For weeks now, our teams have been dreaming of the foods we would eat and the shopping opportunities we would soon have. We were about to be back in the U.S…for only 12 hours mind you, but it didn’t matter, we were excited. A trip to Best Buy for a new iPod, a big juicy steak and a shopping spree in Target were tops on my list. Our first stop on the way to LA was in Miami, just in time for lunch. We all splintered off in different directions looking for meals that would satisfy our cravings for American grub. Some went healthy, some…not so much. I’m sure you can all guess which direction I went. Hawaiian pizza, large Dr. Pepper…extra ice, slice of key lime pie…$16. My budget for the last two months has been $3 for the entire DAY, and I just spent $16 for lunch! Welcome home.
Then came an unexpected twist in our nice smooth travel plans. As we are boarding the plane to go to LA, we got word that one of the girls from our squad had just been rushed to the emergency room and two others were with her. The news came so fast with so little time to respond that all we were able to do is make a few phone calls to those who could help on the ground and PRAY before we lifted off. We sure weren’t expecting anything like that to happen in our brief stay in our home country, but praise God that if someone needed to be rushed to a hospital, it happened in the U.S. and not in Haiti. (Don’t worry, they have all since made it to Cambodia and reunited with the rest of the squad, only a few days behind us)
Once in LA, we made our way to our hostel, in Inglewood. Now I don’t know much about Los Angeles geography, but I have now learned that Inglewood is not on the more posh side
of town as it turns out. Our hostel was quite the…uh…adventure; appropriate given that the name of it is the Adventurer Hostel. It was certainly unique. Fortunately when we arrived, we discovered that they had actually lost our reservation. I say fortunately only because it allowed us to upgrade our reservation to a 3 bedroom unit rather than the 20 person dorm we were originally going to stay in. We were ready to spread out and have our own space for the night. So after a lengthy time of prayer together, the GW’s (“G Dubs”, short for Gentle Warriors) took off on our various missions for the evening. One went shopping with a friend, most took a taxi together to a Target, and I waited for my friend Liz to come get me to find the much needed Best Buy. You see, around week 2 of the race, I did laundry for the first time…and as it turns out, iPod’s don’t fare so well when left in a pocket and taken through a rinse cycle. And as I’ve discovered since then, putting in ear phones and turning on an iPod is one of the few ways to escape from your surrounding for a moment and retreat to your own world for some time to recharge. So I’ve missed my little iPod. My computer has since served as its replacement since that unfortunate washing incident…and although it’s a small computer, it’s a far cry from pocket sized! So, this was by far what I was most looking forward to getting on this little outing.
So Liz arrives, and we begin the search. Turns out, no one is particularly observant about the locations of their neighborhood Best Buy stores…at least no one we talked to. The guy at the hostel steered us in the wrong direction initially, directing us to an intersection that doesn’t even exist. Then the subsequent 3 people we stopped to ask directions from were equally unhelpful. Finally, our saving grace came by calling a number for Best Buy and having the lady give us directions to the closest store that she knew of. Even after that, we got lost a few more times. I learned something new about my good friend Liz on this little adventure…she’s a bit directionally challenged 🙂 which made the whole journey that much more hilarious! Honestly, I secretly love getting lost…it makes for some great stories. So long as we actually eventually found our destination, which we did, I love that it took us over an hour to find it! Thanks again Liz for the awesome tour of whatever area of LA we were in!!
Once we found the Best Buy, the second major unexpected twist in this journey unfolded. Long story short, after running out to the car to get something while we were in the store, I accidentally hit the unlock button instead of the lo
ck button on the car door before running back inside. Fortunately, all went well inside the store, and I walked out with a free new iPod in hand…but…when we got back to the car, my backpack was gone. And, as bad as it is to have my bag stolen, I am still praising God for what was NOT in it that normally would be. I actually had forgotten my wallet at the hostel which had my passport, all my credit cards, money, etc.; praise God. I left my computer at the hostel to charge; praise God. Although, my camera and all my pictures from the last two months were stolen, and my Bible, and our team cell phone…but other than that, only minor items. So, my subsequent Target experience turned into a whirlwind effort to replace what was stolen rather than the leisurely shopping spree I had anticipated. None the less, I managed to get most things replaced before Target closed, and still had time to catch up with my cousin and get a nice juicy steak! Plus, my team got enough stuff at Target to make up for what I didn’t get the chance to buy…and spent the rest of the night trying to fit it in their backpacks!
The next morning, we headed to the airport to continue our crazy journey half way across the world. All in all, 82 hours of travel…4 airports, 5 countries, one 10 hour bus ride, one crazy border crossing, and we’re here in Cambodia.
I’m tired…but so excited this coming month!
