As you know, we change teams on the race. So I haven’t had the same teammates the whole ten months. Except, I have had one. She has been with me since training camp and has seen all good and bad sides of me everyday. Lisa, is someone I have spentmore time with even more than with my own family and friends back home. Let me show you a picture of her.
Yes, she took a my camera a lot and took selfies so I will have to embarrass her some.
With this being said, Lisa and I have grown in our friendship over the last ten months. She has helped me overcome moments of doubt and sadness. We have also gone through the hardest of times in countries where we didn’t know if we wanted to stay or go.
Lisa has taught me a lot on this race. She has taught me what a true friend is. Lisa, will do anything for her friends and family on the race and back home. She checks in with her friends back home and sends caring thoughtful words to them. Onour teams, she will take you to the place you mentioned 2 months ago in passing that you liked to eat at. She will remember your birthday, remember your favorite color, food, clothes, your best friends from home, and so much more. She has showed me the importance of listening to your friends because it really does count to remember the little things
Lisa has also taught me to think before saying things. She is so good with her words. Sometimes, (a lot) I speak before even thinking about what is going to be said. For her she processes all the things that are being said and then comes out with the most profound words and blows everything out of the water. Although I am not the best at this yet, I am learning about how to do this from her everyday.
Here she is!
Lisa and I have gone through so many memories with each other on this race.
Here are some of my favorite memories with her:
-Getting in a moto accident and she comes running on her motorcyle to help me across the busy street screaming “excuse me”.
Exploring waterfalls in Thailand
-Dancing in Rwanda at Church
-Her being a caterpillar for Halloween then turning into beautiful butterfly
Volcano surfing with her in Nicaragua
Peelingover 100 onions (crying) in Uganda together for a party for over 200 people sitting onthe ground while chickens were getting their heads cut off in front of us.
Her walking 2 miles to get my birthday cake in Uganda.
Her pushing me into the Adriatic Ocean in Montenegro. (Yes it was so cold)
Dancing with her in Albania
Walking downthe streets of Addis Ababa and finding a nice cafe to sit down and have deep personal conversations, then go and buy a half a Kilogram of cookies and eat them all in 20 minutes.
Cambodia: having no idea what we are doing and walking to find a restaurant that could be equal to McDonalds. (We failed).
Vietnam: Her sittingon my bedside helping me figure out why I was feeling the way I was.
Honduras: Having to stay up all night attending to the baby that had to sleep with us and we had to watchover the girls who had special needs.
Overall, there are so many memories with Lisa that I can’t say them all. I appreciate her more than anything! I have learned a lot from her. I am not quite sure how I am going to function with out her after the race. I will be calling her every dayasking what she is doing. She isn’t just a friend but nowa sister. My older sister probably because she always is helping me with everything and looking out for me. I love her and am so glad for her being my family!
