The conversation that followed was this: "Ashley, Girl's brigade has camp, you want to follow?" "uhh...." "Okay, we will leave early in the morning" "um....uh...ok?"
so, this became our plan:
1. purchase bus tickets for the earliest morning bus
2. finish running errands so that we could pack for camp
3.purchase snacks for carolers.
We met at 7:00 pm at the church to go Christmas caroling, and we out and about until 12:00. Our bus was to leave at 7:00 am the next morning, so we were to be at the bus station by 6:30. The last member from our group arrived at the station at 6:55.
** I need to put in a disclaimer here that I really had no idea what was going on or what any of this was all about. **
When we arrived to Kota Kinabalu, the head of the Girl's brigade picked us up and we headed out of the city into the middle of no where. Here I thought that this camp was in Kota Kinabalu, but it turns out it was quite a ways away nestled in the jungle near a river. We arrive and our group of four are put into pairs and put into different cabins- each pair with a different squad. Here I am told that I am a squad captain with one other girl. Mind you that I am completely new to this organization and don't even know a thing about this camp. We put our bags down and head to the "lobby" (which is really just a standard shelter) . Here they tell us to get excited because this is Adventure Camp.
Dec. 7
On the agenda for the day was a challenge course that included a 10 ft. wall, a rope you must use to swing across a large pit of muddy water, a spider web of ropes you must climb up and over, some balance beams (one of wood and another of rope), one large wooden flag-like pole you must get a tire over the top of, and a few more challenges. Each challenge must be completed by all members or it will count as failed.
Also- because it's adventure camp, all challenges are part of a competition; not just the challenge course, but also the jungle trekking and water rafting. Each team was to be judged on the completion of the tasks, the creativity and collectivity of the group, and overall teamwork and enthusiasm.
(If you don't know me in a competitive setting, you may not know that I try to avoid all competitive settings. I am not a competitive person and they make me sincerely uncomfortable.) But- like most things here..I just do what is asked.
So begins the story of how I sprained my ankle:
During the challenge course activities I was asked to be the last person to go over the 10 ft. wall. With that, I acted as a base person for most of this challenge and had many people standing on my shoulders. Again at the flag-like pole challenge I was also the base. At one point during this challenge I had two girls at one time standing on my shoulder (I guess that's what I get for being tall in Asia). The last challenge that really did my ankle in was the muddy water pit. This was one of the last challenges and my arms were weak and tired (not to mention my upper body strength is limited anyways). I was almost all the way across when my body gave way and I plummeted into the muddy water, here I felt a sharp pain in my foot. Because this is adventure camp, and it was a competition, they made us all try again if we failed the first time, so I jumped back up on the platform and tried again, just to relive the same fate. Lucky I am graceful at failure and I just laughed with a huge smile on my face as I sat up and wiped the murky water off my face. I learned right then and there (since I was the 2nd or 3rd person to go) that if I failed and let it consume me, it wouldn't give hope or humor to the people after me who may have the same fate. So- what else is there to do but fail big and try again.
The ankle swelling started on that first day, but I just walked it off and hoped it was just sore from all of the weight it carried and activities it semi-accomplished.
The evening ended with dinner, crafts, and traditional games. We learned some traditional dance that you do with bamboo-- it's very beautiful and comes from the Kadazan Dusun culture. (I hope maybe to post a video here in the future)
Dec. 8
We woke up, ate breakfast, rode a horse for 2 minutes each, and then were sent off into the jungle for some jungle trekking for the day. They gave us a compass (which none of us really knew how to use) and sent us on our way with a local guide--who I don't think was supposed to lead us, but more so follow us and make sure we didn't get too lost--BUT--he was our lifeline :)
We were sweaty and tired and it felt like we just kept climbing UP. But- eventually we found our way to our destination where we were supposed to learn survival cooking- and boy did we ever!
When we arrived to a house by a river, they had for us a box of ingredients, dishes, cooking tins, and cups. We set to work right away building a fire, cutting up vegetables, and cleaning chicken. Then we had an unexpected visitor!
RAIN
I stood over our once roaring fire with a large leaf acting as the fire's umbrella, knowing that if the fire went out, we would have nothing to cook our food, and therefore having noting to eat. I inhaled so much smoke I thought I would die, but the tears just rolled down my face from all of the smoke instead. Here is where language became a huge barrier. My Chinese co-leader was only giving directions in Chinese (note: almost all Chinese here can speak Chinese, Maleyu, and English). So I had to explain that when you give directions in only one language, only the people who speak that language can help you (Not all of our team is Chinese or understands Chinese). One small girl with an umbrella stood, not knowing what to do, covering the rice, until I told her the rice wouldn't matter if the fire went out. So, we huddled together to protect our fire, but forgot to protect and wood from the rain, so we were really out of luck later when the rain had stopped and we were still in need to a fire to cook rice and other food. Never the less, other teams were also able to keep their fires going, and one team let us use their fire so that we could cook our rice.
Next came rafting. We were the first team to go, so I feel it's only natural that we had the most struggles. For awhile we even got sucked into a whirlpool like area on the river. I was the only one who had any kind of on the water with a paddles experience, but only the girl next to me listened to my advice. I tried my hardest to help but in the end just had to let them figure it out. It was so difficult to know what to do, but to not have anyone listen.
When we arrived back to camp we all took much needed showers and prepared for Fun Night- skits and songs we prepared to share.
Dec. 9
Breakfast, crafts, worship, and lunch concluded our camp. My team got 3rd place and were given an award of KFC coleslaw and water. After all teams received their awards were were given the option of sharing our food with other teams, as some just had water. So we shared and well all got a full meal.
The Girl's Brigade leader brought us to eat satay and then sent us to our bus for the 3 hour journey back to Keningau.
And here ends my unexpected adventure.
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