Dear Friend,
What a day! Good grief, I don’t know where to begin. The fun didn’t really start until after lunch. I was glad we ate at the restaurant before heading out. Before that we had an ecology class and I met with Diana, which I’ll explain in a bit. The ecology class was simply an overview of sustainable development and “leave no trace” principals used in backpacking and hiking.
The meeting with Diana took about an hour. She invited me into her office, which was an unfolded blanket set outside of the cabană. I love how creative we all are. I now have some literature on New Horizons, A.R.T. Fusion, and some other information that fleshed out more of my internship in Buchureşti. Apparently the A.R.T. Fusion folks are really excited about my arrival. I only hope I don’t disappoint them, which was the greatest concern I voiced to Diana. She assured me that keeping an open mind was the best solution to this concern, and also to be forthright with any problems that may arise. I also voiced concern about accomplishing everything else I had to do for my internship, specifically on the academic front, to which she admitted she had no power to change. That I knew, but I voiced the concern anyway.
Everyone should climb a mountain. Putting aside the metaphorical parallels, climbing a mountain does so much for a person. Like climbing a rock (mountains are, after all, just really big rocks) you feel like you’re conquering the world, accomplishing something huge, doing the impossible. As I’ve already mentioned, I’m pretty quiet and reflective (believe it or not) when I go walking or hiking with a large group. There’s too much to share, but I will say once again that Lord of the Rings was definitely on my mind (also that scene from Star Trek: Insurrection, when everyone is climbing the mountain, and they get attacked, but I won’t go into that). I saw an area with a rock that looked like a place where they filmed part of The Two Towers. I whistled some of the theme every so often, to get into the mood. Straja is definitely Romania’s own Middle Earth.
From the peak you can see everything, including the Jiu Valley where sits Lupeni. You just want to sit and look at everything forever, because that’s how far everything seems to go. It was a perfect sunny day, with some cumulus clouds in the distance. I could do this every day. It’s very inspiring. Creativity seems to abound in places like this, as well. My mind was having a “free day.” I mean, these are places where stories are born, either through adventurous experiences or simply tales borne of the imagination. You want to be here because of what the mountains say to you, what the sky says to you, even what the grass and rocks say to you. As you descend the mountain you almost leave some of that feeling behind, as if following one of the principles of “leave no trace:” leave in the wilderness what you find in the wilderness.
Every Thursday night is disco night. Apparently everyone’s supposed to dress up and come to the dance. I had no clue what I was going to go as simply because I hadn’t brought a costume with me. Then I remembered some things I had brought with me that would make up a costume. I took my jeans, a black undershirt, my bandanas and stocking cap, my jacket, and my shoes and came up with a gangsta ensemble. Don’t worry, there are pictures of this. It was the goofiest thing I could come up with, but everyone enjoyed it immensely.
I can’t really dance unless I have a choreographer. I can waltz a little bit, and I know a little salsa and a little tango, but I really don’t dance. That being the case, when I go to functions such as these I really have no choice but to throw myself around. I do have rhythm, so there’s some rhyme to my body, but there’s nothing overly serious about the way I move. I just do what I feel, and it usually turns out alright. I have fun at any rate, and everyone remains quite safe while all this is going on.
Next was the awards ceremony, where everyone gets a printed diploma. I wasn’t expecting one, but it was nice to get one. We all got one. Then some more awards. It felt like the Oscars: never-ending.
Andrew and I and two leaders were the only ones up late when we returned to the cabană. We had trudged up the hill and the girls had gone off to bed. We were all so tired that not much was said. Andrew plucked at a guitar that was left in the cabana. He’s really good. Eventually I headed up to bed. I was exhausted from the whole day.
Blessings.
Kailen
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