Okay, it is about time that I brought everyone reading this blog back in the States into a big aspect of my World Race. Starting in Month 1 in Serbia, I would periodically break out into laughter while my teammates stared at me in confusion. Sometimes I just look around and realize how weird my life is right now. And I have to laugh about it. I call it “The Alternative Universe.” It is those moments when everything is weird, and no one else seems to notice the weirdness because it has become normal to us. I don’t want to ever grow numb to the absurdity of this journey, so I have started taking note of the appearances of “The Alternative Universe.” Welcome to “The Alternative Universe” of the bush in Botswana, pulled straight out of my journal. Enjoy.
- I am willing to let complete strangers drive me and my friends across country borders.
- I search the trees for black mamba snakes.
- I’ve seen more donkeys than people since my arrival in this country.
- Showering daily is a waste.
- My biggest frustration in life is when the wind gets strong during an outdoor shower experience.
- I drink water that tastes like blood (too much iron) and looks like pee (it is a nice shade of yellow).
- Yesterday (1/7/17), I took a 13-hour road trip to get to an ATM, grocery, and SIM cards.
- Last night I slept curled around a puddle forming in the center of my tent.
- My normal mode of transportation is standing on the back of a pick-up truck while we drive at 40mph through the rain. Ouch.
- My rain jacket is too wet to wear.
- I cut the grass with a shovel.
- Work is canceled due to rain.
- My job description includes being the lead singer for the local jump rope game. “Cinderella, dressed in yella…” I hope the kids mess up so that I can stop counting to 100 at the top of my lungs.
- I hold dog paws to feel love. Shout out to my spirit animal, Lady Jane, an old dog who loves to hold hands.
- I’ve now been to hospitals/clinics in Kosovo, Macedonia, Zambia, and Botswana.
- A bird pooped on me while I laid in a hammock. Will I change clothes? No.
- I live in a place with 2-day scheduled power outages.
- I am pretty sure there is a dead frog squished under my tent. It smells. The solution: Put a grapefruit-scented Neutrogena face wipe over the area and go back to sleep.
- Cleaning my room means using baby wipes to scrape caterpillar nests off of my tent.
- I daydream about small apartments.
- I have savored my three snacks over a whole month.
- Just when I think we are building a great relationship with a family during our evangelism outreaches, they are suddenly never outside their home anymore. Then today, they were waiting outside their home trying to hitchhike to Shakawe. We may have actually chased them out of town with the Gospel. Whoops.
- I have a blister on my hand from trying to cook a mound of frozen meat without defrosting it.
- I’ve stopped brushing my hair, and somehow think I look cute wearing my workout t-shirt with a maxi-skirt. I probably won’t be able to leave the house once back in America with the style trends I’m starting.
- I sing South African worship music from the ‘90s with an absurd amount of key changes.
- My alarm clock is hearing teammates ask each other if they want cinnamon sugar.
- There might be a hippo outside my tent.
- I’m scared by how much I know about my teammates bowel movements.
- I ate five fat cakes in one sitting. And I thought I would lose weight in Africa. Ha.
- I visit men at the local power plant to chat about the theology of baptism.
- I like to think I’m popular with the local grandmothers who don’t speak English, but if I’m honest with myself, I know that their frantic hand motions mean that they want me and my friends to wear scarves around our heads and give them some money.
There are so many other moments that are too hard to explain to someone who is not here in the midst of the Alternative Universe. Most of the time, it is indescribable.
While the Alternative Universe is a place of laughter, I think more than anything, it is a place of finding joy in all circumstances. It is a place of realizing that God is calling us to recognize that His joy is constant, even when life is weird. It is a place where I am amazed by how God has grown my faith and decreased my anxieties.
Stay tuned for another post about the Alternative Universe in a different country!
