So, on an awesome suggestion from Dad, I’ve asked my family to ask me 20 questions they’d like to know about my time on the race. Well here they are
1. What scares you the most about returning to the States? -Jenny & Joel
Honestly? American prices…..
2. Of all the places you’ve been, where can you close your eyes and see yourself living? -Carl
South Africa, by far, felt the most like home. But Chiang Mai, Thailand isn’t too far behind
3. Has your time overseas made you want to learn a foreign language? -Joe
Absolutely! Greece grew a love in me for Middle Eastern culture, especially Arabic; and this month I’m soaking up all the French I can, and loving it.
4. Where was the most uncomfortable place you slept and why? -Dida
Well, 8 out the 10 months, I have had a bed to sleep in! But my most uncomfortable sleep, at least in recent memory, was coming back from Victoria Falls on a bus. 5 people smushed onto the back row, with enough leg room for a two year old, and seats that refused to recline. And to top it all off? Lynna’s souvenirs kept falling on my head every time I had almost nodded off.
5. What about you has changed the most? -Momma
Probably my hair color
6. What about you has changed the least? -Momma
Probably my sense of humor
7. What language was the hardest to communicate with? -Grammy and Poppa
Greece was probably the hardest month for the language barrier. Because we’ve had translators wherever we’ve gone, but in Greece we worked in a camp of 5000 people speaking like 7-10 different languages, plus the Greek police. So, since I only speak English, I felt like I needed a different translator for almost every interaction.
8. What do you want to eat first when you get home? -Dad
Asap as possible, I’m headed straight to Connie’s. To get me some chicken tenders!
9. What have you done where you have been most in your element? -Carl
Any time I’m entertaining some kids!
10. What do you think Americans take most for granted? -Dad
Just how easily accessible everything is, from internet to food.
11. Where would like to take Grammy and Poppa? -G&P
Y’all would love Romania, Greece, and South Africa.
12. What’s one piece of advice you would give someone going on the race this August? -Mom
Little expectations make for so much bigger of an experience.
13. What have you been listening to while you have been gone? -Carl
Lots of podcasts and new music whenever I can download it. But, I just asked Bess about a song and she cracked up and said “That song is SO old!!!” So, maybe just music that’s “new to me”.
14. What do you think you will miss the most about overseas once you return? -J&J
Getting to experience a brand new culture each month.
15. In what situation did you feel the most exposed and awkward? -Dida
As a young man, with little to no experience in much other than college classrooms, it was incredibly hard any time I worked in housing at the refugee camp. To be put in charge of these families of men and women who were much older and stronger than me. To be the one who had to tell them they’d be squeezing a family of six into a tent meant for four. Just having that kind of power, having to advocate for them, just the whole process, was just something I never could get used to.
16. Which country did you find the people more responsive to God’s word? -G&P
Lesotho
17. What is something you thought you would miss, but you haven’t? -Mom
I’ve missed the internet way less than I thought I would.
18. Compare your view of other cultures before the trip to your view of other cultures now. -J&J
Before I had a broad picture, where now I have a much more detailed version. Now I have actual memories and experience to back that up.
19. What is the craziest mode of transportation you have taken? -Carl
I rode on the back of a moped with this guy in Myanmar to go visit a Buddhist temple and we picked up a watermelon on the way back. So, I was just holding onto that watermelon and balancing the entire way back.
20. What is the best lesson God taught you that made your journey worth the effort? -Mom
We’re all a lot more alike than most people think. We all struggle with about the same things and though circumstances and locations might look vastly different, we all need some Jesus.
fin.
