It is almost the end of month three… I am starting to get used to life on the race… whatever that means HA because it seems as soon as you get used to the crazy not normal things you do in one place, you move to the next country or continent and everything is different. Fluidity is something that is a must… because you NEVER know what you will face next, what you will be asked to do, who you will meet or what you will eat! haha But this is my humorous attempt to document not only for you, but for me some of the things I will be thankful for when I return home… I plan on adding to this list as the journey continues… but these are some of the few things I can think of as I lay in bed this late cold night in moldova.
A few things I will be thankful for now that I have been to Haiti-
The ability to stay clean for more than one minute after you shower. In Haiti, you literally sweat before you can dry off from your bucket shower and you always smell that Haiti smell, which is indescribable but if I attempted it would be a cross between a pig farm, B-O and something that is rotting.
People that are on time or at least a few minutes within it. You find that your patience is now more than ever and that your agendas never matter, so why make one! In Haiti 8 am could be 630 am, 9 am, noon or even 4 pm… just depends on the way the wind blows! It is not considered rude to show up 2,3 or even 5 hours late.
closets! In Haiti your close get eaten by cows… in closests they stay nice and safe.
Bug free bedrooms! I can not even begin to explain the amount of bugs let alone the millions of mosquitos that filled our bedroom every moment of every day. You might as well take your bug spray to your sweaty shower because by the time you get dressed you have already been bit at least 5 times! those of you who know me well, please imagine me crawling into my bug hut on a sketchy top bunk late at night in a dark room and rushing to tuck in the edges and then kill anything that might have gotten in and then screaming because one of the orphans put a huge dead dragonfly on my pillow just to be funny… let the laughing begin!
Things I am thankful for now that I have been to Dominican Republic –
Being able to look people in the eye! In the DR woman are looked at as objects. We had to stare at the ground most of the time. If you looked up because you knew there was a woman coming near, they were most likely looking at the ground… I usually had no sense of direction because I just followed the men on my teams heels as we walked through town.
Protein other than chicken! The beef is a funky died bright red color and TRUST me… you do not want to eat it! The only protein we got was chicken… which we were very thankful for, but boy oh boy will I be ready for a good steak and a hamburger!
A clean bathroom and kitchen. When you share a house with 26 other people things are usually messy. Even when you have cleaning schedules and procedures in line… the likelihood of finding a clean kitchen or a clean bathroom are not very high. Emily… I was thankful for all of our lessons two years ago because I always washed my dishes right after I used them 😉 Also, it is easier to keep the bathroom not smelling funk when 12 people share one and you can FLUSH. We would run out of water and not be able to flush for hours at a time, gross!
Air conditioning. When you are sick and the only safe option for vitamins is V8… it would be really nice to sleep and rest in A/C… although I did spend some amazing quality time with God when I was sick… I will be glad to be sick with medicine, a/c and a bed that has sheets and isn’t and old mattress on the floor!!!
Things I will be thankful for now that I have been to Moldova-
Toilets, showers and washing machines. Here in Moldova we use the same little tub for all three. I know what you are thinking, gross… but we bleach every time we switch the reason for use. We have an outhouse that was full when we got here… gross… but it does the job when there is an emergency. We only shower about 1 and ½ times a week (1/2 being a hair wash). We don’t really do laundry until it is a MUST and even then, it is by hand using not enough water and it usually rains as soon as you hang them to dry!
Healthy food and a variety! I am so grateful and thankful for our meals, at least we have them… and so far I have stayed very healthy this month… but we eat white carbs every single meal. Hungry… here are your options (although delicious, just trying to give you a feel) pasta with butter, rice, bread with butter, cookies, barley or soup with potatoes, pasta with mayo, rice with milk, bread with jam… mmm… it has been satisfying, so no complaint but I will be thankful for my 90% veggie and fruit trips to Central Market!
Cars! By now im sure you figured I walk everywhere! It is great to be totally honest and not really something I am not used to being in Austin the last few years… but I will be so glad to be able to drive to the grocery store, drive to work or anywhere for that matter. We walk miles and miles here. Although it provides great quality time, exercise and amazing views of the beautiful countryside full of brightly colored houses and vineyards, I am just saying it will be great to drive where I need to go when I want to!
Internet! Anyone who has tried to communicate with me this month already knows it has not been so fun! Thank you for your patience! But we don’t have very good Internet, and I cant just do what I need to do. I remember my internet going out for 12 hours in my house and it TOTALLY inconveniencing the day for so many people… but try not having it for days at a time, or when you have it, it only kind of working or taking 3 hours to download the awesome HCBCUT video from the website… patience much!? I will be thankful to have the Internet whenever I want it, although by the end of this… I probably wont spend my time on it as much as I used to!
All for now… hope you enjoy stay tuned for more as the journey continues
