Because our trip took a good amount of time I feel as though I should do a special "travel edition" of my "You know you're on the World Race when" blogs. Some of these may not be as funny as I thought, but I did write them down over a period of days when I slept very little. Apologies in advance for lameness…
You know you're on the World Race when…
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The train ride through Romania is so cold that sleep is impossible. Sarah found her sleeping bag.
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You find pistachio ice cream in a Romanian mall and get excited! It was a nice treat before leaving Bucharest. Apparently Canadians have pistachio ice cream already…thanks, Frank.
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The Lord delays your flight so that you can have a conversation with a Hare Krishna in the Moscow airport and avoid sitting two more hours in an unsafe Indian train station later.
- "Mopping" the stairs in the train station consists of throwing dirty water from a cut-off 2 liter bottle up the stairs then walking away. I didn't see any "wet floor" signs either. How is this effective?
- The "sleeper" train is in fact no different from the passenger train and you may or may not have a chance to sleep.
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You can look out the train window to see goats, cows, wild pigs or other animals.
- A woman in a sari urinates on the side of the platform at the train station then simply stands up and walks away.
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Your teammates seek out "safe and imperishable" food for the train ride and come back with 26 "personal fruity cake." Scrumptious.
- A child beggar asks for money, then decides that a "Would You Rather" playing card will suffice.
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You realize it's Wednesday night and the last time you brushed your teeth was Sunday night in the Bucharest airport. I've never loved toothpaste so much!
- Indians come down the train frequently to try to sell anything from zippers, to Rubick's cubes, chai, coffee, grapes, shoe soles, chains, grain grinders, hot food and many more things.
- Beggars come down the aisles to sweep the floor, sing and play instruments, ask for money for their daughter to get married, and money to feed their babies (some people "rent" children to make their begging more plausible).
- The trash can is out the train window. (I haven't gotten to that point yet…we kept a box of trash which is why the flying cockroaches were our friends.)
- People stare at you, you make awkward eye contact, look away and they still continue to stare at you.
- Indians photograph and video you. It's like you're a celebrity or a zoo animal. I'm not sure which one I felt more like.
- The TV on your bus comes on with this message, followed by a terribly made Indian film: "The programs on this TV are purely for technical trial. The inconvenience caused is regretted. Kindly cooperate."
- Your teammates sleep/sit on your luggage heap because the bus/train seats are full.
- You find out that your ministry is to help paint children's homes and play with awesome Indian kids/help with homework all month!!
- You see the Lord moving in the conversations of the day, in the way you catch your bad attitude and ask Him to change it, in how you enjoy time with your teammates, in the way he provides simple necessities like food and water in a new place, in the beauty of His creation.
