You know you're on the World Race when…
- Your teammate uses dirty underwear to clean up spilled coffee.
- Your teammate uses the end of her toothbrush to stir instant coffee.
- You avoid using too much toilet paper to wipe your nose when you have a cold because it’s a precious item.
- You choose the squatty potty over an American toilet in the airport and even take offense when an older Malay woman tries to pass you up because she thinks you won’t go for the squatty. Rude!
- You are forced into your tent at 7:30pm due to great plagues of bugs similar to those recorded in Exodus.
- You pray for any type of furniture to sit on. Even a metal folding chair will do.
- There are ants in your teammates cereal and they are still not willing to throw it away. (This happened to me in Thailand with awesome cereal and granola!)
- You see your hotel room and are close to tears because of the huge beds and nice shower.
- You are occasionally woken up at 6am for prayer time at the local temple. The speakers go on and on for 1.5 hours.
- You decide it may be better to just avoid laundry because it smells worse after using the dark yellow/brown water.
- You are able to do laundry and shower at the same time.
- As you watch a Disney movie with your teammates you all envy the princess because her cartoon bed looks so comfortable. This seriously happened and we all talked about it!
- 9pm seems late!
- Your team talks about going into the capital city on your day off just to rent an air-conditioned hotel room and take a nap with a real bed.
- Angry birds has taken over the world, or at least SE Asia. Bookbags, t-shirts, watches, notebooks and flip-flops!
- You see Lexus brand underwear.
- Some knock-off brands are just too easy to spot…
- You have a sweat mustache 24/7.
- Scorpions at lunch provide entertainment, not fear.
- You want to play musical chairs with the kids then realize you only have about 5 total for 13 boys.
- Flies cover your food everyday but you don’t care anymore.
- You see a boy riding a bike and walking his cow on a rope simultaneously.
- You play BINGO with English words and small rocks as markers. The kids shout out “Mango!” when they win, haha.
- You enjoy being tested for malaria and typhoid because the room where the nurse draws your blood is air-conditioned.
- Another team suggests that the smoothies on the corner may have given them typhoid but you go anyway. Eh, if I’m sick, I’m sick!
- Your teammate adds orange-flavored rehydration packs to your water just to taste something different. You’re so tired of drinking hot water!
- You try and clean your water bottle with a chlorine packet because there’s no dish soap to be found.
- A trip to the corner “store” is fun when you buy a water bottle from the cooler. Cold water is so good!
- You are invited to a wedding that begins at 6:30am and ends after the lunch is served at 2pm. We may have opted out of this one, no matter how culturally cool it could’ve been.
- You have a water war with the kids and throw plastic bags that burst on impact. The water is hot from sitting in the sun and it may have small shrimps in it…
- The kids beg you to watch “Kung Fu Hip Hop 2” and when you put it in the player, the DVD menu pops up saying “Hit Hop”. Worst 2 hours of my life!
- As you’re sitting in traffic you see a guy use a feather duster all over the car next to you, then ask for money. International version of a window washer?
Thanks for reading about the journey in Cambodia. My squad leaves for our final country tomorrow morning! We’re flying into Manila in the Philippines, where we will work with street kids and those in the slums. More details to come. And, as always, your prayers are appreciated!
