5 Stories from Training Camp

1. We were picked up in 4 vans at the airport. For the most part, squads tried to ride together. Why not have another hour of time to chat and get to know each other? Sitting in the front row with Katie, and Chanel in the passenger seat we spent most of our time talking to our driver Brandon. He had never really driven through Atlanta himself having just moved to Gainesville the week prior and had also forgotten to bring a car charger for his phone. As his phone was dying I turned my map on so we could find our way. Besides learning that Brandon was new to the area I found out he had been an alumni squad leader with I squad. He talked about being with a team in Guatemala and how they had been working on a construction project for their host. The had built stairs and a bathroom and a garden. I mentioned I knew some people out on the race currently who had also been to Guatemala and how they had been at a place with a beautiful view off the side of the mountain and how they had done a whole lot of construction projects. Brandon asked if I knew where and I could only remember the nickname for the place was Chichi. Brandon then questioned if it was Chichicastenango. I shrugged. It was probably it. It was definitely worth nicknaming. Just to be sure though I pulled up the videos on Micahtorg’s Youtube account and sure enough that was the name. I confirmed it was the same place by showing him some paused video of the building. He asked what squad it was and I told him it was H squad. I should have just started there. He knew that a team from H squad was coming in after the team he had been with. So I started telling him about all of the things H squad had built while they were there and he was impressed. If anyone wants to see it its all on the micahtorg Youtube channel. By the way I just found out that my own Team 217 will be heading to that same location! We won’t be alone though. A second team calling themselves Treasure Seekers will be with us as well. On the other team is Allison, Daliah, Chanel, Katie, Sam, and Abby. It looks like we will be doing some children’s and youth ministry, other local community outreach, probably a bit more construction, and maybe teaching some English. By reading this story you are the first to find out where I’m going. I’ll probably give a formal update while I’m at launch. 

2. Freezing rain started pouring down on us on the mountain in the middle of a group bonding moment. Everyone jumped up and dove for their tents. My ankle was locked up and my legs swollen not to mention my tent wasn’t one of the closest tents. As I started to get up I heard from behind me “I don’t have my tent set up yet!” Halfway soaked already I stood to me feet and saw Jack behind me. Through the wind and rain I shouted back “Let’s get it set up then, I’ll help!” I was bound to be soaked anyway so I may as well help him get his tent up. With two people we might get it up fast enough to keep the inside from getting soaked. I followed him to a clear spot near Jose and tent. Jack shoved his pack in with Jose to keep it dry and Jose tossed the tent back out to us. We got to work. Pulling everything out of the stuff sack we found the tent and the stakes. Jack unrolled the tent and we used our feet to anchor the corners. Meanwhile I unrolled the rainfly. which we quickly put over the tent. Then standing in the pouring rain we put the poles together. It’s much easier to put together when your hands aren’t going numb from the cold and the poles aren’t slick with rain. We got it done and on the count of three moved the fly out of the way and started fastening the poles. Once that was mostly done I moved on to trying to find the front of the rainfly. At this point a third person showed up to help but I was too busy to notice who it was. The third person finished the last fastenings on the tent while Jack tried to find the front and I attempted to keep the rainfly draped over the tent. Eventually the front is found and the rainfly is adjusted. We all start hooking that on the tent as quickly as possible while exposing the least amount of the tent as possible. I move on to the stakes and Jack get his stuff out of Jose’s tent to help hold his tent down. Knowing both sides of the rainfly are wet I made sure to fully stake out the rainfly so that the wet fabric wouldn’t stick to the tent and possibly end up dripping into it overnight. It was at this point I realized my own tent was open. The rainfly was on but I had opened it as much as possible to create a breeze earlier. I had also only staked down the rainfly not the tent itself and the ground was wet when I had put the stakes in originally. I wasn’t entirely sure my tent would even be there when I walked back to it because I had taken just my small pack so it was pretty light in comparison to how much wind there was. It was still there. I crawled inside to find everything soaked. The rain was no longer pouring, it was more like a heavy sprinkle and slowing with every minute. With a sigh I got back out and went to see if the fire had survived the downpour. 

It was still going. The rain a mere mist now. Joey and Colton were standing by it, chatting. The wind had abetted but hadn’t left completely so I move in close, shivering. Jack was only a minute or so behind. The rain stopped completely and our clothes began to steam as the fire evaporated the moisture in them. I suppose now would be as good a time as any to mention I was wearing jean shorts and didn’t bring anything to change into because I was just going to wear them back down the mountain in the morning. Why pack more clothes? I had to get dry. Over the next three hours people came and went while I dried out by the fire. At one point Jack looked up and we found ourselves standing in a circle of stars, with clouds all around us. We went up to tents that still had lights on inside and told them to come out and look up at the sky. I was looking up too much to notice if anyone actually did. 

