Oh traning camp! So much has happened so I thought I’d break it up into 3 different parts.
Part 1: Sleeping arramgements
As soon as i arrived to training camp I signed in & they handed me a sandwich & some chips. then I was directed to go get my pack & set up my tent. I was pretty stoked because I had never been camping so setting up my tent to sleep in that night made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning.
This was the first time meeting my entire squad! We had been communicating through facebook prior but meeting them all in person was exciting!
Afer we set up our tents we went to dinner than worship. That first night was amazing! Sleeping in my tent that first night was exciting. It was quite peaceful actually lol I slept like a baby… Until it starts to rain with loud thunder at 4:30 in the morning. Not gonna lie.. I was kinda scared. The rain on my tent sounded so loud & the wind made my tent move a bit. I was worried if i staked my tent right! But once the rain stopped & my tent was still standing… I knew that I had set it up right & that I could do this. I could live like this for 11 months.
The Next day they had us pick who wants to be a Giraffe or an Elephant. Of course I picked an Elepehant. Each elephant had to team up with a giraffe. Well there was one too many elephants so i had to change to a giraffe. Well just my luck… All of the giraffe’s luggage was “lost” by the airlines. So the people who “lost” their packs had to bunk with the elephants. So that night i slept on the floor in the tent next to my partner. She was kind enough to give me her sweater so i wouldnt freeze but i still was shivering all night. The next morning my back was tore up! sleeping on the ground freezing cold was not my cup of tea. Lol Lets just hope my pack is never “lost” bu the airlines! ha
The next nighy was sleeping in an airport situation. So they told us to grab watever we wanted from our packs but to leave out packs. So I grabbed my sleeping bag & sleeping pad so i wouldn’t have another night like the night before! Lol The airport situation was set up with chairs in rows just like an airport. So we all had to squeeze next to each other for the night. Some people had to sleep on ghe chairs that night as there wasn’t enough space. Not only was there that… But they set up speakers playing loud airplain noises & an intercom coming on every now & then. They also left the lights on as the airports don’t turn off their lights. Thank goodness I bought a face mask that came with ear plugs. I put the facemask on & the ear plugs in & slept like a baby. Airprot senario I could deal with!
The 4th night was an all night prayer & worship night. So we all slept inside with our sleeping bags & sleeping pads again. We all had prayer times to go worship & pray to the Lord. My time was 12:30-1 am. I had no problem staying up just to talk to the Lord. & I have never experienced such a peaceful more intamate time with the Lord before that night. Night 4 was a good night!
The 5th night was a camping night! We were told we had to team up with a partner & could only bring one bag. So i used my airpoerter to carry my sleeping stuff & my friends! They dropped us off at a camp site & gave us 4 tarps. So we slpit the team up 30 people with two tarps & 30 with the other two. Some people went ahead to scope out the camp spot & set up the tarps for us before we all went to set up sleeping arramgement. Once again we all got up close & personal. Squeezing 30 people under ome tarp was a challange but we did it! It rained a bit that night again but nothing we couldn’t handle. We all slept soundly & pretty dry lol
The 6th night was nice because we finally got to sleep in our own tents again. We have not had alone time in our own tents since the first night. It was pretty nic since we all were crammed together every night! Lol
The last night was a community tent night. We were to pack 11-12 people in one huge tent with our packs. We had about 8-9 people in our tent since we were the only people leaving to go to the airport at 6 am. So we were able to cram 3 more packs of others so they had more space for people in their tents. It was nice to be around people sleeping again honestly.
Finally i was headed home & slept in my own bed a week later. I was saying thank goodness i’m home & in my own bed! I had missed it. It made me realize how blessed I am to have a bed to sleep on at night. But to be honest… i’ve had trouble sleeping since i’ve been back home. I miss the comfort of having other people around me 24/7 every days. I’ve felt lonely sleeping in my own place. I never felt more at home then I did when i was at camp with my new family. i felt more at home sleping in my tent or sleeping in those weird situations that will arise in the next year of my life than i do in my own place. I can’t wait to be back with my family in 9 weeks!!!
More to come!
