Orientation--"You did what???"

Hello!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life here is progressing quickly! It's been a month since Orientation ended, but I thought I would tell you about it anyway:

Orientation--the most intense thing I have ever paid money to do. We nicknamed it "Disorientation" because it really disorientated us. We didn't know where we were, we didn't know what we were doing until we did it, and no one was allowed to wear a watch, so no one knew the time (except the leaders, who set their watches inconsistently.) Here are a few highlights of each day:


Day 1:

• Intense wake up
• The leaders woke us up at 4am with firecrackers and shouting "URGENCY!!!"
• Dress code
• Everyone wore (and had to have with them at all times) a yellow bib, a rope, and a bandana with their team color. I was white; my bandana did not stay white for long, though. If someone forgot one of these items, everyone had to do 30 pushups.
• PT (physical training or painful torcher)
• We had our first PT session, which consisted of pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, squats, burpies, and running. I thought I was fit before this, but I was wrong. Every part of my body was sore, and my mind kept saying, "Give up! Give up!" We had to run up and down the road, but I convinced myself it was too far. My team had to actually carry me. It was a very humbling and embarrassing moment. The ten teams contained an average of ten people of different fitness and endurance levels; thus, we struggled with consistency and unity.
• A long walk and food
• We walked down the beach in our teams carrying long, thin sticks. We stopped for lunch (peanut butter and bovril sandwiches) and continued until we arrived at our campsite in time for dinner (unlabeled tin cans and rice).
• Camp
• The campsite consisted of bathrooms, sinks, a canopy, a place for the girl's tents, a place for the guy's tents, a campfire, and plenty of space to do PT.

Day 2:

• Morning
• A typical morning consisted of waking up before the sun, an intense PT session, and then a breakfast of Weetbix (my new favorite cereal).
• Pole and barrel challenge
• Each team received a clue which lead us to a slip of paper. Each paper represented a specific number of either poles or barrels. Then the team had to take the slip to the leader to collect the "reward" and receive another clue. Then the team had to carry the poles or barrels to the next location, return with another voucher, collect more supplies, and receive another clue until each team had 6 barrels (waist-high water barrels), 2 giant poles (think telephone poles), and 4 shorter poles (shorter, skinnier telephone poles). Our final destination was a lake. We used our ropes to tie the barrels to the poles, and then hoisted the poles onto our shoulders. After this day, our shoulders burned so badly.
• Fire challenge
• In the evening, after our tin-can supper, each team had to dig a fire pit in the campsite and start a fire using the following supplies: two thin boards, a fire-starting chemical powder substance, and a tampon. It is possible!

Day 3:

• Raft
• Using the poles, barrels, and ropes, each team constructed a raft, and raced them across the pond. Then we hoped on the rafts, floated them in the center of the lake, tied them together, and then stayed on them until they told us to come to shore. We ate dinner on the rafts. Then the sun went down, the stars came up, and people started to complain. So my friends and I started singing praise songs. Soon, no one could complain! I have no clue how long we waited on the raft, but it was probably close to five hours long.

Day 4:

• Morning off
• In the morning, the leaders gave us an opportunity to shower and wash our clothes! It gave us new appreciation for water and soap.
• Five challenges
• In the afternoon, each team took turns completing five challenges. They really challenged us to work together as a team and to communicate to each other.

Day 5:

• Hike
• We woke up and, instead of PT, shuffled into our vans. After a long drive, we arrived at a beautiful mountain. The next few hours consisted of hiking over hills, carefully crawling down steep declines, marching through forests, wading through rivers, and wandering down gravel paths. The view was breathtaking; God's creation is truly inspiring.
• Intense PT
• When we returned, we lined up in our teams. Each group carried a pole to a large field. We preceded to do PT in teams with the giant poles: holding the poles above our heads and doing squats, holding them while doing sit-ups, etc. After it was over (and we had all cried our eyes out), they let us know that Phase 1 ended, and Phase 2 would start shortly.

