know the nutritional breakdown of the food I have eaten over the last 4 days. Eating non-heat-requiring food on a tight budget (translation: Bread in all fors. And peanut butter.), plus airport food, plus the perceived need to eat up all the leftover junk food from the month in a last-ditch effort to less your pack weight makes for a very poor diet. (Did I mention that said pack is now down to 36 pounds?! I cleaned house!)
Not to mention that stepping out of the doors at the airport this morning felt a little like arriving for a vacation at Miami Beach. Considering we have chased winter all over the world for the last seven months, the heat and 90ish% humidity level was a bit of a shock to the system, and the fleece sweatpants I had on didn’t help the situation.
It’s month 8. It’s that time when stuff starts to break, mold, or disappear. My inflatable travel neck pillow – my trophy of combining comfort with space efficiency – officially has an air leak and doesn’t last five minutes on a long bus ride. The homemade handle on my rolling harp case broke in the Mumbai airport, meaning no more rolling harp. I’m left to picking it up and carrying it, which would be no biggie if I was about 3 inches taller. As it is, it scrapes the floor or ground unless I lean a little to the opposite side, lifting it off the ground just so. (I would like to put in a special “hoo-rah” to the men of T-squad, who almost always offer their assistance in carrying said harp, so I actually rarely have a reason to complain.) Speaking of the harp, I also lost my pocket knife in the most recent airport security check, as I normally keep it in the harp case and use the screwdriver to tighten a screw that frequently comes loose. I always remember to stick it back in my pack before flights – except this time. I am also mourning the loss of my favorite pair of shoes – my purple mary jane crocs – also an amazing packing decision considering their next-to-nothing weight and fashion multi-functionality. Unfortunately, the shoes were last sighted on approximately the first of July, when we arrived at our South African ministry site. After a chaotic re-shuffling of baggage and furniture, the shoes were never seen again, which leaves me to believe that they are still somewhere at Ma and Pa’s house in Cape Town. Ma – if you find them, you’ve got yourself a great new pair of shoes. Enjoy!
So far, travel to Thailand has consisted of a 20-hour bus ride from Cape Town to JoBurg on Thursday, a day spent enjoying a little rest and seeing off our two Real Lifers – more on them in subsequent blogs – a early bird departure for the airport Saturday morning, a flight to Mumbai, India, a hectic dash to make our connection after our first flight was delayed due to rain, and another turbulent flight through the storm to Bangkok, where we have been hanging out at the bus station since about 10 this morning. Our bus doesn’t leave until 6:30 tonight, giving us about 8 hours to absorb as much Thai culture as a bus station food court can offer. Our twelve hour bus ride tonight will take to our final destination – Phuket, where four out of the six teams will be working with SHE Ministries (www.shethailand.org) and the women of the red light district.
Among the many changes that accompany this arrival on a new continent come a few other changes. And yes, I realize that two months of the Race were already spent in Asia, but comparing Nepal to Thailand is like comparing New York City to Daytona Beach. It’s a different Asia for us. Anyway, some team changes have taken place for Team Tandem. Our fabulous LINDSEY has been asked to step up as leader of a different team, which is such an exciting opportunity for her, but it does mean that we’re handing over a precious member of Team Tandem. Also, our fabulous leader TABI has dedicated her time and talents as a team leader for all 7 months so far and is taking some time to rest and enjoy the Race, which means that ANNIE is going to be our new team leader! She’s doing an excellent job so far, even if that only means that she counts her other team members each time we arrive at a new airport terminal or board taxis. She’s going to be awesome, and I’m so happy for her. In other news, I am now the new finance person for our team, which is pretty self-explanatory: I handle the cash, the budget, the spreadsheets, etc. I’m excited about the opportunity to serve my team in this way and to steward the money that my teammates worked so hard to raise and that God has provided us. And, in case you were wondering, every member of T-squad met their funding deadline this month and NO ONE is going home. Praise the Lord! Sort of started this blog as a quick update of where I am.
We have an exciting and challenging month is ahead of us here in Thailand!
