It feels like it was just yesterday when I decided to make the craziest decision of my life thus far; that is to leave everything behind in America and go on this missionary journey around the world for 11 months.
Now, I’m on my last month here in Uganda with two weeks left of the race and I’m reflecting on what God has done through me and in me. I’ve seen God move in every country, every ministry, and every person I have come across…
A lot of moments have been heart melting, mind-blowing, and life-changing while other moments… maybe not so much!
Though I am thankful for the countless, precious moments that I will cherish in my heart forever, I wanted to share 11 crazy and uncomfortable memories that were not so precious, yet unforgettable and will be amazing stories I can share with my grandchildren one day!
Here’s a little sneak peak of the real world race experience behind all the beautiful stories and pictures:
- Finding a scorpion under my pillow in Argentina – It was our second month of the race and we were based in a campsite where 27 girls had to bunk up in one room. I ’m not usually the type to check for bugs before I go to sleep, but this particular night, for some reason, something in me (maybe it was God protecting me!!) just made me turn on my flashlight and check my bed for any crawling creatures. Sure enough, as soon as I checked under my pillow, I see a SCORPION with its claws sticking out. I could’ve almost died y’all but don’t worry, God protected me!!
- Altitude sickness as soon as we arrived the Bolivian border – Imagine 50 people with massive headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea… all at the same time, while passing through immigration! It hit us hard when we got to the Bolivian border. We weren’t prepared for this at all!
- Driving through Death Road in Bolivia – Despite the fact that it was a 55-hour bus ride from Argentina to Bolivia, we had to pass through these mountains full of dirt road and known to be one of the most dangerous roads in the world. We were literally only inches away from falling off the cliff. I can’t believe we drove through these mountains for hours!
- Hive break out for the first 4 months of the race – From Chile, to Argentina, to Bolivia, and Cambodia, these mosquitoes just couldn’t stay away from me! I was breaking out in hives every day. Thank God for anti-histamines!
- Almost fried my brain getting a perm in Cambodia – BEAUTY is PAIN. I get it. But when you go to a salon where you can get a perm for $40 instead of $250, and they connected every strand of hair with an electrical wire from a super old machine, I swear I thought I wasn’t going to make it out alive. I literally thought if one of those wires accidentally burn out, it would automatically fry my brain. I may be being dramatic, but that’s how I felt at the moment. Thank God He got me out of there just fine and the perm looks great!
- Eating a rat dish in Thailand – We visited a remote village in the jungle somewhere in Thailand and was served a flavorful, spicy, soupy dish with rice. It actually tasted pretty good until we asked what type of meat it was and they said it was RAT… at this point, it was too late to lose our appetite.
- Getting lost in Romania – I took a train by myself, got to a final stop which I didn’t expect to be, and had no idea where I was. No one can speak English and I didn’t have any wifi to contact anybody. Luckily, a random stranger ends up offering me a ride in her car to drop me off to downtown and it ended up being an awesome day!
- War zone in Ethiopia – I wrote a blog about this called “Held Hostage in Hawassa.” I just thank God He protected my team and I through all the bomb threats, grenade attacks, and tribes fighting!
- Sleeping in a room full of bed bugs in Rwanda – These weren’t your typical egg shells, baby bed NY bugs; they were the full grown, queen lady sized bugs and their whole clan! Even after exterminating the whole house by professionals, these bugs still wouldn’t go away so we just had to deal with them and get bit every night. It was horrific!
- No running water in Rwanda – Our team showered once a week (twice if we’re lucky) in a resort because we didn’t have water running in our host’ home. I will never take water for granted ever again!
- Living with a bunch of different creatures in Uganda – huge lizards on our wall, frogs in our bathroom, cockroaches, spiders, snakes, name them, we got them in our lodge! You get used to them after a while honestly… but I still don’t like them and I will never, ever be a fan!
With all the craziness I’ve experienced around the world, I’m still alive and well and I will come back to the US in a few weeks by the grace of God! Hope you got a taste of my experience behind the scenes!
There are more stories to come when I catch up with all of you back home! 🙂
