Let the Thirsty Games Begin

Like last week, breakfast started at 9 AM and lasted for an hour. I woke up at 8 to take a shower, then changed into clothes that were appropriate for getting wet (our MHS class planned for a water fight after lunch). In class, we watched two parts of the movie "The New Medicine" starring Chris Reed's (Superman's) wife since she had been affected by her husband's condition as well as her lung cancer. The first part was focused on the mind and body, and how they connect to each other. They showed examples of actual patients that had pain in their body and went through  a form of meditation to relieve their stress. They then followed through with the patients periodically until the end of the movie (where their stress levels had decreased by then). The second part emphasized on the importance of trying to expand integrative medicine, for example, by having clinics open to the homeless and use acupuncture on them for relieving sores or tension in the body.

The movie lasted for exactly 2 hours, so right after it had ended, we went to lunch. After lunch, the MHS class met in the front patio of the Commons to start the "Thirsty Games". The Thirsty Games is based off of "The Hunger Games," except with water guns and buckets filled with water (instead of deadly weapons). The center of the open space of grass was the Cornucopia, with the buckets of water and water weapons. There were trees nearby that surrounded the center, so 1-2 people would be at each tree and whenever the siren from the mega-phone would play, then everyone would run towards the center to be equipped. The rules were if you were to get hit at your torso with water, then you would be out. The game rules eventually were not used anymore, and it was just the class against Zach. We had the water fight for over an hour and a half then went to Starbucks for a refreshing drink. After everyone had cooled off for a bit, we walked back to the Commons with 15 minutes remaining until we could go back into Hank Ingram. It was really hot outside, but since there were people in the Commons, they unlocked the doors for us to go indoors. I used up the rest of the time by playing foosball with my friend, Savannah (she is from South Carolina and is a junior in high school).

The Californians! (The cohort featuring Shelly, we were all feeling a little weird throwing water around when we know
that there is a drought in our own state.)

Once the clock had struck 3, I went back into Hank Ingram for my SOFT night. SOFT lasted from 3-6 PM and I spent most of the time working on blogging, changed clothes, and accidentally fell asleep for over an hour. Luckily, I woke up in time for dinner at 5:30 PM. Originally, the plans for 3-6 were supposed to be a college session, but it got postponed for some reason. Dinner had to end at 6:45 PM in order for everyone to make it to their activities on time (by bus). The activities were roller skating, rock climbing, mini-golf, and going to the zoo. I chose rock climbing because I have only done it once before in my life and I thought it would be a fun thing to try while I am still in Tennessee (there are not many rock climbing facilities that I am aware of in the Bay Area). 

The bus ride was about 10 minutes long and the set rock climbing time for VSA was from 7- 9:45. There was a line to wait in for checking off our names and attaining a wristband to wear inside. There were several people with orange-colored shirts that individually took groups of 10 to get all harnessed up. Then, our guide took the group upstairs to the wall for beginners to teach how to hook up our harnesses and fall correctly. I did not climb for the whole two hours, but I did go up at least 5 times. I even raced someone from my proctor group, Claire. I bonded with two more people in my group, which was really exciting, since we are all a little bit closer now! We each motivated each other to keep going up, even though some of the rocks were difficult to grasp towards the top. I made it to the top at least once (on the bright side)! I found that there was a lot of thrill while climbing to the top of the wall, however, the higher that I got, the more scary it was to let go. I may or may not have a tiny fear of heights, but after climbing once, I slowly got the hang of it, but my heart still races when I am falling (even at a slow rate). 

A great group picture of the some of the girls from my proctor group, fellow friends from the left, and I.

What the majority of the rock climbing
facility looked like.

Claire and I racing to the top!

We put our harnesses away at 9:45 and went to the bus. The bus ride back felt quicker than when we were going towards the rock climbing facility, maybe because of the reason that I had a talk with Claire and two other people about the different cultural stores that are associated with the South. For example, there is a infamous fast-food restaurant called Chick-Fil-A, and it is known for the best chicken. We later talked about the restaurant with Lizzy, who in her own experience, found that there are not many in California (when she was on her road trip to Nevada and visited). We were told to be on our floors until everyone else got back, which is when the proctor meeting would start. At 10:45 PM, Lizzy started the meeting by passing around the box of po-gos. It brightens my day when I hear sweet compliments because I love watching the reactions of the people that receive them (it is just so heart-warming).