True confessions: I am type A, big time. Also, I’m a huge nerd.
I try to be cool and laid back about everything, but I’m not really. I make my bed everyday. I Google everything. I always know where everything is at any given moment (which became a game for Amber and she would often take or move things just to watch me writhe). But I think what I love to do even more than Google (which there are very few things in this world that I love more than Google) is to make lists. When I write, I don’t use full paragraphs most of the time, I use bullet pointed lists, in blogs, emails, notes, I even speak in bullet points half the time. My room my senior year of college had an entire wall dedicated to post-its with lists on them. I’m not proud of this trait. It’s a little insane, maybe slightly OCD, but I’ve decided to put my love of list-making to good use. This is my attempt to sum up my year:
Favorite Countries:
1) Rwanda
2) Thailand
3) Ukraine
(Mai Ai, Thailand)
Favorite Ministries:
1) Working in the dump in the Philippines
2) Harvesting rice in the Thai village
3) Hanging out at Capstone in India
1) Working in the dump in the Philippines
2) Harvesting rice in the Thai village
3) Hanging out at Capstone in India
(Tondo, Philippines)
Favorite Month:
Rwanda
(Kigali, Rwanda)
Countries Entered Illegally On Fun Days:
1) Tanzania
1) Tanzania
2) Russia
Foods I’ve Eaten But Never Want To Eat Again:
1) Balut: a duck fetus in an egg; it had feathers and a beak (Philippines)
2) Bull penis soup (Malaysia)
3) Chicken foot (Malaysia)
4) Cow stomach (Rwanda)
5) White rice (everywhere.)
(Malaysia)
Illnesses and Ailments I’ve Had:
1) Amoebic dyssentery (Cambodia)
2) Ringworm (Rwanda-present)
3) The worst dandruff ever; I’m talking snow-covered pillow every morning (all of Africa)
4) Wicked food poisoning that involved projectile vomitting (on the flight from Africa to India)
5) Toe fungus (India-Ukraine)
6) Questionable (but not confirmed) parasite (Nepal)
7) Ear infection (Nepal)
Modes of Transportation Used:
1) Airplane
2) Bus
3) Train
4) Boda Boda (motorcycle)
5) Jeepney
(after our bus accident on our way to Nepal) 6) Boat
7) Elephant8) Taxi
9) Rickshaw
10) Tuk-tuk
11) Tractor
12) Safari van
(Jeepney; Philippines)
(riding an elephant in Thailand)
Adventures/Fun days:
1) Went to a volcano inside of a lake inside of a volcano (Philippines)
2) Saw John Mayer (Philippines)
3) Trekked through a jungle and hitchhiked up a mountain (Malaysia)
3) Rode elephants and bamboo rafted down a river (Thailand)
4) Went and looked at Burma (Thailand)
5) Went to Angkor Wat (Cambodia)
6) Went on a safari (Kenya)
7) Bungee jumped (Uganda)
8) White water rafted down the Nile River (Uganda)
9) Trekked up a mountain and camped at the top (Nepal)
10) Met my long lost Ukrainian relative (Ukraine)
(Malaysian jungle)
(Kenyan safari)
(the Nile; please note that I am falling out while everyone around me
is watching and laughing and not helping me…)
Top 3 Lessons I’ve Learned on the World Race:
1) Full dependency on God rather than other relationships; learning that led to intimacy and understanding that God plays a very present role in our lives, especially through the Holy Spirit, and pretty much changed everything about my relationship with Him.
2) That my identity lies in Christ; in Him I am made perfect and in Him I have authority.
3) To tie my shorts tight so my squadmates can’t pull them down in public places like the airport, McDonalds, or the crowded Habitat for Humanity construction site you’ve been working at all month.
