If I were back in the United States right now and a group of ragtag Dominicans walked past me loaded down with technical backpacks, I would most certainly stop in the middle of whatever I was doing and stare. I would do my best to not be rude about it, but still…
The world is fascinated with the abnormal, the odd, the unknown and unseen. The different. The billions of stars in the sky. The deepest and darkest of the ocean and the creatures and organisms that call it home.
Fascinated are we by the man with fingernails a yard long; the clouds that reach for heaven thousands of feet up; mountains that tower high above.
As a stranger in a strange land, I'm taking everything in. Constantly watching and turning things over in my mind, trying to grasp why these things are so. Why these things happen. What is normal to the Dominicans is intriguing to me. What is self-explanatory to them is perplexing to me.
Everything is so different but slowly becoming normal. Like 10 people hopping into the back of a small pickup truck to head to a village an hour away. Like riding in that same truck with buckets of water that will be used to bathe with. Like walking to the park in the center of the town to be able to acquire an internet connection. Dodging motorbikes galore. Stupid roosters waking me up at 3 a.m. sleeping on the benches in a one-room church building.
Slowly, these things that once were odd are not so odd anymore. This is the World Race where anything can happen and we just go with it. Schedules are non-existant and being on time is something to laugh about. Popping our headlamps on at 6 p.m. because the power just went out. Again. Dodging motorbikes is becoming easier and I'm not so worried when one flies by a foot from me going 45 mph.
Having a family of 6 other people that I live in close proximity with 24/7. Loving these people that I had never met before 3 months ago. Knowing that they are now my brothers and sisters and yes, they might frustrate me here and there, but in the end, a bond is being formed that I feel can't be broken.
This is a movie I put together of our training camp, launch from Ft. Lauderdale, and the time we've been on the Race so far. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
