In honor of receiving
our “go home date”, which is November 19th, I’ve put together a
little fun list of things I thought of as I reflected over the past 8 months on
the World Race.
Things I’ll miss after the World Race
–Ma and Pa stores and street venders. I think this has to be my favorite aspect of
foreign culture
–Auto cars and local transportation
–Cute things for “cheap price”
–The random occurrences that make you say, “Only on the
World Race”
–Flavored Ketchup-literally any flavor you could want! Soo
good. I love ketchup. (Moldova)
–Inside Jokes that no one will understand when I get home
–Pretty much everything about Romania: The Golas family and
Living Hope Church, Bus 13B, the most incredible pastries I’ve ever had in my
life, and Romanian food cooked my Vali’s mother and the church family (although
I will NOT miss the 10 pounds I just spent the last 4 months working off as a
result of Romania! Haha)
–The Eclectic culture of Nepal and the breathtaking views
–Meeting random people and making friends all over the
world!
–Bakers Corner in Swaziland (best bakery where all the
white people hung out)
–Little African Babies, and pretty much everything about
African culture. Someday I will master
the basket on top of your head thing!
It’s genius.
–Nedved, Edson, Kahlitu, and Felix. Our boys in Mozambique
–Goats and monkeys (not usually together, but you never
know!)
–Cheap local fruit stands
–Everything about Thailand: 50cent iced coffee down the
street (what has grown to become a daily purchase), $1 Phai Thai (best noodles
I’ve ever eaten), my favorite girls at the bars, the weekend market, and the
beach.
–Beanbag fights and family dinners in Swaziland
–Late night Jesus conversations with people I call my
family
Things I will not miss after the World Race
–Being stared at for being white, random strangers asking
for “one photo, one photo” (India)
–Squatty Potties (although sometimes they are a blessing
for sanitary reasons)
–Cold showers
–The 24-hour “buddy System”
— Spending a month developing relationships, just in time
to pack our bags and leave
–Picking ants out of the sugar for breakfast
–Jet lag and the constant state of exhaustion
–Winston, the obnoxious dog at SHE that easts your shoes
and barks excessively when a motor vehicle is anywhere in site. And
you know an animal is annoying if I don’t like it! Haha
–Travel size towels that may, or may not smell like mildew
–Waiting two days for your clothes to dry so you can wear
them, only to find out that it rained and they are wet again
–Carrying everything you own on your back, then getting rid
of things because your pack is too heavy, then desperately regretting that
decision because after 8 months you FINALLY needed it
–Being stranded at a ministry location because it’s “not
safe” to leave, only to find out that there was a really awesome corner market
that has ice cream right down the street. (Oh India, how I miss you sooo).
–Only being allowed to expect the unexpected because as
soon as you think something is or is not, it changes. (well, I kinda like this one actually… element of surprise!)
Things I have come to be very thankful for after the World Race
–Chick Fila and Mexican food (surprisingly, they don’t
exist anywhere on the other side of the world! Who knew?!)
–Free refills and free ketchup
–“All in one” stores (Target and Walmart) this is a gift!! Seriously…
–Being able to go wherever I want,
whenever I want
–Morning teatime with mom
–Dishwashers, washing machines and dryers
–Air conditioning
–Drinkable water
–Personal Space
–Set prices (however, I’ve gotten pretty good at this
bargaining thing!)
–Being able to flush toilet paper
Things I don’t miss from home
–Things that are expensive, especially $5 cups of coffee
–Materialism and Hollywood
— Big Corporations and the destruction of mom and pop
stores and local businesses
–Traffic laws (wait…so, its not legal to create my own
third lane because the traffic is insane?? Oops.)
–My cell phone (don’t expect me to use one of these very
often when I get home! No phone = freedom!)
–The “Go Go Go” mentality.
Stop to rest people! (although I
do love that things are open past 5pm.)
–The American bubble… its true, we are in one.
–The news ( I don’t want to know!!!)
–American Christiandom (God is so much bigger than we give
him credit for)
–The lack of fun and cheap local transportation (I love
auto cars and tuk tuks!)
Things on the World Race that I probably
should not expect to happen back home
–Being handed a baby so a guy can make you an iced coffee
–Shoving 9 people into a small 5 seater mini cooper
–Being asked for my hand in marriage because I’m female and
white
–Communicating with people with hand motions and pointing,
and speaking in broken English in a funny accent, thinking it must help the
communication issue
–Finding it acceptable to use a baby wipe and say that you
showered
–Watching good, completely edible food fall on the floor
and seriously consider diving after it, and sometimes actually doing it
–Taking a walk down the road daily to 7/11 even when you
don’t need anything, because they have air conditioning
–Hording snacks in your backpack because you don’t know when
you will be able to get more
–Thinking its acceptable to wear the same outfit 4 days in
a row, and knowing that no one is judging you for it, because they are doing
the same thing
–Needing to come up with activities to keep you entertained
during a 2-3 hour church service because you can’t understand a word they are
saying. Just smile, nod and say amen!
-going to a store and them saying, “the dress is 250 Bhat,” and replying, “I will only pay 230!”, and them saying, “No, 250.” and actually walking away because you don’t want to pay 0.75 cents more! haha. (this one is a special addition for Erin Knight).
—Today we are heading off to Cambodia!
My team will be working with YWAM- we aren’t really sure what we will be
doing yet or our actual ministry location, but hope to update you soon!
Month 9, here we come!
