In my last blog I asked you all to tell me what you wanted to know about my race. I received a number of questions, some fun and some pretty challenging. I can't thank you enough for responding. These questions have really got me thinking and have helped with gathering my thoughts.
I figured I could answer 3 or 4 in every blog… so here are the first few:
Q: "I want to know what the most trying time for you as a woman was. What kinds of bad attitudes did you come across based on your gender?"
A: This was a hard one for me. In the US a woman's strength is often something praised and admired, but that is definitely not the case all around the world. I didn't experience too much attitude about my gender in South America. In Romania and Ukraine it came mainly from the more conservative churches… “Women shouldn’t teach over men”, “You are the leader of your team? But you are a female”, statements like these were made every once in awhile. I would just brush them off and not let them get to me.
In Africa woman are viewed as sexual objects and this is not an exaggeration. Of course I can't speak for the whole continent of Africa, but the areas I was living in this was the case and it was depressing. With the sexual culture of Swaziland and aids running rapid it is said that come 2050 the country will cease to exist. 9 times out of 10 if I was walking passed a man, a comment would be made and I would be undressed with his eyes. There were many girls on my quad that were reached for, grabbed and borderline harassed. Throw the fact in that I'm white…. it makes matters worse. As offensive as it is, I could handle the cat calling. Yes it’s degrading, but I wouldn’t let it affect or offend me. It's all these men know and its heart breaking to think about.
But Africa only slightly prepared me for the different kind of disrespect I would encounter in Asia. Thailand wasn't too bad, mainly because we were in Chiang Mai and it was a younger college town. Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia on the other hand! Those were dominantly Muslim cultures. The women are covered from head to toe. Women couldn’t look men in their eyes. Now of course I was put off the first few encounters I had with the men of these towns. I was ignored by a store owner one day and by a man walking down the street when I asked him for directions. It was humbling to realize that the males on my team would need to handle a lot of the communication with male locals because we would get nowhere if I attempted. Again, they are a product of their upbringing and environment. Getting upset would do no one any good and an angry, opinionated white American female wasn't going to change a culture that’s been shaped over years and years. So with every one of these situations I would smile, nod and be as kind as fleshly possible with Jesus within me.
Q: "Looking back now, what do you feel God wanted to accomplish by sending you on the race?"
A: Oh boy, a number of things. And things I believe will be revealed the rest of my life. But if I had to pick the greatest transformation that the Lord accomplished within me it would be my perspective as to where I had placed my worth. Man was I WAY off! lol
I talk about it a little in a blog I wrote back in Ukraine (click here to read) so I won’t go too much into it. But when this truth went from head knowledge to heart knowledge it was a game changer and a weight lifted. I believe I wouldn’t have learned this until years down the road had I not gone on the race. I believe the Lord has worked in so many ways but I know He used this truth to transform my perspective, my identity and ultimately… my life.
Q: "What kind of wine should be on hand upon your arrival?"
A: That would be a chilled blue bottle of my favorite Moscato d’asti. (The one from World Market.)