Sleep is required when hiking bright and early in the morning so the fire was spread out to die (which took forever because the entire firepit was full of hot coals) but not before someone suggested taking a fire walk. Knowing I had a hike in the morning and not having quick feet, I declined. It was somewhere around 1am or so when I finally went back to my tent. My stuff was now damp rather than soaked and I did attempt to sleep but the cold was too much and I end up just shivering for the next three hours before giving up and starting to pack up. By 5am I was completely packed. At 5:15 an alarm went off and I saw and heard the twins up and moving in their tents. I waited until they came out and then helped them pack up their tents. As they finished up other people were starting to move as well. The three of us simply went around helping where we could. By 6:15 everyone was packed and we were ready to head back down.

3. One of our squad meetings consisted of us learning how to give and receive feedback. We have a certain model to follow called the TOES model. Tell a TRUTH about the person followed by an OBSERVATION. Then you give them an EXAMPLE of a time you saw them doing that thing. SUGGEST to them how they might improve it or how they might continue doing that. Feedback can be positive or constructive but never negative. We practiced by writing feedback to ourselves. In the allotted time I managed to come up with both a positive and a constructive feedback for myself. We then broke into small groups and went over them. Making sure they were following the format. (Resisting urge to tell a second story within this story). My  constructive feedback mentioned me needing to learn to accept compliments and my positive feedback was on my observation skills. After we had discussed it for a few minutes we went back to the large group and Cami told us she also wanted feedback as did our coaches. Someone immediately spoke up with positive feedback for her and someone else chimed in with more positive feedback for Keith and Karen. It seemed to become infectious in how it spread around and everyone was taking turns giving each other positive feedback. Then someone spoke up to give me positive feedback. Jack. The feedback was in thanks of helping him get his tent set up in the rain. As people started clapping, just as they had for each one, I immediately started saying and shaking my head no and waving it off. It dawned on me that this was a type of compliment and I wasn’t receiving it well. I clamped my mouth shut and put my hands in my lap. At least I wasn’t denying it. Now to just work my way up to saying thanks in return without meaning it in a sarcastic manner. 

4. It was India day and after I ate a bit of the breakfast I was not feeling well. The smell of lunch made my stomach churn so I opted to skip the meal. My first time skipping a meal all week. An hour or so later the smells of lunch have faded and I’m finally feeling a bit hungry. I can’t remember what we were talking about but Chanel pulled a cliff bar out of her bag and offered it to me. I took it gratefully and ate it slowly, worried my stomach would gurgle loudly enough to interrupt the lesson. She doesn’t know it but if it hadn’t been for her I probably wouldn’t have thought to get myself a cliff bar at dinner to eat later once the smells were gone again. Being diabetic, skipping meals really isn’t an option for me. So thank you Chanel for showing me the way.

5. It’s the last day. It’s time for squad wars. It was the first team event we learned about at camp and it was the last one to happen because it needed a bit of prep. A competition between the 3 squads at training camp together. From here on out we have the Green team, the Blue team, and the Red team or my team. Our very first day during free time we gathered together and came up with ideas for the big dance off. A lot of stuff was thrown out and Gabi seemed to be the one leading the conversation along with Maria. It was decided that with the ideas that had been thrown out Gabi would take charge and come up with a dance routine for us. She came back 2 days later with something much bigger and better than a simple dance routine. It was a whole performance. When we found time throughout the week we would practice bits and pieces of it. Eventually though we had to practice it altogether. It took us several attempts before it made much sense. Once it clicked it was just a matter of getting the words down. We did quite a bit of mumbling our way through it most of the week. Finally, it was time for squad wars. We warmed up with a game of 20 on 20 on 20 dodgeball. My team and Blue team (they were all girls) teamed up against Green since they had the most guys. I almost felt bad for the slaughter of the Blue team once we turned on them but the last couple of girls did a fantastic job of holding their ground. 

As soon as that game was over we moved on to a game of Mario Kart. With a rubber band around your ankle and a balloon attached to it the goal was to be the last squad standing. Everyone played this game and to be fair we did have the most people on our squad. Blue came up with a really good tactic though. They all put their balloons on the same ankle and made a square with the balloon inside and a free foot to stomp other balloons with facing out. It worked for a little while but they were stationary and could only stomp on balloons that came within range. Both Green and Red teamed up on them to break the square and the overwhelming number of opponents made it happen. For a while it looked like blue would end up being the first ones out but then somehow Green was out first again. The same girl that had been the last one standing in dodgeball was also the last one standing for her squad in Mario Kart. There were still 10 or so Reds and they managed to pop the balloon but she put up one heck of a fight.

