Today is my 200th day on the World Race! Please enjoy some insight about this crazy journey (and check out my 100th day on the World Race blog too if you haven't yet)!
- Do you not remember what side of the road we drive on in America or what side of the car the driver sits on
- Do comments like “if you respect the toilet, the toilet will respect you” are words to live by
- Do you use the cardboard roll to wipe because there is no toilet paper and the “shaking” method will not suffice
- Do you walk an hour to find a tattoo place in Serbia and after finding out they speak minimal English, you decide it’s good enough to get a tattoo there
5. Do you go 10 months without getting a hair cut
6. Do you sleep on a gas station floor during your 5 hour train layover
7. Do you experience a 100 degree temperature change in a matter of 12 hours (100 in Africa to -1 in Romania)
8. Do you save your napkins from any restaurant to use as toilet paper for later
9 Are the first questions you ask your ministry contact: can you flush the toilet paper, can you drink the water, and where’s the closest wi-fi
10. Do you get to be “alone” in a room with 6 or more people by just putting your iPod in and close your eyes or put a blanket over your head
11. Do you come from Africa, step off a train in Romania into 5 feet of snow and -1 temperatures and have a 3 hour layover in a room with no electricity in the middle of the night with no food or water anywhere in sight
12. Are International flights like Christmas time, free food, wine, pillow, blanket, head phones, movies, tv shows, etc
13. Do you open your wallet and have 7 different currencies and then hold out your hand for the cashier to pick out the right one
14. Do you shove 6 people with packs in a taxi that would normally cost $5 and get angry when they charge you $10
15. Do you prayer walk around a Romanian “willage” for 6 hours when it’s negative 4 degrees and you just came from Africa yesterday
16. Is writing on yourself and your friends with a Sharpie normal
17. Do you learn to smile and nod at whatever food is out in front of you at a local’s house – and also master the art of slipping food into your pocket or purse if it isn’t doable
18. Do you go well over a week living in your house handwashing the dishes before you realize there is a dishwasher because your so used to not having one… and then you continue to handwash because it’s just easier by now
19. Does a 16 hour bus ride feel like a short travel day and a 8 hour plane ride is not enough time
20. Do you form alliances at a white elephant Christmas party in order to ensure that your team gets the one jar of peanut butter and the baby wipes
21. Do you write a message to your fiancé with a rock onto the Great Wall of China
22. Is the grocery store a great place to have your team date night
23. Do you hear the song “I am a friend of God” in almost every language you’re around
24. Are you so excited to drop weight from your pack that even getting rid of contacts feels like a victory
25. Do you attend a Gypsy funeral
26. Do you learn to ignore all the PDA you’re exposed to in Europe and even the lip smacking sounds of the couple next to you making out doesn’t even phase you anymore
27. Do you learn to appreciate just how wonderful it is that there are laws against smoking inside
28. Do you become more patriotic about your own country than you ever believed possible. God bless America and I can’t wait for 4thof July!
29. Do you develop some strange form of asthma that you never had in America
30. Do you find out that people in other countries know more about American movies, TV shows and politics and history than you do
31. Can you get a funnel cake for 35 cents
32. Do you skype home about a tooth brush and google image pictures of it to describe to your Dad all about it so that he can mail you the exact one (haha Sara Norton)
33. Do you do your workout for the day on the kitchen floor in your Serbian apartment
34. Do you miss the things of home so much that your Pinterest addiction spreads to even the guys on your Squad making their own accounts
35. Does it become normal to see small children walk around a city alone
36. Do prayer walks, the sharing of testimonies, and worship sessions become a “normal” part of daily living
37. Do you make a shopping list in the Philippines that you get accomplished 7 months later in Serbia
38. Do you check for your pants in the kitchen
39. Is it normal to pop each other’s pimples
40. Do you come to your morning worship session without pants on because all your clothes are being washed
41. Do you throw away a perfectly good article of clothing to make room in your pack for a new one
42. Do you say the Pledge of Allegance on a bus surrounded by Serbs
43. Do the single women on your team offer themselves for marriage to the first male they meet in a new country who speaks English and loves children
44. Do you buy milk in a bag and pour it into an empty coke bottle all for the sake of saving 12 cents
45. Do you start your trek around the world with a white shirt and 7 months later your teammate asks if it’s a new shirt because the color has drastically changed to a dark shade of gray
46. Does laundry day mean you are inadequately clothed for the climate you are currently living in
47. Do you get kicked out of a Serbian hospital because you are trying to pray for the patients
48. Does you make friends with a Police Officer in China and his parting gift to you and your teammates is 6 yak bone combs
49. Do you understand the true difference between “1st world problems” and “3rdworld problems” and differentiate between the two in your daily living
50. Do you finally accept that the Race is far more about yourself and God than the world and God; that is the most important work and takes the most discipline and obedience than anything else that’s been asked of us