Day 6:

• Resort
• We climbed back into the vans and drove to a really nice campsite where we relaxed for the day. We played Ninja, walked along the beach, and took naps. In the evening we performed skits, and had a few laughs.

Day 7:

• Worship service
• In the morning, we had a very much-needed time of worship and praise. At the end we felt renewed and ready for another week.
• Different campsite
• After we packed up our stuff, we drove to a different campsite where we did a PT session and ate dinner. Then they had us return our bandanas and assigned us to new teams; but my team stayed the same except for one person.
• Night walk
• After dinner, each team received a map of the area, and then we raced to our original campsite. I don't know how long it took, but it was probably 2 to 3 hours. We read the map easily, kept a brisk pace, and finished in second place. The orange team lost their way, and ended up at the campsite less than two hours before PT started!

Day 8:

• Rafting again
• After breakfast, we broke off into two groups. My group took poles and barrels to a river, made a raft, and floated down the river. We stopped for lunch, and then pushed the rafts back up the river. Our teamwork had really improved since day one and our raft building skills had improved from day three; we encountered no major problems and completed the challenge effortlessly. 

Day 9:

• Obstacle course
• Following breakfast, we broke off into our two groups again. The other group did our activity from the day before, and we did their activity. We drove to an international school and used their obstacle course. First, two guys from each team went through, to get a feel for the course. Then one guy from each team had to complete the course as fast as they could. (Josh from our team won, with a time of two minutes and 30 seconds!) After that, anyone could try the course, so I tried it. It was fun! I felt like Jane from Tarzan.
• Water polo
• Since, the international school had a swimming pool, we put on our swimming suits (had to keep our bibs on, though) and played water polo! The water felt refreshing, and the chorine was a nice change from murky river water. It was also a good way to exercise our upper-body strength.

Day 10:

• Chill day
• In the morning, we drove to a nice place with a lake, a small island, a water slide, tire-swings, a lounge house, and a small pool. We attended two lectures about the vision and values of VGY, and were then free to enjoy the water.

Day 11:

• Intense PT
• PT started off like normal--pushups, sit ups, squats, etc. Then we jogged the Dairy Run--a 2 km run in just outside of the campgrounds--twice; usually we would run it once. After that, we continued PT. Then the PT instructor instructed each team to grab a pole and jog to a giant field. Then we did another set of PT with our huge poles. This time, we did twice as many types of exercises and the session lasted twice as long, but we were twice as prepared. At the end of the session, they announced that we completed Phase 2.
• Cleanliness is close to godliness (or something like that)
• They also announced that the next day we would attend church! This would be a very special service--vision Sunday. Because of this, they allowed us to clean our clothes and take showers.

Day 12:

• Vision Sunday
• We all arrived at church wearing our Sunday best--the cleanest/least smelly clothes we could find, our bibs, and ropes. Then they placed us throughout the church. A few people gave us weird looks, and other people (who knew what they were looking at) gave us words of encouragement. The message was about the theme for the year: One Name Alone. It really encouraged us, and prepared me for the week ahead.
• Dance-off
• After dinner, we gathered in our groups. One girl and one guy from each team volunteered to do a dance-off. Naturally, I wanted to do it. So my team chose me. The guys went first, and did various styles of dance to "I Don't Care". Meanwhile, a lot of the girls were having second thoughts--"What if they laugh at me?"; "I can't dance."; "I don't want to do this"; etc. But I was ready. When they guys finished their battle, the winner (Herman from Worship Academy) won a two-liter bottle of Coke for his team. Then we girls danced, and I totally rocked out! They played the Macarena, but I put my own special twist on it and started doing the worm. I also invented a few moves of my own--the chicken with no head, the caffeinated penguin, and the expressive jellyfish. I moved up to the next round, and we danced to "I Don't Care" (which is pretty much a song about being stupid. I don't recommend the non-radio-edit.). At the end, everyone had to vote through cheering. I totally dominated and won the Coke for my team! All I had to do was be myself.