Then it was time for the David and Goliath game. No one had any idea what it entailed except that they probably needed one big person and one small person from each squad. Colton and Gwen were the chosen two from our squad. They came into the arena, made of a rope circle held up by everyone that wasn’t playing the game, Colton holding a pool noodle and Gwen with an egg in some pantyhose tied onto the back of her head. The teams linked arms and the game began. All of the Goliaths folded their swords in half so they were more dense and could break an egg easier. Meanwhile the Davids crouched behind their Goliaths but kept their arms linked. It was a lot of being whacked over the head with a noodle. Both Green and Blue came for Red because we had just won two games in a row. Colton holds them all back with repeated hits across their faces, making them flinch. At one point a team gets a bit close to Gwen and so Colton shrugs which picks her up off the ground and swings her around behind him all while maintaining his onslaught. The momentum catches Gwen off guard however and their arms come unlinked as she falls to the ground. A whistle is blown ad everyone goes back to reset. As everyone reset green realized their egg had cracked and moved out of the arena. No one knows who it was that actually cracked it. Blue against Red again. The game starts and as they move closer to my side of the arena I realize that the David on the Blue team has a single braid down her back and the egg is tucked under it. I think that should have been cheating since the egg wasn’t exposed. Colton hit the back of her head many times but the egg never broke and eventually Gwen’s egg swung around to the side of her head and one good hit busted it all over her ear.

I attempted to help clean her up as we got ready for a game of leap frog through the clouds. 10 people from each team crouched down in a row. The back person then had to hop over all of the people in front of them and run to one of ten bowls filled with flour. Somewhere in each bowl was a marshmallow. They had to find it without using their hands and then run it back to a bucket at the back of the line up and spit it out. Then the next person could start. The problem was coming up with a system so that you knew which bowl still had a marshmallow and which ones didn’t. Green team came up with a system fairly quickly. I’m not sure Red or Blue ever did. A large cooler of water was waiting for those that finished their turn. It was like a less tasty version of powdered sugar mixed with the cinnamon challenge from the sheer quantity of flour you were bound to end up with in your mouth. Our last person struggled to find the last bowl with a marshmallow but we still came in second. Blue saw that we finished and the last girl asked if she could just stop. She had checked every bowl that hadn’t been flipped over and couldn’t find it. I had been recording the event and had seen the person before her flip the bowl over with her marshmallow. 

It was time for the grand finale. The judges for the dance were revealed and then our dance order was given. Green went first. I was most curious about theirs because I hadn’t seen them practice at all. It was a beautiful acapella band being formed and the many layers within it. They did chose to rap in the middle of it and I’m not sure anyone could hear them. They marched in concentric circles and squares and I quite enjoyed it. Then it was our turn. I would tell you what we did but I have a copy of the performance linked at the bottom for you to watch. Blue went last and as a squad of all girls they chose their songs accordingly. I don’t remember them all but I do remember they had “I’ll make a man out of you” from Mulan where they were all wearing rain jackets with the hoods up and took turns pulling it down and looking around quizzically during their dance. The final song was some Miley Cyrus song where they all danced around. During our performance the rain started which ruined our top secret ending. We had saved a firework from the day before to shoot of at the end of our routine. The lighter wouldn’t light in the rain though. The all girls team did their entire routine in the rain and as soon as it was done a group of us ran to cover up the bags we had brought up with us, before returning to the main group to find everyone dancing in the rain singing “Our God is an Awesome God”. The winners were quickly announced and then we all grabbed whatever was around us and headed to the inflatable pool in front of the main building for baptisms.

The stuff was quickly put up on the porch to keep it dry then we all stood in the rain to watch. MY squad went first and we had 7 or 8 I believe. Some of those were rebaptisms. Once all three squads finished their baptisms we all headed down to the training center for our last night of worship. There was a huge dance circle and a conga line. Not the type of worship you see at church but certainly a celebratory worship all the same. The band played some songs you might hear in church but they didn’t play them the way you’d expect them to be played in church. If you see me before I leave ask me to show you a quick video of it. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/155QtZAN6V7Sg_-XFqi9d9srojYB6KGM4/view?usp=sharing 

That wraps up my training camp blogs. The next time you hear from me I’ll be heading out to Guatemala!