I've never been so scared in my entire life. RYLA is so amazing, no wait, it was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, cause it deserves a lot more syllables that just amazing.
The first day seemed liked the longest, but that's because everyone was still like strangers, and we had quite a few lectures. Eventually we got in our groups and had group time to discuss what elements each of us were, such as water, fire, earth or wind. Fire people don't like to think things through or put detail into anything, but they like to be the center of attention and just go with it. Earth people like to get down to business, be detailed, and take control, but are sometimes too demanding. Winds have difficulty focusing, but they can be very understanding of others. Waters are caring, kind, and great listeners, but tend to be pretty quiet sometimes. Im a Water/Wind. (which means that my strongest element is water and my second strongest is wind.) We did this to learn that we need every element to make a strong team. Our tribe was one of the mixed tribes, but some tribes had a lot of one element and not many other elements.
Later on, we got to eat with our tribes and got to know each other a little bit. Then we had more group time, but the closest we got that day happened at the RYLA OLYMPICS. In the gym, there were all kinds of games in different parts of the room. Each group went to a 'station' and then that game would be explained by the person in charge of that station, the music would then start and that meant that the games would begin. The teams are to get as many points as they can before the music stopped and then we'd move on to the next game and so on…
After all that, we all went down to the campfire and the leaders retired an American flag. Each stripe would be cut one at a time and placed in the fire on the end of a stick. The stars and the blue part of the flag was placed in the fire last and the administrator's wife sang the Star Spangled Banner, and then this was followed by the making of smores.
The next day, my tribe got together and most of us told our life stories. We also played a few team working/ trust games. We all enjoyed how we were able to share so much with our groups after just knowing each other for almost a day. After lunch, we had free time. That's when I found the piano with my chief leader, Lauren. I started playing what i was planning to play for the talent show and then went through some of my other songs. My chief just loved it. There were other people there too, working on their talents and skits they had to do for that night as well and they didn't want me to stop playing! Even our main speaker came up to me and talked to me about how talented I am. Everyone was pretty shocked when I told them that Im self taught. I even added another part to my song i put together while I was in the middle of playing it! I wish you could've seen the look on my chief’s face. I ended up playing that song at the talent show that night. The only bad part was that i'd never played infront of a big group of people and we only got 91 seconds to perform, so i didn't even get passed the first part of the song, but i really enjoyed how my friends had gone up to the piano to give me a great big group hug when my turn ended. All the other talents were just great and some were really funny. We also had a speaker that night. He was a 13 year old kid that tries to raise money to but water filters for families that live in the Dominican Republic. Each filter costs about $100 and so far he has installed 52 filters.
The next morning, my tribe was signed up for the high ropes in the morning and low ropes in the afternoon. I don't have that much to say about the low ropes, other than it was a lot of fun and i loved how well our tribe worked together, but with the high ropes, i could go on and on about that. I started out on the first level and thought "this is nothing. nobody will see me cry today." Then i went to the next level and was like "ok...now its gettin kinda high." Then i decided to scare myself a bit and went up to the third level, which is like 50ft high. I took forever on that. The first one i did took maybe 15 minutes to cross, and id be holding on to each rope with all my strength. My friends would cheer me on every now and then. Once i got across, i started to breathe. Then Lauren told me that the next one was a piece of cake compared to what i just did. So i got on the first rope and thought "its not so bad" then i got on the next and it started to bounce and i was like "ok...it bounces." it only took me 5 minutes or more to get across that one. Then i decided to go on the next one which is the hardest one up there. I spent forever on that one. Getting passed the first rope wasn't hard, but standing on the platform that wobbles was where things got pretty tricky. i stood there with my hands out in front of me holding on to that rope for the longest time trying to get up the courage to swing to the third rope and then stand on the next platform. I even tried counting, but i only got to 2. My friends and others from different tribes that were there were cheering me on and encouraging me saying "you got this" and stuff like that. Finally, i swung on the rope and grabbed the third one and then got onto the next platform. All i had to do then was pass the last rope and then id be done. Once i got across, the wind started to blow and i was like "man that feels good!" My friends were all like "you should finish off with a high note on the swing!" I thought "oh, what the heck." But when i got on that little ledge, which is like 25ft high, and hooked up to the swing, i didn't want to move. I closed my eyes, had one hand on the cable and the other holding on for dear life. I kept trying to open my eyes, but i just could do it. My friends were cheering me on again saying "you can do this!" After a while, i finally put both hands on the cable, leaned forward, and dropped (swung) screaming. I was curled up in this ball, holding onto the cable with all i had left and had my eyes closed the whole time. Someone shouted out that the worst part was over and that i could open my eyes. i tried to, but then closed them instantly again. Once i got down, you have no idea how much i wanted to lay on the ground and yell "LAND!!!!" Then a friend of mine came up to me and gave me a hug. Im one of those people that doesn’t cry when i’m doing something like i had just done until somebody comes and touches me. So when i got that hug, i started bawling. When i went to go sit on the bench, i got another hug from my C.I.T, and another friend said "that was legit!" I couldn't believe that i had just did what i did.
On sunday, there was a candle ceremony. The Administrators started with the Chiefs and would light each person's candle while saying nice things about them. Then the Chiefs went to their tribes and did the same to us. So there were a few tears involved. There was also church that morning, which was optional. There were a few songs that were played and a small 'lecture'. I enjoyed it. Then we got with our groups and wrote affirmations for each of our new bffs. Afterwards, we had to say our goodbyes. I texted my mom and dad that morning asking if there would be enough room in the car for all my new friends to go home with me. I miss them so much. I had such a great time and a memorable experience. I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to go to such an event.
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