Epiphany in Baltimore

2002-10-10

Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com

I'm tired and behind and feeling less than 100%, but I want to document some of my experiences from the last week before the memories flee my head.

The Outward Bound trip was terrific. I will look back at the five days as a highlight of this year and as a testament of why I enjoy working with young people.

Yes, the trip taught the kids a lot of important skills - physical endurance, self-reliance, leadership - but what I'll remember most is their collective sense of humor. What this trip taught me the most is the value of laughter. I laughed so much over the past five days that my sides ached at time. These kids were just that funny.

It all started on day one, when we were being dropped off in the woods surrounding the Appalachian Trail in southern Pennsylvania. We were in a large Outward Bound van, had made a wrong turn and had to make a u-turn in a driveway of a mechanic. This old man saw us, and stared at us intently. His eyes followed us and his mouth slowly began to gape open. It was a bizarre sight.

One of the kids in the back started speaking in this high-pitched, vaguely South Park type of voice, and did his best impression of the old guy's thoughts: "Man, there sure are a lot of black kids in that van!"

Perhaps you had to be there, but it was so funny. The van exploded in laughter.

The rest of the trip went similarly. Eight students, two Outward Bound instructors, and myself went. On day one, we hiked about 2.5 miles to our campsite. On day two, we hiked another five miles. Day three featured a mammoth ten mile hike. Day four will go down as one of the best days of my life, and day five just a few notches below that.

Day four was our rockclimbing and mountain repelling day. We hiked the two miles to Annapolis Rocks, and got ready for the climbing. It was a blast - much better than last year. I was able to climb to the top of both mountains that I attempted to climb, after only getting about a third up the mountainside last year. It must be because I'm in better shape, and it sure did feel good. It was the sort of experience that made me feel very alive. Repelling was scary as hell, but also an experience and a half. I loved it both.

That night, I had some great interactions with kids. I went down to the spring to pump water with two kids, and that hourlong job let me really get to know them. We talked about music - my knowledge as well as enjoyment of hiphop culture is starting to grow, and I was able to use it as a way to connect in particular with this one kid who wants to be a music producer - and sports and lots of other stuff.

Then, that night, I saw a shooting star. It serendipitious that we all saw it, because I had just asked a kid to look up to see the Big Dipper, and we looked up and it shot across the sky. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day - a day that felt totally earned because of the previous day's ten mile hike, and was rewarding in many way.

The next day, the instructors sent us on our final hike in five minute intervals, so we could hike the two-mile stretch solo. It was a time for reflection and inner peace, and I used the experience well.

But that still doesn't tell you how funny these kids were. I'll try to provide a few examples, though I realize that many will not translate:

*On day two, one of the instructors (both my age, both hippie-ish) told the kids, "You guys have to teach me some new sayings. My last group was from California, and they taught me this phrase 'You're harshing on my mellow.'" The kids all had never heard the phrase before and made fun of him, and it became the slogan of the trip. So funny.

*Eventually, the instructors and I began to try to imitate some of the students' saying. Among our favorites were when the students say thing like, "There goes the rock" and "Here goes the bowl," even though the items are standing still. We began to say this phrase, and it always got a lot of laughs.

*Another favorite phrase that we decided to copy was when the kids say, "That's tougher/funnier/bigger than I don't know what." I decided to copy the phrase once, but it came out, "That was longer than I do not even know what." It was hilarious. They said, "Oh, you're trying, Mr. E," then imitated me the rest of the trip.

*Some of the other favorite phrases that we liked to copy were, "(Something or someone really good) is the truth" and "We were mad tired."

The kids were also very funny with each other. One night, the day's cooks made macaroni and cheese, and it wasn't such a big hit. One irrepressible boy said, "You couldn't even taste the cheese. It was like macaroni and blank!"

I'm sure none of this is translating very well, but suffice to say that I laughed perhaps more than I ever have on this trip. And the humor on the trip was never mean-spirited or raunchy - it was just funny. These kids were great.

Overall, the trip was one of those times where the entire world seemed in its place. I used the long hikes as opportunities to reflect on life, the gazes into the nightsky as a way to gain perspective, and the conversations with the kids to gain connections. At the end of the trip, here is the speech I gave the kids in our graduation circle: "I just wanted to let you guys know that I have gained a great deal of respect for each and every one of you. I'm proud of you, and I hope you are proud of yourself. Each of you displayed a great deal of tenacity, an open mind, and a lot of physical and mental strength in completing this course, and you all deserve accolades. When I think of this trip, the quotation that comes to mind is one of my favorites: 'Never doubt that a small, thoughtful group of people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.' That was by this woman named Margaret Mead, and I think it relates here, because I do hope you take this experience and use it to change your world. I hope you go back to (the school) and use the skills you have developed here to enhance life for yourself and others there. Each of you displayed great leadership skills on this trip, even if you didn't play the role of the leader on paper. You can lead through example or from behind, and you did that. I hope you take this Outward Bound trip and go and fill leadership roles at school. This doesn't end here. We developed into a working team, and hope you take these skills back with you. Even if you use your skills in your own studies, you are making good use of this trip. Each of you accomplished something very challenging with this trip, and not only did you fulfill the requirements, but you excelled. You'll always have something of a special connection with the people in this group, whether it is the mutual understanding of what being a member of the 100 club* is, or what it was like to look down after climbing a mountain. In the same way, I hope you use me as a source of support once we get back to school. For example, if you need a letter of recommendation, some teachers will be able to say, 'Yeah, I had so-and-so, and he got an 87 in my class' but I'll be able to say that I spent a week in the mountains with him, and know what kind of person he is. Think about that. Thanks for letting me share this experience with you."

Anyhow, the trip was fantastic. I'm a little bit disappointed to be back in the unreal world.

*The 100 club refers to the fact that if someone had to go poop, they had to go 100 yards from the trail or any water source. The instructors were constantly checking who had joined the 100 club, because bad things like impacted bowels can occur if an especially shy kid holds it in for a long period of time.