WOW
ok so how exactly do you explain and describe the most incredible and amazing experience of your life to people who have no idea what you are rambling on about, and even if they do care enough to listen could NEVER understand? well call me crazy but im going to give it a go! i find its something that you just cant keep quiet about, even if it is the worlds, and especially Perth's best secret. seriously, if you have the stuff and you want to do it...just look it up. its really the experience of a lifetime.
ok, so lets start with what RYLA is in a sense. RYLA stands for ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS and is a kind of camp/seminar for youth aged between 18 and 25. on this camp you with be faced with challenges of every kind. AND overcome with the support of all the fantastic people around you.
some of these challenges, just to give you an idea...were physical. on the 1st day we had tunnelling. which means crawling through a dark and dirty tunnel underground on your hands and knees. sound like fun? well crazily enough, it is actually alot of fun! it is a fantastic way of getting to know people, and so the support and love starts. and then there is the advanced tunnels. now these you cannot craw on your hands and knees through. you wouldnt fit. your on your stomach. and so you craw for minutes and minutes, and only go a few metres. and we actually spent hours and hours doing this.
the next day was abseiling. well for me and half the camp anyway. i abseiled 4 times that day, 2 more times than i ever having in my entire life and i wasnt actually forced into it this time!!! lol so went down the 'nursery' slope twice, then moved onto the intermediat slope, though i think a 38 metre straight faced cliff would be more appropriate in this case! thanks to Jade, Brad and Bernie i made it down to the bottom in one piece! Jade for being there every step of the way, Brad for talking to me and getting my mind of off the fact that i was actually suspending myself over the side of a cliff, and bernie for not letting me go!!!
next day probably the most physical and mentally challenging for me! as you all know (or may not know!) i am rather scared of heights! im ok so long as i have something stable under my feet that i CANT see through. as you can imagine. high ropes course is NOT like that. its hard to explain but i think you get the idea! small pieces of whire high up in the air...not the kind of thing that i would do for fun...and i dont know if i would find it fun, but I DID IT!!! thanks again to Brad. and then theres the leap of faith...also at the high ropes course. now this is one thing that i DID NOT want to do. leap of faith is short for attaching yourself to a rope, climbing up a telephone pole, unto a little TINY platfom, and then walk out onto a plank which you can hardly fit your feet onto, before launching yourself in the air to catch a tiny little tripeeze. now, can u imagine myself doing that?! well! neither can i! BUT I DID!!! (still cant quite believe that i did!)
so there you have the first 3 days. pretty amazing huh? and that wasnt all we did in those 3 days either! but wait, i still have to come to the poker game! when we first came on camp they told us that they would build us up, then break us down to build us up again. thoughts in everyones mind there? yeh right. well thats exactly what they did. pretty amazing huh? especially for a poker game! (though this was not your ordinary poker game...and i cannot say anymore as this information is priveleged! if you really want to know, you may come and ask me and i MAY tell you if i deem ok, otherwise, go check it out for yourself!)
wednesday we had and an amazing look deep into ourselfs and our morals and values, as well as everyone elses. was an incredible journey to take together and one that i would never forget.
thursday, we had the rotary dinner. was incredible to see so many people challenge themselves and overcome their fears. it was amazing!
friday. our last full day. we were all incredibly tired, most of us had only a few hrs sleep the night before as we were extremely busy filling out our daily review sheets and out RLQ sheets as well as giving out warm fuzzies! so it was all self induced! lol we spent alot of time with out project teams that day, i was on the last night event team, so we were planning the fun event that everyone was going to enjoy that night! as well as having our last few small group meetings and small group affirmations! which again took up alot of time. but was really good. the fri nite event went really well. we had organised charades, pictionary, trivia questions, random items, and awards. all of which we did in our small groups. and then as a last small group thing, we had skits to end the show. which were all hilarious!! something ill never forget seeing mike and enrico dressed up as girls with ballons for boobs!!! haha and of course Rons many skills showed of by the lovely Pam, and then the rest of team tangerine with their lovely singing abilities and a re-enactment of all the activities that we had done that week. and then it was more filling forms and warm fuzzies, the FANTASTIC newspaper crew and screen-printing crew finishing everything off for us, (THANKS GUYS! UR TOTALLY AWESOME!) as well as randomly dancing whenever a good song came on before heading of to bed with only a few short hrs sleep if you were lucky! bout 1 1/2 4 me i think!
saturday. our last day. finished off our small group affirmations and warm fuzzies, wrote letters to ourselves that will be posted out in 6 months, filled out forms about our experiences, mystery friends and presesnts. boot camp style activity to keep us awake! (thanks Brad!) and then playing frisbee and hacky sack before the 'graduation' or closing ceremony in front of our parents where we recieved back our finished files. before lots of hugging and crying and plans and promises to meet up again soon! bags in the car...then getting in the car, still trying to avoid it so running round giving final hugs. physically having to force yourself to get in the car. and then on the way home for a well earned sleep! though first you must go and visit the rellies! well some of them anyway!
see my darling sister, say hello to the mutt, exchange chrissy pressies with my sis. exclaim over the amount of dvds shes brought home! play on my new laptop. go to bed, sleep over 15 hrs straight, wake up watch dvds (that my sis brought home) tell mum everything, see friends, watch more dvds, go to the airport to see georgie whos been in switzerland and other places in europe for the last year. (which was very exciting!) go to bed, get woken up by your beautiful 3 yr old cousin who wants to play, play till you drop dead on the couch, finish the movie that you were watching last night. complain that you only have one day left of work, and that you wish you had a week!
but RYLArians, i love you all. you are the most fantastic and wonderful people ive ever met. lets not loose what we lost on RYLA. keep in contact. i love you all!!
luv lelle/rocky
XOXO
