How did I get to month 8 on the World Race?? Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was boarding the plane for India? This Race has absolutely FLOWN by…and recently that fact has just been slapping me in the face. I got really nostalgic the other day with my team, and we just spent time recounting fun and confusing cultures, and stories that we will never forget.
Here are some of my favorite things from each country so far:
~Month 1 – India~
- Indian culture is about the furthest you can get from American culture.
- The chai tea is incredible.
- We had a cook at our ministry that would ‘train’ us in the kitchen. Cooking chapatti, curry, rice, and black tea with Regina was quite the experience. She would pour scalding soup in our hands and demand that we “TRY! TRY!” She would steal our shoes and our shampoo. We loved her dearly.
- The food is truly the BEST in the world. Nothing like it.
- Tuk-Tuks are the best form of transportation, even though they drive like mad men.
- Indian weddings are insanely long.
- I love wearing saris.
- India can go from smelling like delicious food to rotting trash real fast.
- I fell in love with every person that I met in India. Our Indian brothers and sisters in Christ are some of the most steadfast and spirit-filled people that I have met.
- I left a piece of my heart there.
~Month 2 – Nepal~
- Thamel, Nepal is the most colorful place that I have ever been! Clothing shops, jewelry stands, restaurants and coffee shops crowd the narrow streets. Some of the best food and best scenery.
- About every 10 seconds someone would offer you “hashish” or weed.
- Hot lemon honey is the best drink in the world.
- Baby goats were born next door to where we lived later that month.
- I spent entirely too much money and regret nothing.
~Month 3 – Vietnam~
- We lived a three minute walk from the beach
- Bahn mi sandwiches were less than a dollar
- Our English students took us out for a new Vietnamese food or dessert almost every night.
- I got to bike along the beach whenever I wanted
- I watched my teammate bit into a dead fish that washed up on the beach
- Asian tourists took 576,283,900 selfies with us every day.
~Month 4 – Cambodia~
- The iced coffee and sugar cane juice were our only redemption those days in Cambodia when it was 95 degrees with 100% humidity and we lived in a concrete building with no A/C.
- The markets were colorful, busy, and smelly. So much fun.
- Our kindergarteners were the craziest and cutest kids in the world.
- I got to read a book about Everest expeditions to my team, and we became OBSESSED with Everest and climbers that were tackling the beast.
- Out hosts wife made us the BEST food in the world and would bring us ice cream every now and again.
- Our hosts’ son, Manna, was three years old and spoke Khmer, Thai, and some English.
- We got to learn more about the Cambodian genocide and really realized how resilient and strong this culture was.
~Month 5 – Thailand ~
- Hands down, the best food in all of Asia.
- We got to move around to 3 different villages, which kept it interesting
- We wrote most everywhere in the back of a pickup truck, even during a huge thunderstorm.
- Our house flooded, and we had some great team bonding while trying to clean the water out.
- We had our own personal Tuk-Tuk driver who would arrive anywhere in 10 minutes of us calling him.
- We made friends with all the little lizards that were in our house.
- We got to do house visits again for the first time since India!!! House visits are my favorite
~Month 6 – Albania~
- Disclaimer* This was my favorite month BY FAR.
- Our host, Donna, was incredible and quickly became our best friend.
- She had two husky dogs that we would take on long walks around the lake
- The scenery was like something out of a book.
- We got to hand out New Testaments in Albanian to the surrounding Muslim village.
- We had a family next door that we got really close with, we would get our nails done and have coffee with their daughter that was around our age and would play soccer with their son and his friends.
- Suflatcha is the yummiest lunch.
- They are a huge coffee culture, and I was its biggest fan.
- We worked at a summer camp with the craziest kids from ages 5-16. They were nuts and misbehaved constantly but we couldn’t wait for camp each day.
- We mastered the local bus system.
- We got to take the kids to the beach twice as ministry.
~Month 7 – Macedonia~
- Our daily hosts were THE BEST ever. They were four men who had been rescued from drug addiction and now live their lives courageously for Christ. We laughed, cried, and ate together like a family.
- Possibly the hardest goodbye.
- We had two girls join our team that were on an exposure trip!
- Twice we got to visit a center for adults with special needs, we danced with them and they drew us pictures.
- We did free face painting on the square as a form of evangelism.
- We found an amazing coffee shop called the Coffee Lab. It was great.
- Berek is my favorite breakfast/ lunch mid-afternoon snack.
And now we are in MONTH 8!!!!
I don’t even know how we got here; this has gone by way too fast.
This month we are in Dobromirka, Bulgaria working with a camp.
We are very much behind the scenes, which works perfect for us. We help in the kitchen.
Cooking, chopping, peeling, grating, mashing, rolling.
We also do the camps dishes after the meals, clean the floors, and get to play with the kids outside in our free time!
We were so blessed this month because these facilities are REALLY nice.
We are working with another team from our squad this month, the Warriors! Each team has their own room on the top floor, a lounge area, four bathrooms and a kitchenette.
We have a huge side yard where we have hung up our hammocks in which we read, do our quiet times, and nap.
Honestly this month couldn’t be more perfect!
We are so thankful for such a wonderful last month in Europe.
Next stop: AFRICA.
Peace & Blessings everyone.
