Wow.
As I sit here, strangely uncomfortable in an air conditioned room and carpet
under my feet, I begin to realize how much can really happen in a week.
Finally sitting in front of a computer, my mind is still reeling from
all that occurred in the last 8 days. Expect this to be the first of a
few posts of post-camp reflections.
Firstly, thought I’d just touch on the physical,
tangible component of preparing for an 11-month trip to 11 different
countries, cultures, and climates, living out of a backpack.
Georgia? In late July? In a tent? Game on.
Every
morning, I wake up with the sunlight glowing through the rain fly,
perhaps loosely covered by my sleeping bag liner if the temperature
managed to break below 75 that night. My sleeping bag stayed crumpled in
the corner of my tent all week, without any thought of crawling into it
in this wonderful balmy heat.
I’d stroll through the
neighborhood of our tent village, rustling bodies forced awake more by
the sunlight and heat than by alarm clocks on dying cell phones. The
bathroom rests a few minute walk up the hill, made more interesting by
night lit by stars and headlamps bouncing up the path.
Showers
are admittedly of greater scarcity, and the hygienic potential of a lake
swim or afternoon rain are surely capitalized upon. There’s a weird freedom in a community of feet perpetually dusted red by Georgia dirt.
You gotta eat.Of
course, this being training camp, it seems only fitting to start
getting prepared for the culinary delicacies of our future homes. From
meat pies of Eastern Europe to rice porridge common in rural Asian
villages, there were plenty of opportunities to experience the variety
of cuisine awaiting us on our journey.
It was quite intriguing
beginning to realize what dietary tendencies we have here in the US and
how those are often drastically different than most of the cultures we
will experience over the next year. Less meat and more carbs, certainly
some adjustments that I will be trying to introduce over this last month
before I depart to further the preparation. Significantly smaller
portions were the norm, and somehow we managed to survive without a
plate of food bigger than our heads piled high for every meal.
We
were blessed by some incredible dishes this week, though admittedly
there were certainly some intriguing dishes outside of my dietary
comfort zone. I did consider how much our mental approach affects our
tolerance for food variety. If I’m given a dish on an episode of Fear
Factor, I’ll probably have a lot more trouble getting it down than if I
were given the same thing by a family that I’m staying with in a village
in Africa. It’s all in the approach and the expectations, which could
be a huge tool in helping myself really appreciate and enjoy the amazing
culinary and cultural diversity that I will face this next year. Mark that one down on the long list of things learned at training camp.
Alright…so I’m realizing I can write a lot about the smallest things from this week. Expect this to be the first of quite a few post-camp reflections. Thanks for following along!
