Halfway Point!!!
Yes, 5 ½ months in and 5 ½ months left to go… (disclaimer: this may not be the EXACT halfway point as we still do not have our date set to come home). Still, we have reached the turn around point and 5 months sounds a lot less intimidating than 11.
SO in light of all this, I will share with you some of my favorite moments of the first 6 months, and our travel "tallies" thus far.
India
Started off the race with sensory overload. Long hot days, a million people staring, open sewers and endless amounts of rice and curry. This country was the toughest on the race so far and when things go wrong nowadays we like to reassure ourselves it's going to OK by saying, “at least we aren't in India!”
At one of the villages we went to.
Favorite memory: The village with a million children who had never seen white people before. We were swarmed and barely made it out alive!
Moment I'd rather forget: puking my face off after eating PIZZA of all foods.
Nepal
Mountain tops, rice fields and a breath of fresh air after India. We were in the middle of nowhere and a 45 min hike to the nearest “town”. The month was spent trying to keep pace behind our flip-flop wearing Pastor treking from village to village.
During one of our hikes to a village
Favorite memory: Getting caught in a monsoon downpour during our 2-hour hike down the mountain, riding through the Himalayas on the back of our contact's motorbike and bungee jumping… Nepal was a good month.
Moment I'd rather forget: The smell that we lovingly refer to as “wet-nasty” that infected all our clothes.
Thailand
The land flowing of milk and honey (western food!) 7-11 stores on every corner, Pad Thai, smoothies and ice cream for under $1. Teaching English and playing games with University students. This was the last month with team Relentess and was a favorite watching our team dive into worship together in a whole new way.
After church
Favorite memory: Starting every morning with worship and listening to Oo and the Pretties (shout-out! heeeyy!)
Moment I'd rather forget: Sweating through my shirt during the walk to the university campus… so not helpful in friends.
Malaysia
New season of squad leading. This month was a learning process and a shift in my Race so far. Malaysia felt like America with classy cars and some comforts from home (hot showers, beds etc). The culture is a little mix of everything in Asia, so you could pick and choose what cuisine you wanted from Indian, Thai and even Chinese.
At the KL Towers
Favorite memory: Roof top in Penang and 1 Ringgit ice cream cones from McDonalds every day.
Moment I'd rather forget: Finding a man-thong tucked in the bed in the hostel we were staying at.
Cambodia
Switched back to using USD and driving on the right side of the road. Beautiful country sides filled with breathtaking sunsets and rice fields as far as the eye can see. We rode bikes as our main form of transportation and tried to take on the Cambodians in volleyball… which was highly unsuccessful.
An incredible sunset, one of many.
Favorite memory: Market trips and talking to a Monk in Angkor Watt
Moment I'd rather forget: Bus trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, they played two movies on the big screen up front that I am still slightly scarred from.
Vietnam
A land of a million motorbikes. I have fallen in love with the city of Da Nang with long river side runs, REEEAALLY strong coffee, legit American food as well as some of the friendliest people I have met on the race.
After English class
Favorite memory? Eating a home cooked Vietnamese meal at my new friend's house and watching her twin nieces sing, “We wish you a Merry Christmas” to me in broken English.
Moment I'd rather forget: The 23-hour bus ride to Da Nang… so worth it to get there, but SO forgettable.
Thus far, on the World Race we have taken…
10 different planes
22 buses over 3 hours long
3 buses over 22 hours long
Our longest travel day was 61 hours (1st one! The states to our final location in Kurnool, India)
AND the most sleeping locations per month was in Cambodia where we moved 8 times in 1 month.
So, we are pressing on. Amazing how fast time goes, and anticipating some incredible lessons to come. The Race is NOT finished. The Lord is NEVER finished teaching us and shaping us. We may be halfway though, but we are still begining this crazy life adventure to bring Kingdom!
oh.. and 8 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!
