In Indonesia, our first country, squatty potties and I did not agree. The smell, the dense and fly-infested air and lack of lighting made my whole being cringe with disgust. “This is so disturbing oh look they missed the hole ew I can hardly breathe in here,” was truly the cry of my heart throughout the 45 seconds I was knelt over some not-so-porcelain thrones.
8 months later, I’ve encountered more squatties than I dare to count, and my current reaction consists of nothing more than a nose-scruff. All of this traveling has changed us, in profound and not profound ways.
Since being on an 11-month, 11-country (really more like 14 countries in 11 months for us) mission trip with all of my belongings fitting nicely into a 70-liter backpack and 10-ish-liter daypack, I can confirm my initial thoughts of “wow that’s straight-up NUTS”.
All of this go, go, go with very little property of my own does some weird stuff to a person (if you ever had doubts about my sanity before I left in January, congratulations, I’m here to say my weirdness has in fact increased… Woohoo! Bahahahaha!! o.o). Stuff happens: psychological stuff, physical stuff, emotional stuff, spiritual stuff (even if religion sounds like nothing more than disgusting brainwash to you, which I deeply sympathize with that fear if that’s the case). The craze seeps into your bones, and after awhile you’ll forget what it’s like to function and react to things the way you normally did at home.
Here’s some random personal developments I and other trustworthy comrades of mine have compiled after backpacking around Asia for 8 months:
– Rediscovering long lost underwear in the dark, untouched recesses of your backpack is a cause for the utmost celebration. It’s like going shopping, but you skip past the draining search process!
– Prolonged eye contact and staring at other people is so socially acceptable and contagious in the countries we’ve visited that I often find myself wondering how many people I’ll creep out in America before I remember staring isn’t considered appropriate.
– Walking down the road with a bunch of cows isn’t a “wow” event anymore. In fact, my current impression of cows is rather peaceful.
– Random people approaching me and speaking in a foreign language isn’t a fear-filled experience anymore. Misunderstanding is something I can work through with more ease and confidence.
– Confirming an ending location and price with taxi drivers prior to jumping into their vehicles has PROVEN to be more than just a good idea. I cannot tell you how many times I and whoever I’m with have jumped into the first taxi that unfortunately decided to have us as it’s passengers only to either get cray lost or be charged 2 or 3x the usual price. Head. Ache.
– The decision of when it’s time to wash clothes is now dictated by when they start to give off a rank odor instead of when they collect multicolored, gross-looking stains.
– When asked “what does your name mean?” by locals, I have learned to prepare myself to instantly dive headlong into deep spiritual conversations.
– Local people who understand me somehow and decide to make my problems their problems instantly have my utmost respect and trust.
– I’m way more willing to risk my life crossing busy streets in major cities and forego thoughts of getting caught jaywalking simply to get to an ice cream cart on the other side. Bring it on, man. I’ll win.
– Cold weather, including freezing hail and rain mixed-with-lightening on mountaintops is now welcome all the time. After sweating more often than not and learning that usually the only “cold air” we experience comes during and after rainstorms, I’ve come to crave those once ominous-looking cumulonimbus clouds. I can’t recall ever saying “rain rain go away, come again some other day” in the last 8 months….nope.
– After only 1 month in, I realized how much I missed wearing summer dresses. Looking nice and feeling well-put-together were dreams I forsook when doing my initial packing, believing myself to be just fine without them for a year. But oh the lies I believe, my friends! I recently bought a $16 dress in Kazakhstan and it is now my most treasured article of clothing.
– Everyone has developed their own special strategy for coping with long, taxing travel days. Some stretch out in bus or train isles, some squeeze beneath seats, some take sleeping medication, some overdose on sugar and wait for the impending crash, some make it a point to get the window seat, some wear earplugs and face masks, some try to find empty vacated benches to sprawl out on, some stock up on snacks/meals and water beforehand. We have also grown content with getting only 4-5 hours of “OK” sleep on travel days.
– We’ve determined the top five most important words to learn upon entering a new country: hello, thank you, goodbye, toilet, and how to say the currency.
– Carbonated beverages are being consumed way more than they ever had in the states. Where some of us might have only had one can of Coke in a period of 2-3 MONTHS, now we may have 2-3 in a single DAY.
– Before the race, we felt just fine in taking some “alone time” apart from friends and family, even craved it. But now, we feel weird when we have a lot of time by ourselves. “Am I a crazy, socially bankrupt loner?” and “Is there something I should be doing right now?” are legit thoughts that flash across our minds in isolation.
– We know we communicate differently now as opposed to when we “launched”. Our English has become sloppier, and we are more willing to make public fools out of ourselves (using over-exaggerated hand gestures, faces and noises) to communicate. Maybe it’s because people are already intrigued by our mere presence so we figure we might as well put our weirdness out there.
– My topics of conversation in public places are less filtered. While locals in almost every country have insisted English is becoming the “world’s language”, that doesn’t mean everyone speaks it. I bank on language differences when out in public and tend to speak my mind more.
– Choosing between apathy and zeal/wholeheartedness is a daily struggle. Our teams have changed frequently, hosts and ministries are new every month, we only spend a day or so with the same people on trains and buses. To be sure, my friends and I definitely all desire real and raw relationships and recognize the impact that has on God’s Kingdom. But out of a need to simplify and cope with the constant change that is being handed us at an abnormal rate, we’ve limited the amount of empathy and emotions we allow ourselves to feel for locals and one another. Apathy lurks. Wholeheartedness beckons. We must decide.
– I’ve learned locals intentions, as much as I hope them to be pure and well-meaning, aren’t all of the time. Turns out people overseas can have bad motives and agendas, too.
– I can handle the sweat now. The tingle across my skin and sweat glands that tell me I’m perspiring is no longer a cause for immediate disgust. (Notice I said “immediate”; I do still have a sense of hygiene and am often ready for a shower at the end of the day.)
– I use to hate how drying machines shrunk my clothes, but as we go and my clothes expand and stretch and take on weird shapes of their own and drying clothes in Asia consists of hanging them on a line, I’ve learned dryers serve more than one valuable purpose.
– Road trips subsequently mean intentional dehydration for the sake of not needing to stop for a bathroom as often. (If that made you nervous, understand I never let the level of dehydration get out of control now, thanks to a 95°+ train ride back from the Taj Mahal back in India. Oh did I learn my lesson then!).
– I have a more-than-minor appreciation and sympathy for my two feet. Before the race, I’d take a shower and never once bend down to even give my feetsies so much as a quick swipe. Now, I take soap to them and occasionally make an attempt at scrubbing the two calloused heros attached to the bottom of my legs.
That’s all for now. Just wanted to give you a real-time analysis of our brains and lives that you might have been curious about. I’m sure the last 3-4 months of this journey will bring more changes and only increase the likelihood of reverse culture shock.
Also, know this: my team and I have little interest in doing the rest of this journey merely to benefit ourselves and get an experience. This list may be about ways we’ve changed and how we’re being affected, but that is not our motivation for why we serve. It is a series of side effects. We serve out of a desire to be others-centric and, even more importantly, to be furthering Jesus’ Kingdom. I believe we are doing the best we can with the fast-paced, ever-changing travel situation we are in. So if you pray for us, pray that He keeps us seeking answers to “how can I benefit others?” And “what ways can I be most effective for the Kingdom of God?” We want to continue to seek and learn what those answers are for each country on our route.
Thanks for taking your time to read this, friends and family!
