We stayed in 3 different locales and it was awesome. This would be one long entry if I mentioned everything we did so I'll write about some of my favorite moments.
White Water Rafting! The fourth day of the trip was the most fun for me. We left the Strawberry Garden Hotel up in the cool hills of ____ and traveled 3 hours to a cite where I would enjoy white water rafting for the first time ever. With close to 30 people, we split up into 5 different groups of boy and girl teams. My team: Tina, Wen Shiow, Schumy, Chee Lum & Alejandra. My team had the lightest, fastest raft and it was my pleasure to assign myself the imaginary role of Raft Motivator. There was a lot of shouting. I'm sure they had as much fun as I did, especially when we were the first to reach the end. At one point a boy walking on a bridge about 20 feet over us (probably home from school) stopped to dangle a chocolate bar over our heads and when I put my hands out, he dropped it. Our raft fell into laughter and 4 seconds later into the hands of torrential waters. No worries, we all made it out without injuries.
The Amazing Race! I let my competitive side out a little when my team went up against the 4 other teams in a scavenger hunt during our stay at the Tambatuon village. I had to shampoo my friend Wen Shiow's hair in the river. I carried a really heavy rock across a really questionable bridge. We made a makeshift scarecrow and checked dozens of locals' clotheslines for our team leader's missing shirt. Oh it was as fun as it sounds.
Discussion Time. On 8 of our evenings in Borneo we had team discussions on real-life issues like friendship, the meaning of success, the purpose of life... it was a privilege to hear different thoughts and opinions shared about some of life's biggest questions for all of us. There was a moment of apprehension for me before each discussion that someone might offend someone else on the team but we all listened to one another and even felt the freedom and curiosity to ask questions. My favorite discussion was the one on friendships; people were surprisingly real, open and honest about the ways we've been hurt in friendships - this set the tone for the trip and allowed us to connect in a way I've been waiting for since I got to Malaysia... |
| Favorite sight of the trip: The Tip of Borneo. I fell in love with that amazing sandstone! #GeologyRocks |
