"I'M BACK, BABY."
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, I owe you one.
Ladies and gents, I give you the camp post.
Galatians 2:20
That verse pretty much sums up my entire camp experience. It was absolutely WRONG for me to think that it was the typical clean fun camp that I experienced during the camps that TFCA held for us. It was dirtier, messier...and I'm still not inclined to say that it was more fun XD. If they told us "This is like CAT/COCC camp" then I would have prepared myself mentally as well as physically.
I was not ready for mud.
In the previous post, I said that camp was a traumatizing experience. It was so much so that I completely broke down (as in waterworks talaga) on the last day. I had lost my voice, I had no wit left, and barely any reserve power to even will myself to eat. But somehow, I survived.
But more than these experiences, that verse really applied in the fullest force possible when it was time for altar call counselling. I had training (but I admit that I did not listen as well as I should be, HAHAHAHAHA!), but it still felt like I was coming into a battle that I wasn't prepared for. Yet, as I said in the post prior to this, I was fully aware that it wasn't me who was ministering to these people anymore, like...I became a vessel, and my self took a back seat. It seems unbelievable, I know...but it's an experience that one has to feel for himself, I guess. =D
Now that's been said, it's off to my personal best (and worst) experiences.
--- --- ---
When our tribe was called, I suddenly blurted out "We are not Napthali, we are SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME NAPTHALI", to the amusement of some and the confusion of many. Like I said on FB, the YGOTAS catchphrase suddenly came to mind at that time, and since it was something that I cannot take back, I stuck with it till the end.
When we arrived, our first activity was to sift through basins - some filled with flour, others with ice cold water and food coloring - in order to find the keys to our rooms. I got mine on my first try. I decided to go with the flour only because I don't know what food coloring can do to my complexion (oh vanity...XD).
The second activity was called the Amoeba game...where a tribe will basically pull at each other until someone is forced to land on a kiddie pool with a devilish concoction of mud, soy sauce, fish sauce and water. NOT COOL. I was having my second day, and so were the other girls in my tribe, so we decided that when it will be our turn, we will just dip one foot into the pool and that will be the end of it.
Later on that night, I was chastised for that. XDDD I felt bad at first, but I still have no regrets.
I forgot the name of that activity, but the tribe was basically bound together (hands and feet), and we had to walk, endure mud and water being thrown at us, then stomach a hellish concoction of bagoong, coffee and vegetables (including the dreaded ampalaya). NOT GOOD. For some reason, I was able to eat and swallow an ampalaya slice without even the slightest gag reflex. Sometimes, I guess it's what Utada said in Fight The Blues: the answer is mental toughness. XD
In the next activity, we had to do a balancing act with a leaking plastic cup filled with water on uneven ground. I thought it cannot be done (hay the pessimist in me emerged) but it can be done.
To the left is our SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME Napthali burgers. First activity for the day was called Burger Master, wherein we had to make a burger from 10 out of 11 ingredients available (excluding ground beef). Of the 11, the notorious ingredients were ampalaya, tuyo and bagoong.
We chose to leave bagoong out of the equation. It was pretty much a no-brainer. XD
We dipped our bread in egg wash and salt, and grilled it for a while. For the burger mixture, we added a lot of garlic and onion for taste (hay, sa bahay namin, you can never have too much garlic and onion...the more, the merrier). We added a pinch of ampalaya, then I minced one tuyo and added it to the meat. We cooked our burger mixture to medium well. (Now that I think about it, it could use a few more minutes since it was in the cusp of medium well to medium rare...) Then, we sandwiched the meat into the bread slices and added lots of pickles for love. We did a little arte on the plating as well.
The tribe won 39 out of 45 possible points. Ours was the most "edible" out of all the concoctions that were made. This win, it was glorious. XDDDD
In the next game, we were supposed to yank the yarn of one tribe tied to a person's left arm out of him/her without using brute force. It was boys vs. boys and girls vs. girls. The boys played rough, and the girls didn't want that. So, the tribe leaders for all the girls convened and decided that instead of playing rough we'll do rock-paper-scissors, and the losing camper will have to give the yarn to the victor. It was genius, I tell you...and we almost got into trouble for it (akala ko talaga double whammy ako since everyone was apparently pointing to me as the instigator of this shenanigan...and to think na pinagalitan na ako nung first day). But at the end, what we did was actually good. =D
That picture of me holding the yarn of the opposing tribe was actually first blood. Parang DOTA lang.
Our army (for the last activity) lost because our flag got captured. The last activity was akin to the American Civil War, which was fun. In my head, The Patriot was playing while we formed our strategy.
Two of my tribemates got water baptized later that day. I was ridiculously (in the sense na ang ngiti ko hanggang batok) and genuinely happy for them.
And in this picture, here I am getting a back massage while waiting for my one-day henna tattoo to dry.
And that is it for the camp blog! Pretty much slice-of-life, which is the way I want it for this kind of post.
this is dope!
ReplyDeleteUhh...thank you? Hahahahahaha!
ReplyDelete