Yesterday i got home from my ever so anticipated JCL state competition trip. All i have to say is that i hate bus trips...



Okay, so i lied. I took a lot home from the trip actually, and though i'm glad to be back, i'm sad to leave it behind.

It all started way too freaking early in the morning on Friday. I didn't want to go b/c i didn't want to leave here, but i'm glad i went. It began with hours of sitting next to Jessica on the bus ride there and chatting with her and the few people around me. I didn't have all my passage memorized so that was the event of the morning. Practicing with Sarah, whom i haven't talked to since the days of Latin 3. We watched Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail, and Finding Nemo and recited most of the movie to eachother. Good times. We went to the mall to eat. Our little group consisted of me, Jessica, Ryan, someone wearing tye dye whos name has slipped my mind just now and a girl whos name has done the same (i feel really bad about this) We considered eating at hooters, but didn't b/c we just didn't. We ate at Romas.

When we finally got to the hotel, after an immensely long ride and my incessant urge to pee, we got our rooms. I roomed with Jessica and two girls i had never met before, Chealsea and Brittany. Fun times. And then it was off to Warren High School. More bus ride. There was chaos in the streets... No, we all had fun making fools of ourselves and playing card games and such with people i didn't know that well before we all headed off to our Pentathalon rooms, a test about Roman life and history and Reading Comp. that we were all required to take. All the people i had spent my time with thus far were either Latin 2 or 4 people so i was all by myself. I found my room and three people were there whom i'd never met. They came from a school on the other side of Texas. Emily, one of the girls, had dramatic interpretation that day, so i basically met one of my competeters. She was a nice girl, and another kid named Sean. Now he was interesting. We actually talked a really long time while we waited for the tests. (Rule number one of Latin people, we are always late. If it says one time, expect an hour or so of waiting.) We had a rather long talk about our beliefs. Not just religious beliefs, but all aspects of how we perceived what the world should be. He was a Christian, much further along in his walk than i am, but who isn't. Just the fact that i had the oppurtunuty to think about and discuss God helps. I learn best that way. We also delved into our outlooks on drugs, alcohol and even dating. That sounds weird, i know, but it came up somehow, i don't remember, and he was telling me what he thought should be a reason for dating, which i can't say i dissagreed with. His family had a history similar to mine, so we could talk about that and how it had affected us and shaped us as people. See, our beliefs in all aspects. It just so happened i had my mottoes test with Sean the next day, which was cool.

Then i had to go to lunch and find someone, anyone, whom i knew. I had a dramatic interp test in 20 minutes and the line was huge so i was freaking out. but i found people and ate and it was raining and i really wanted to go play in it, but alas, i had to do dramatic interp. Got to my room and immediately got nervous. I recited with Sarah, and then went to my own corner and paced for a while. The people i had spent the day with were looking for me (there was a dance that night) and sat in the doorway and watched me pace without my knowing it for a while. Good times. I did my thing and i was really nervous and my performance sucked, BUT i did the one thing i had planned on doing and i finished. I nearly forgot the last word, but i wasn't leaving that room till i finished. and i did. I found everyone afterward and we all sat around a table and chatted for hours. We also played a prophetic cell phone game.

The gist is, you make a prediction ( like, this person will be the first to die in a large orgie) and spin the phone, whoever it points to gets that particular prediction. It got really funny after a while. Andy wound up with a span of hundreds of new STD's that may have come from other animals, Ryan became a president gynocoligist who covored his wife in liquid latex for fun, Jessica was a transvestite dominatrix who would die in an orgie involving Andy, wDana was Ryans healthy latex covored wife, and me... I started my own line of underwear, became the first person to be sold on ebay, and was the mac daddy of the table. Basically, by the end of the game, i was sleeping with everyone in hour and a half shifts... These, among other things, were our predictions. Then we went back to the hotel where a lady got mad at us for not buying a pizza we didn't order and Jessica held conversations with me in her sleep...

