Our final tasks involved finding a school in the middle of Brno. Remember my theory early about asking young people because they know English? Well on the tram, there a dozen little kids- 5 to 8 year olds. So of course I asked them if they had ever heard of the name of the school. And from amongst the kids, a 7 year old boy stepped up and in wonderful English gave us exact directions there!
Task#1: English Test. After the average, for every percent wrong is minute penalty. There were teams that were penalized for 69 minutes...40 minutes... The test was a gruesome 10 multiple choice! In the end we averaged 46%..leaving us 56min of penalty.
Task#2 Gummy Bear challenge in the downtown district. There, the teams gathered in the square to separate 300 individual gummy bears by color from one end of the square to the other! Without using our hands, teams picking up gummy bears with their mouth, running to the other side where several bowls laid, and spat it out with the right colored bowl! The task was....a bitter/sweet one to say the least. I suppose it promoted some sense of bonding, especially when one would slurp up a few gummy bears by accident and had to spit out all but one back into the team bowl, only waiting to picked up again by another team member. There's nothing like brining unity by unifying spit.
Task#3 Complete final goals at the training center
We needed to find a train that took us to the Beskedy Mountains to the JV Hotel. The only sense of direction we had was my memory that the hotel was located in "Malenovice." Apparently there were several "Malenovice's".... I've included a few journal entries to explain. But this was another time of conflict and problem solving. Again we were confronted with language barriers and the sense of lostness at the train station where no one spoke English. We couldn't communicate how to get to a Hotel we didn't know the name of to a town that stations and cities have the same name to. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking and trains were leaving. Teams were coming and teams were going. In the end, the train station figured out what we were asking and sent us on our way( the longest imaginable way fyi). We finished 11th out of 13 teams. But we were not discouraged. It was an Amazing Race with much learned and unforgettable memories made.
5/28/10
After a night of sweet slumber I was awoken by the overtly bright shine of the EARLY Czech sunrise. It was so bright, it even alarmed me to think we were late for our departure. At a quarter to seven am, the teams gathered and awaited for our clues. After placing 2nd last night, with the previous night's 3 unsuccessful challenges, we were now in 4th place. The first challenge of the day was a clue to a school in the city of Brno. We asked passerby surveyors. They spoke English and we found ourselves for the first time as a team sprinting in competition for the next tram. We found a school of children and began asking them for help. One 7 year old stepped up and in well-spoken English gave us directions to the spot where we were 4th to arrive to a classroom. It was an English test. I scored a 30% on my test (Who really knows was a predicate is?????) So now we are waiting 54 min until our next clue. Some teams had to wait 69minutes! This does bring us closer to the race. We are really pulling together in the spirit of competition. God greatly answered prayers for encouragement yesterday. We are all growing in our confidence, leadership, and unity. Physically, I know I am tired. My legs are tired and weary. My clothes are putrid. My stomach is shrinking. But my spirit is awake and ready.
5/28/10 Later that day
Isaiah 61. The Lord brought his passage as a source of comfort and encouragement to me today. A few times today I felt the sting of discouragement. I want so bad to be a good leader, to make good decisions and to be a blessing to my team and those around. In the times of navigating blindly to a destination that involved a race in time and budget, I feel tremendous pressures. We were deciding to head to the training center; My only hint of direction was the name, "Malenovie." We were buying tickets to that city. The lady behind the counter did not speak any English. So I said "Malenovice" and she began printing the ticket to the cit of Malenovice. Daniel and Kim then made the remark, "You are going the wrong direction." At that my heart sank. Apparently there were several stations, small towns, and cities with that name, and where were headed was not the right one. We were lost. And to know that Dan and Kim knew where to go but could not say was adding loads of pressure. I had a mad but could not figure out were to go. My other teammates were lost. The lady had no idea what we wanted. It was so frustrating. Other teams were running in buying tickets and taking off. Time was running out. How were we suppose to find a hotel with no name, no destination, in a country we don't speak the language! I was ready to give up. I threw everything down..tickets..bag..and had to pace around. Problem solving has never been something I was accustomed to. I always had solutions to problems figured so that problems would never arise. I planned. Our leaders pitied us and they gave us tiny hints to figure out a city and a general location With another lost team, together we figured a route and here we are 3 trains, 2 hours later we were on our way. Having your weaknesses or breaking points revealed is an awful experience, but I thank God for the refining. This passage shows me that that God will point out the weaknesses of Israel so that the end goal of that is make the nation amazing and blessing to to others. It is hard to rip the scales off you, but its necessary and in the end its worth the pain. Thanks, God.
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