About a week ago we left Africa for Europe. It was a long and good 3 months. I love so many things about life in Africa from the simplicity of it to the beautiful land and people.
The last few days were typical of our time there. We had a 15 hour bus ride arriving at 4am in the morning. I had a shower for the first time in 7 days. I carried a backpack that is duct taped together and I’ve re-sewn the straps on twice now. My purse has strips of burlap tearing off of it in 3 places. The sandals I’m wearing have been re-stitched by 2 street cobblers in two different countries (for less than $2 total…yes!), but the soles are both broken in half. Despite my smelly and rugged appearance, I am very happy and very well taken care of.
We took 3 flights out of Nairobi into Dublin which meant another night on a couple hours sleep. When we arrived at the campsite in Dublin it didn’t matter that there were already 350 other tents pitched on the lawn. I set mine up and slept like a baby. We spent the next 4 days being challenged, encouraged, and moved by the Holy Spirit at the Awakening Conference planned specifically for all the World Racers out right now. I started to get some ideas floating around of what might happen for me after the race and hope to get a lot more clarity over the next 11 weeks.
We received two shower tokens at the beginning of the week which I rationed bigtime. After 4 days of dirtiness, I finally decided to use my token and enjoy a 6 minute hot shower. Speaking of being clean, or not clean, I’m usually wearing my pajamas and have no makeup on when I skype with my parents. I always tell them “I’m not letting myself go, I just haven’t gotten ready yet”. This is just part of life for most of us. It’s sort of sad to say, but today I skipped my last opportunity to take a shower and instead ended up packing up my tent and backpack to just stay up all night to be ready for our 4:30 am bus.
Starting Monday, I should be in Odessa Ukraine for a month. I’m excited to get to eastern Europe and check it out. Take care and talk to you soon!