Day 13:

• Walking, walking, walking!
• In the morning, we drove to a beach. Upon arrival, we ate breakfast. After breakfast, we walked along the sand two-by-two until lunch-time! Then the leaders gave each group a map, and announced we had to race home. Our group followed the path through brush and bush until we came to a wide, open field. Then we saw a wild boar and bushbuck literally 10 to 20 feet from us! There was also a baby bushbuck, which was really cute. We kept walking until we arrived to a fork in the road, and then turned right. We continued on until we realized we probably should have turned left. Instead of turning back, we consulted the map and then jumped a fence. Then we found a river, and followed it upstream until we reached our destination. Our team finished in third place. Then we climbed into a van and returned to the camp site where we chilled for the rest of the evening.

Day 14:

• Night walk part 2
• The leaders woke up extra early. The sky was pitch black. We had 5 minutes to pack up everything (but our tents) into our backpacks. Then they told us to hand in our bandanas. Due to nearly half of the students acquiring injuries, the teams had shrunk severely. So we were divided into 6 new groups of roughly 10 people each. This time I was put on the green team. I felt very out of my comfort zone with a new team, but I prayed that God would somehow help us bond. Then we walked back to the campsite where we started the first night walk. This time, though, all our groups walked together. We literally walked all night. Finally, we arrived at the camp as the sun was coming up. They let us unpack our sleeping bags, and we had 5 minutes of sleep before they woke us up for PT. Even though we were exhausted, we did a very good PT session--we worked as a team, persevered through, and encouraged one another.
• Cross challenge
• With our new teams, we took turns competing another team (team brown in my case) in three challenges. For our first challenge, we had an empty barrel (from the rafts), two empty water jugs, one short pole, and one shorter pole. First, each team was given a piece of paper, and had to write down the scriptures we had memorized during Orientation so far. Then we had to take the jugs down to the river, fill them up, bring them back to the water barrel, fill the water barrel, and repeat until each person had completed 5 trips. By then, the barrel was full. The first team to complete this had to pick two tools out of four provided: a shovel, a spade, a pick axe, and a long metal stick. We came in a close second, so the other team left us with the shovel and the long metal stick. Using our tools, we had to dig a hole deep enough for the big pole to fit inside, tie the two poles together to make a cross, fit the cross in the hole, and balance one of our water bottles on top! At first, we were like, "Uh, we have a stick. What do we do with a stick?" But then one of the leaders showed us how to work it, and we ended up digging faster with the metal stick than the other team did with the pick axe! (The pick axe swung at an angle, but our stick just went straight down, giving us an advantage.) We ended up winning and bond as a team in the process!
• Stretcher challenge
• For our next challenge, we walked down to the road for what seemed like forever, until we reached the middle of nowhere. Then we had to use the thin poles from day one to make a stretcher and carry someone from our team all the way back. This time, we came in a close second.
• Kayak challenge
• After lunch, our team and the brown team hopped in kayaks and kayaked around a river. It was so pretty! Once we reached an island area, we hopped out. The water had a layer of mud covering the bottom. Then the leader with us said, "Okay guys. You have ten minutes. Cleanest team wins. Ready? Go!" And we had a giant mud fight!!!! It was the best thing of the day!!!!
• Test
• After we dried ourselves off, we were each given a study guide based on the lectures from the tenth day. Forty-five minutes of (mostly) studying later, we took the twenty minute test. It was nice to take a break from physical activity and focus on mental activity. I have no clue how I did, though, because they still haven't told us our scores.