The next morning we went for acedemic competitions and more Oratory stuff. A large group of us played more card games i think... and then went to testing. Ran into Sean in my testing room and he really needed some sleep. Took my test, it was hard, thats all i have to say about that b/c then i went to use the bathroom ( i had to pee every half an hour this weekend...) eventually found people, played more card games, got my ass beat in egyptian ratscrew by Ryan and Andy... Had lunch which was really bad, watched the volleyball. The other team beat us like 20 something to 4, but considering they were all atheletes and we were all dorks... i think we did really good. Jessica and i spent the vast majority of the time at the school together. Chatted for hours about stuff. We all joined in a huge game of big booty by the grading room (accedental, i promise) and Magistra was laughing at the weirdos playing big booty in the halls. you should have seen the look on her face when she realized half of them were her kids... We got two younger kids hooked on the game and at one point some people who obviously knew the one kid came by called him a queaf (spelling.... you know what i don't want to know) and slapped him in the face. That made me so angry. I felt like chasing the kid down the hall and kicking his ass right there. what even gave him the right to talk down on another person like that? What made him any better? Nothing i could see. This kid next to me, the one who was hit, shrugged it off like it was nothing, but you could see it in his eyes, he was hurt. I saw it, this was something that happened to him more than once and he was hurt. I was boiling over with anger, but a lot of it was that i was hurt too. This was a prime example of the world and an even better example of why i don't want to be a part of it. I watched this kid walk away as though he had done nothing at all and watched this kid next to me whos rights to simply exist had been taken away and i was reminded why we needed a God and why we needed a Christ and i felt very lucky to have that. I felt lucky to be surrounded by people who liked me all weekend and i felt lucky to have no real enemies and i was hurt that not everyone gets that. it brought me back to grade school, when i was in that position and i felt all those old feelings again and i felt so blessed to have something so different from that old life and i was so upset that this kid couldn't feel like that.

The rest of the time at the school went by slowly enough. We went to a talent show which was both amazing and hysterical and i found a cell phone and turned it in to a sponsor who i don't think ever turned it in like she said she would, so i felt bad about that, even though its not really my fault. Waiting for the bus, my JCL group got involved in a rigorous game of big booty where the punishment for messing up involved spelling your name with your butt. People sometimes messed up just so they could. We got to the bus finally to head off for assembly. It was at this time that we met up again with Ryan, whom i had kept my eye open for but had not seen for many many hours.

We got to assembly and as must be expected from a bunch of Latinites, the actual meeting started an hour and a half late. i spent most of the nearly 4 hour meeting talking with Ryan, who was an interesting person if i might add (though i kept wanting to call him Allen...) So we learned a bunch about eachother and they gave awards and blah blah blah. Sean and Emily both placed in the top 4 for the competitions. i was happy for them. Well, the assembly was long, as i have said, and i kept having to pee, as i have said, so along with our conversations, poor Ryan had to listen to me bitch for 2 hours about how bad i had to pee. At the glorious end of assembly, we piled back on to the bus to go find a place to eat and ryan and i chatted a whole bunch more, and i was really tired so i had to fight not to fall asleep b/c thats just not nice. Then we all made the mistake about talking about dreams and he said that some dreams we don't remember b/c we can't really handle them. I dissagreed. i wound up describing in great detail a dream about a person who... i don't want to get into it, but it woke me up to say the least.

We all ate, it was good, and the buffet place was not happy about having to feed 70 teenagers.... YAY. Back on the bus, going to the hotel.... good times. i was under the impression i was being flirted with, though i've never been good at telling such, but Jessica agreed with me. I didn't worry about it though. I didn't have to. I am mind bogglingly happy with where i am right now and i wouldn't do anything to make that go away and such anyway, so i didn't ponder over it a whole long time.

I have to leave soon.

I went to bed way too late Saturday night and thus, was dead all of Sunday, and am still recovering. My brain hurts. I fell asleep once on the bus ride home, but someone woke me up. Good times again. All in all the trip was fun and i'm happy about what i took home from it and such.

I'll elaborate more still when i get home. Gotta go now.