You Know You're on the World Race When…Philippines
- McSpaghetti at McDonald’s. ‘Nuff said.
- Airplane food starts to taste good. Your teammate says it’s the best food he’s had in a long time and you contemplate taking the roll off the lady’s tray beside you as she passes it to the stewardess to throw away. (Hey, they were individually wrapped and tasted awesome! Don’t worry, I didn’t really do it.)
- Tuna sandwiches are exciting. (Our contact met us with sandwiches, fruit, juice, cookies and chips!) Seriously, they tasted really good!
Some happy travelers: Sachi and me.
- People use old mattress/bedsprings as a security fence to keep intruders out of their homes.
- $4 for a one hour taxi ride is expensive.
- You tell some new missionaries that just arrived from America that the humidity and sweat could be worse, “Ah, it’s ok. I’ve been wearing the same socks for several days now and they’re not too bad.”
- You go to the dentist happily because it is cheap.
- You grow restless waiting for your friends to be done with their cleaning at the dentist and try to take a nap on the bench in the waiting room. (This really happened. Well, all of these things really happened, that’s why I type them up…but I was super grouchy after the dentist’s bench wasn’t as comfy as it looked.)
- You debate whether or not you’d like to eat an almost developed duck egg just so it would be an easy answer to: “Hey, like what was the weirdest thing you ate?!” (I know the majority of you will ask me that when I get home.)
- Angry Birds is a great conversation starter.
- Even though you’re not a pharmacist, you count out, label and distribute pills to kids in the dump. Of course they were diagnosed by a real doctor first!
- You are offered a chance to buy gum, cigarettes or anything else from the guy who stands in the middle of the street and comes by when traffic stops.
- You go to a 3-D movie for $7.14. After you purchase the ticket you realize there’s an offer for a free soft drink and popcorn!
- Power Rangers and Transformers are extra cool.
- The people in front of you at the theater get fried chicken delivered to their seat!
- You go with a teammate so she can be checked for dengue fever. While you wait for the blood test results, she comments how comfortable the bed is and how nice the AC feels.
- When the abovementioned teammate leaves for an x-ray, you consider taking a nap on her hospital bed…it was late ok?
A special little addition, just for this month 🙂
You know it’s month 11 when…
- You email home asking your mom to buy some new underwear and shaving cream that will be waiting on you when you arrive.
- You’re excited about new underwear and shaving cream.
- You’re excited to be able to leave your toothbrush in one permanent place without that nasty, moldy toothbrush holder.
- Your purse is falling apart and you can't wait to throw it in the trash when you get home.
- You have a list of food items that are expected to be in the fridge/pantry when you arrive. German Chocolate Cake may or may not be at the top of the list.
- Conversations between teammates often sound like this: “What’s the first thing you’re going to buy in America? What about the first thing you’ll eat?”
- You keep daydreaming about sitting in an air-conditioned vehicle in your own seat, with a seatbelt and a decent song on the radio (that’s in English!).
- You’re a little freaked out about driving and have a plan to take it slow around the neighborhood a few times before you try the highway.
- You gain such excitement from being able to sing more than one praise song in English.
- You’re sad to go back to the US Dollar in America because all the bills are the same color and size. Other countries have it right on currency if you ask me. Their big coins are worth more, their smaller are less. They even have the numbers on them. We’re not very foreigner friendly with our currency and it’s not very pretty either. And I’ll have to spend more of it in the US than over here because things are so cheap!
- You have a strange craving for Poptarts and Fruity Pebbles even though you don’t eat them at home.
- You realize that you talk about your family and friends all the time whether people listen to you or not.
- Voices (and sometimes videos if Skype will work) of those back home bring so much joy and anticipation of actually being with them.
- You begin to realize that some of the things that are socially acceptable by WR standards will not be okay in the U.S. This is sad, but I’m sure I’ll hold to a few of them anyway 😉
- Examples of the aforementioned socially unacceptable things:
*sleeping anytime and anywhere (airports, sidewalks, dentist offices)
*not showering for days on end
*wearing the same outfits every 3-4 days
*wearing Chaco sandals with a dress
*loosing ur skillz at grammer and spell-ing…& all so ur uhbility to convurse with other ppl in the english langwage.
*sitting on the floor in random public places (like the grocery store)
*not carrying a cell phone
*constantly carrying a water bottle and extra toilet paper
*going 5-6 days of the week with no makeup
*dancing like a crazy person at church
*singing loud and off key for Jesus and clapping off beat
*wearing the missionary side braid or a messy bun most days because it’s too hot to care about your hair anymore
*not tipping at restaurants (it’s socially acceptable here, ok?!)
- You send a message to your mom with 10 days left announcing your dinner requests the night you come home…
*Fried Okra – non negotiable!

*Aunt Freda's baked cheesy apple casserole stuff (substitute pineapple is acceptable)

*Green beans smothered in butta and mushrooms

*Chicken on da grill :)

*Sister Shubert’s yeast rolls (or some other bread-like goodness)

*Sweet Tea 🙂
