my dad always said that mistakes are fine if you learned something from it! it was kind of frustrating to hear, especially after I got into a nasty car accident right after I left for launch that resulted in being a HUGE stress for both me and my parents. BUT I was able to experience the truth of what my dad said over these first few days of the world race that have been kind of insane. and I’m being reminded how God uses everything for good! so here’s a rundown of some not-so-fortunate events that happened and also a positive twist on them!
the elevators at our hotel were kinda scary. like we joked about how the elevators move faster than the train at the airport. —> it was something we all had in common! everyone felt sick and dizzy after getting on the elevator and it was hilarious!
here’s my beautiful team Anthem
my pack was overweight —> I ended up taking my pillow and a few other things out of my checked bag which ended up being SUPER helpful for my flight! (plus I didn’t have to pay for an overweight bag! yay!)
when we boarded the plane, there was a problem w the AC and we had to get off and wait for about 2 more hours —> everyone got a chance to hit the food court and MUNCH which was so amazing because we were all starting to get a little hangry haha
we we’re a lot happier after getting some snacks 🙂
one of the people on our squad got a concussion a few days before launch and was worried about if he would be able to fly to Romania —> we all prayed for him and he got cleared to fly! his head still hurts some but he says it’s not bad. it’s really cool bc the devil was attacking, but God wanted my squad mate to be a part of this race so much that he didn’t let the devil win!
our plane ride from Atlanta to Amsterdam is about 8 and a half hours —> our AMAZING squad mentor booked our flights w delta so we got a fancy shmancy dinner AND breakfast AND got a bunch of movies to watch! and we weren’t even first class haha. I’m so upset that the picture i took of our wonderful plane food isn’t uploading, sorry friends.
our shuttles to take us to the airport were running a little behind —> our logistics team (3 girls on our squad that were picked to handle budgets, transportation, and everything in between) was able to handle it SO SMOOTHLY! like seriously i don’t know what we would’ve done without them. they were so organized and put together! so PROPS TO THE LOGISTICS LADIES Y’ALL ARE AMAZING <3 our squad was all able to talk and bond more before leaving for Romania! we also got to teach some more people a good ole tik Tok dance 🙂
we didn’t get to pick seats on our flight to Amsterdam —> I got to sit w Olivia (one of our 2 squad leaders who will be with us for the ENTIRE 9 months, bless their hearts haha), Abbie (another girly who loves the movie shrek:) ), and Sumer (one of our logistics superstars) so it was great getting to get to know my squad more!
since our first flight left late, we were running late for our second flight to Bucharest, Romania. we ended up getting straight off the first plane and taking a bus to the 2nd plane and RUNNING thru the airport in Amsterdam. we had to split up bc some people got on the shuttle that weren’t in a rush to get to a connecting flight —> we had to have p a t i e n c e plus now we have another funny story from our travel day haha. and we walked by a huge group of some cute tall soccer players so that’s always nice too 🙂 & once again our logistics ladies were quick on their feet & didn’t miss a beat even in what seemed like hilarious chaos. and everybody made it on the flight! no one got left in Amsterdam! praise Jesus!
when our flight landed in Romania, we found out that our big checked bags hadn’t made it on the plane with us. we spent the morning filling out paper work and talking to some super kind workers at the airport —> our logistics ladies ONCE AGAIN crushed this new task that was unexpectedly thrown at them. plus we were all able to talk, take naps, & play little games while we waited. but it’s been so cool seeing how people aren’t really stressed. everybody is going w the flow and being super easy going, which is so amazing and I know it helps the logistics leaders out a lot, too. also walking, bussing, and train-riding thru Romania w our big packs on would’ve been kinda miserable, so really this who fiasco was a blessing in disguise 🙂
after figuring out the buses from the airport, we needed to book a train to take us to ______. we thought it would leave in 30 minutes, but it turned out we had about an hour. once we realized this, we were all given 20 leis (Romanian currency, equivalent to about 5 USD) to go get some food. —> my first Romanian meal ended up being from a McDonald’s at the train station, but I’m definitely not complaining! that chicken sandwich really hit the spot 😛 and we were able to talk and dance and sleep and throw a ball around and pretty much anything to pass the time to wait on the train. —> so yay! squad bonding!
while we were waiting on the train I REALLY had to pee. a group of us walked around and found the bathrooms only to find out that you have to pay 1.5 leis! like ??? so we all went back to the rest of the group. when we were all given our 20 leis to spend, I hustled on over to the bathroom and payed this lady 1.5 leis and she handed me what must’ve been like 8 squares of toilet paper and told me to walk down the stairs. and THEN when I went to McDonald’s for dinner I realized that they had bathrooms I could use for FREE! & w unlimited toilet paper! —> yeah I know this one is a lil TMI but I still thought it was funny haha & I learned it’s usually smart to check my options before deciding to do something!
when the train came, it took us a while and a lot of trial & error to figure out where we were supposed to be sitting. since everything was in Romanian, and none of us speak Romanian, finding our seats on this huge double-decker train was a bit difficult. —> but once again we figured it out! we all got a little stressed, but we were all still able to laugh about it. we really were those stereotypical Americans that sit wherever on the train and are totally clueless as to what is going on while they carry around their 20lb daypacks and big floofy pillows.
when we got on the train, it started moving and one of the train workers came thru and checked all of our tickets (& he looked just like the guy from polar express which made me really happy hehe) and one of the guys was asleep in the seats next to us next to some local Romanian women. when the train worker came to their seating section, we woke him up and he all confused and frazzled. he was frantically looking around for his ticket and grabbed his backpack that was in the overhead compartment and his hydro flask fell out of the side pocket and hit this older lady on the head/shoulder —> NO WORRIES GUYS she was ok! everyone was able to laugh about it, even the lady that got hit by it. & when my squad mate was putting his bag back up in the overhead compartment on the train, his hydro flask started falling out of the side pocket again and EVERYONE was SCREAMING about it and he goes “guys don’t worry I clipped it in” and he had to explain to the Romanian lady how it wasn’t going to fall and hit her again. so yeah I guess we didn’t really learn a whole lot from this except to make sure your water bottles are clipped onto your bag haha. & I wanted to include this story because it gave me a good giggle 🙂
after our day and a half-ish of traveling, we were able to hop on a train from Bucharest to Craiova, where we’ll be staying in Romania. —> this was a STELLAR opportunity for all of us to catch a few winks 😉 also can I just say how weird is jetlag? it’s currently 1:37pm at home and 8:37pm here and everybody is faaaaast asleep on the train right now haha. praise Jesus for giving us the opportunity to rest!
I know this post is a LOT longer than the ones I’ve dont in the past, but I hope you guys enjoyed these lil stories of what the first few days of my world race journey have been like! I’m so excited because I was able to jot down these events as they happened on my phone, so I haven’t really edited it! I told the stories as they were haha
& I also hope that this encourages all of you that even when things don’t go the way you want/plan them to, God’s plan is A L W A Y S bigger and better than what you could’ve ever come up w for yourself! so big shoutout to Jesus who never fails to use His sense of humor to remind us of His power over everything 🙂
Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
God is good!
Maddie Chase
maddiechase.theworldrace.org
email: [email protected]
phone: (919) 257-7360
instagram: itsmaddiee23
