I just got my Wilderness First Responder certification. People keep asking me what the heck that is, and when I explain that it is learning how to do things like make leg splints out of sleeping mats and belts, they look at me funny and ask why I would ever need to know something like that. :)
Here is a bit about the last nine days of my life:
- The course was at MTSU, which is about 35 min from my house. There was no way I was going to drive there and back every day (for money and environmental reasons) so I have been sleeping in a rec center for the last week and a half. Yep. That's right. Sleeping bag, Therm-a-rest, on the floor in the middle of a conference room on the second floor of a giant rec center. Locker rooms for showers, a cooler in the back of the conference room for food.
- Twelve other people were doing the exact same thing^^.
- One night, there was a lock-in. There were a few hundred screaming high school-ers running around until 6 am. Poor planning. On my part or on theirs, I'm not exactly sure.
- I can make a traction splint (for a broken femur) out of a coffee cup, webbing, and a Therm-a-rest. I'm not going to pretend like I'm not proud of this fact.
- I got my visa applied for! It involved two trips to Nashville, a lot of running around during my one hour lunch break, and a few tears, but it is done. It's out of my hands now, and I have never been more relieved.
- Outdoor educators are interesting people.
- I love them.
- I think I get along with them so well because I am just as weird as they are. I am okay with this.
- For the first time in my life, my Chaco-wearing, being as naked as is culturally acceptable, and fruit and vegetable-eating habits were the norm, not the exception.
- Our little hodge-podge group of WFRs were, at one point, affectionately referred to as a group of dirty hippies. (by the administration at the rec center, telling us that if we were going to walk around the rec center, we needed to have shoes on. I was the dirty hippie guilty of this. Haha.)
- By the end of 9 days and about 200 hours of time together, one guy was still calling me the wrong name.
- The class involved (but was not limited to) questions like "can I go up under your shirt?" and "When did you have your last bowel movement?"
- It also involved one of my instructors standing in front of the class, holding both hands above his head and saying, "Imagine that this is a giant pair of testicles.."
- Pretty much every bone in my body has now been palpated by twenty three different people.
- At one point, I lost my contact case. I could have gone out and bought another... Instead, I gutted my floss container and used that for four days.
- I had no reason to be, but I was so nervous before my practical exam that I didn't eat until after it was over at two o'clock. I have never been nervous about a test in my life... I just wanted to do well SO badly... My brain has been turning about what this means for what I'm supposed to do with my life.
- At another point, I also lost my shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I realized it while on the way to shower after our night-rescue, after which I was covered in ticks, fake blood, and bruise-colored make-up... I rinsed off as best as I could and didn't think twice about it.
- The next day, someone lent me body wash... And I never bothered to track down shampoo and conditioner also, so I washed my hair with body wash for a few days.
- I definitely argued with a few people about what something meant in Spanish... and was wrong. Cool points for me. :)
It was a good 9 days. I would do it over again in a heart beat. No time to wish it weren't over though. I'm off to NC for camp on Tuesday. Errands, packing, etc...
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