Day 15:

• Amazing race
• After a solid PT session and a quickly devoured breakfast, we all climbed into the vans and drove to Main Beach. Each team was given a clue which lead to a location, a challenge to complete, and another clue. The catch--unless necessary to complete a challenge, the whole team must be tied to each other with their ropes. We looked like prisoners with our yellow bibs, ropes, and backpacks! Not to mention that we hadn't showered in a week. That helped too. One student actually told someone that he was a prisoner, and that the tattoo on his arm was his cell number (it's actually his birth date). The lady started crying! Among the most interesting challenges were: two people from each team have to eat raw kidney and liver; someone has to help an elderly person across the street; a member has to give three strangers compliments; one person has to memorize the entire list of ice cream flavors available at Ninas; and the whole team has to use grass to create a wig for two members. Since the whole thing took place walking distance from our house, it was a great way to get to know the neighborhood. Unfortunately, our team took to long to find a location, so we finished last. Also, I had developed a really bad cough and was hacking the whole way. But I ignored it and pressed on.
• False hope
• After lunch, we walked for a long time on the beach, feeling very warn out, tired, and discouraged. When we arrived at our destination (the place where we did our first PT session), a bunch of people greeted us with cheering, applause, and general celebration. A lot of us thought it was over. However, following a long speech of encouragement to "press on" and "die to yourself", it was very clear to us that we had to keep going. We spent some time reading our Bibles, and
• Sandy night
• The "injureds" shuffled into vans and drove away, while us "abled" lined up in rows and started walking along the beach. I felt much lighter than before! During a water break, we started bursting into Phineas and Ferb songs, which pretty much made my life. When we finally arrived at our destination (the other side of a giant sand dune), we rolled out our sleeping bags on the sand and ate our tin-can dinner. Once the sun had completely set, we played a really fun game--two teams took turns sending people to grab a sleeping bag from the middle of a circle thing. That night, we fell asleep under the stars.

Day 16:

• Unified PT
• In the morning, we woke up, packed up our sleeping bags, and walked some more. We finally stopped at a nice flat patch of sand and dropped our backpacks to the ground. Then we did PT. This was definitely the hardest PT so far, but also the most unified. Even though we felt like giving up, we kept encouraging each other. We had come so far from the first PT session! 
• Quarry
• After breakfast, we walked (and walked and walked carrying our long sticks) to a quarry, where we were greeted by the PT instructor. He reminded us (with pushups) that we were getting sloppy and had to keep acting as a team. Then we were given 15 minutes to build stretchers with our sticks. Our team did our best we could. We were afraid that the person might fall off, but we ran out of time to fix it. Next, we all worked together and cleared the quarry. We actually had fun moving rocks and encouraging each other! And then we had another PT session. This time, we had to wear our backpacks--our heavy, bulky, annoyingly large backpacks.
• Coughing attack
• During the PT session, we had to run up and down the quarry. As a ran, I started coughing uncontrollably. Then I started losing my breath. Then I couldn't breathe! It felt like my lungs were collapsing. But I wouldn't let myself quit. Some leaders stopped me and slowed me down, helping me to catch my breath. I was crying and kept saying, "I don't want to let my team down!" After PT, we ran down the road carrying our empty stretchers. My breathing continued to worsen. A leader stopped me and tried to convince me to slow down, but I wanted to stay with the team. Eventually, a truck picked me up and gave me a lift, which I needed. Then it dropped me off and I a ran the rest of the way. I found out later that I actually made several leaders (grown men leaders) cry! They had seen how I had started (not wanting to continue the first day) and how I ended (not letting myself quit). The change was truly amazing. When I reached my destination, I was greeted by all the "injureds". Then we used our stretchers to carry one person per stretcher up a hill. There were a few times our person almost fell off, but in the end, the stretcher held. But it was very sketchy.
• Best news ever
• At the top of the hill, they told us that we would be staying at a resort for a day. Although exhausted, we were ready to keep going. But then, we received the best news of our lives: "Alight guys. You've done really well today. And I have the pleasure to tell you that Orientation 2014 is officially over!" We cheered! We laughed! We cried! We jumped up and down! We drank coke-a-cola! Everyone hugged everyone, and cried over everyone, and it was probably the happiest day of my life. Or at least one of the top five. Then on the count of three, we took off our yellow bibs and threw them in the air! We had graduated Orientation!

So that was a brief summary of the most insane 16 days of my life! It was hard, but the joy at the end made it all worth it. :)

Until next post,
Nadia