Say that three times fast! Ha!
The title of this blog should warn you of what you are about to get yourself into! BE PREPAAARED!
I do apologize for the large gap between my last blog post and this one. I wasn’t slacking, we were merely in areas where it was less-than-cool to be blogging due to religious differences in the area.
As usual, much has happened in the past month. In my last post we were about to leave Bucharest, Romania, and that now seems like eons ago.
After Bucharest, we spent a week camping in Brasov, Romania with the three other WR squads that are currently on the field. It was awesome to get to talk with racers from other squads and to hear of their experiences. It was also awesome to win the dance off. YESSSS!
Here is our victory shot. Please note the formation. We are an “I”!
From Romania we took a 12 hour bus ride to Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey was not on our original race route, but I am so glad that we ended up there for a couple weeks! The whole squad was together, and we had the opportunity to do ethnography research.
What is ethnography you ask? Ethnography is, “a methodological strategy used to provide descriptions of human societies, which as a methodology does not prescribe any particular method.” Copyright Wikipedia. Thank you, Wikipedia. Basically – we interviewed people. It was awesome. We ended up getting super close with one of the families that we were interviewing. We helped them with their house-chores!
Nobody had ever informed me that Turkey is so amazing / beautiful!
From Turkey we took a short little plane ride to Tel Aviv, Israel, and I we have been working in Israel for about two weeks now. Our main mission has been focused on rice.
One morning, a truck pulled in front of the house where we are staying – loaded with 26,000 POUNDS of rice, dispersed amongst nearly 800 boxes. We put this rice into storage, by hand!! We were so sore the next day, but we have been using the rice to give to refugees!
It has been an amazing experience to be able to see a lot of the holy places around Israel. Here are some photos from our time here:
NUMBER-CRUNCHER TIME!
I like baseball, so I like stats. Here are some rather fun stats from our time thus far on the race:
1.) Currently, I am sleeping in my 23rd bed since I have been on the race. This does not count overnight flights or bus rides.
2.) We are sleeping in our eighth country in five months. (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, America, Ireland, Romania, Turkey, Israel!)
3.) We have taken 8 planes, 2 train rides, and countless bus rides.
4.) We have crossed 9 time zones.
· 5.) I have wanted to adopt at least 67 different dogs and 94 different cats that I have met on our journey thus far.
Coming up next…
On Thursday, we are leaving Israel and meeting up with the remainder of the squad, and we will be heading to EGYPT for a couple days. I am so excited! We will be spending our Halloween on an overnight plane to South Africa. (I am hoping they allow trick-or-treating up and down the aisles!) From South Africa, we will be heading to SWAZILAND! I am more excited for Swazi than I have been for any other country. Even though I have not yet ever been to Africa, I have always had a heart for it, and I can’t wait to experience it.
Support update time!!
I must tell you that when I first got accepted to the World Race (around Christmas of last year) I thought that I was going to have 2 major obstacles in my way: telling my parents and raising $13,800. As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Since the initial surprise of my journey, my parents have been nothing less than absolutely AMAZING and supportive. I’m super lucky. And, to date I have received $12,455 in donations. I can’t express to you how appreciative I am – the generosity of my friends, family, fellow church members, and even random strangers has been overwhelming and honestly warms my heart. From the bottom of my heart – I thank you! J
I still need to raise $1,345 in order to be fully funded. As the holidays approach, I ask that you keep me in mind. Anything you can give is greatly appreciated, and helps us to be able to help so many people around the world. Already we have fixed up an orphanage in Guatemala, paved a road at an orphanage in Nicaragua, helped out elderly Gypsies in Romania, interviewed different cultures for ethnography research in Turkey, and given out rice to refugees in Israel. AND – we are only halfway there! There is still so much that we can do! J
Finally, I have a happy announcement to make!
I got an email on Friday morning from my dear brother, Alden, asking me if I was ready to have another member on our family tree. Attached to the email was a picture of a cute little hand with a ring on it. Sadly, my deductive reasoning skills are not that sharp, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize what he was getting at. HE PROPOSED TO HIS GIRLFRIEND! (AND SHE SAID YES!)
I love my brother, and I love my Sarah. I wish I could be there to congratulate you guys in person, but I am sending you a ton of love from the Middle East. I can’t wait for the wedding, and I am so happy for you guys!! Sarah – welcome to the family. J You have always supported me from day one, and you have been so encouraging throughout this whole process! I love you a whole heap and I am SO excited to have a sister-in-law!! Alden – thank you for constantly (anonymously) supporting my “vacation” and being an overall wonderful big brother. I love you and I miss you every day. And don’t worry – I know you’re missing me too.
To the homeland – I found some graffiti artwork to help me express my feelings.
Thank you guys so much for all the emails, comments, prayers, support and encouraging words. I literally could not do this without all of you, and I truly can’t tell you how thankful I am. You guys are the BEST!!
