I know some people on the squad have written a blog on this very topic, but it’s an important thing. So Imma write about in my own way.
The World Race and many trips are amazing adventures where we can really grow as people. But the World Race isn’t an adventure or completely amazing 100% of the time. When I got to Launch and then when I arrived in Manila real life didn’t stop or totally change.
Real life can be great! But real life can also suck. As I am sure y’all already know. We have good times, bad times, boring times, and a ton of other times.
Some days are great ministry days, and I’ll feel really accomplished. Other days I feel like I’m wasting my time or I just want to sleep. Sometimes I have a great time with kids, or I help my team flatten a mountain of dirt for construction. Other times the same kids don’t seem to want anything do to with me. Or I feel like I can’t keep going after the first hour of construction, which makes it difficult to get through the next 6 or 7 hours of it.
Sometimes we’ll go to a waterfall or ride a water buffalo. Other times we want to cry or scream out of frustration, because we can’t get any WiFi to work.
It can be quite a struggle to always be around people. There’s not much privacy. One cannot always have quiet time whenever one wants. And no one is fantastic all the time. And it’s tough when we’re all less than fantastic around the same time. Where there are people, there are problems.
Most people on the squad have been sick already. Last week, a few people had lice. A lot of us have gotten burnt by the sun. One day I even had blisters on my back. It is terribly annoying when you put on sunscreen multiple times and still get burned.
It is such a blessing that we have running water at this facility, but that’s difficult to remember every single time it stops working.
We eat meals at the same time every day. We eat rice once or twice a day. I know the quality, quantity, and variety of food we get here is amazing, especially for the World Race, but still I have days where I want more food or different food. (When I get home, I really want some steak just so ya know.)
I had one night where I was so ticked off, because I couldn’t get to sleep. I was exhausted lying on the bed wanting to be asleep. Lots of people around me were asleep. It felt like tons of flashlights got shined in my face, but in reality I think it only happened twice when a couple people were coming back in the room. Seriously if I had not been so tired, I probably would have started screaming. I don’t know why I was so angry, but oh I was. The next thing I remember is waking up in the morning feeling refreshed.
Oh and it is amazing that we have beds to sleep on. Some of us have to share beds. Even though, I have a bed to sleep on here, I still sometimes miss my own bed.
Much of the time I’m homesick. I don’t want to go home, but I do want to see my family, my friends, and my boyfriend. And when I don’t get to talk to them for a decent amount of time at least once a week, it’s kind of devastating.
It’s HOT here. But back home it’s some nice Fall time. I don’t know how to not have occasional moments when I wish to see leaves changing color and feel the cool, crisp air.
I’m not even going to college yet, but it is still stressing my out. See, filling out an online scholarship application is one of my biggest stressors right now.
I’m not saying this, because I want anyone to feel bad for me. And I definitely do not want to discourage people from going on Passport trips or the World Race. I just want to paint an accurate picture. Generally, I’m probably gonna share about what’s going on, awesome ministry times, adventures, spiritual journeying, and good stuff. But I don’t want a single person to think that is how the Race or anything is all of the time. But I can say all the badness and boring moments are worth it for all the goodness and fun moments.
Please share one of your recent moments, any kind of moment, in the comments. I would love to hear from you.
Much love,
~grace
