Stinky little happy campers

To be stinky is to open the doors to the realm of...

Oh, who am I kidding?  I am a stinky fool.  I haven't showered since Saturday evening--before Kristen's bachelorette party.  Here's what I've done so far since then:

--Hung out with mosquitoes outside

--Danced on a bar rooftop

--Had sex

--Went on a five mile mountain run

--Went on an hour long trek in some rocks

--Went on a three mile city run

And STILL, even as I'm writing this down now, no shower!  Rick says to me, "Unlike some people here, I actually DO take showers," and he jumped on in to clean his goddess body.

Sometimes, as of late at least, I'm lazy.  I don't want to take a shower.  I blame this partly on the fact that I'm not living in my own apartment anymore.  Our lease was up last Saturday, and we're living with my sister and her husband until our respective moves later this week.  I don't feel as comfortable getting naked, running around in a place that's not my own--you know, I just don't want to take a shower as much.  

 I also blame it partly on BCM: Big City Mountaineers--the seven day backpacking extravaganza I volunteered for last week.  If you think I'm stinky now Rick Mick, you should have smelled me after seven days of not showering, not even wiping my butt properly.  I could barely stand myself.  And at the end of the trip, my tent mate, Ainsley said, "Man, you feet sure stink!" 

I mentioned BCM in my last blog, but don't think I explained the trip or organization itself quite thoroughly enough.  Big City Mountaineers (get the BCM thing now?) are a nationwide non-profit organization, like "I Have a Dream" Foundation.  They're shtick, however, is that they provide week-long backpacking and camping adventures for disadvantaged youth.  That's where our organization comes into play.  We work with disadvantaged youth--from 3rd graders to high-schoolers--and we want them to go on these trips!  We find some that are willing, and beg the rest.  And in both mine and Rick's experiences thus far, the trips have proven a huge success.  

I won't get into a detailed day-to-day, minute-by-minute of everything we did, but I will tell you this: the best time camping I've ever had.  And I'll blame it on the women.  I mentioned these unique ladies and their personalities in my last blog, so I won't go into more details about them (see previous blog entry if curious).  But I will say that this unique experience--getting to bond with nine women and girls that I've never hung out with before--was amazing.  I really never complained--was often found singing, dancing, cooking, chatting, laughing, playing games--things I hardly ever do camping with Rick.  Not to say that camping with Rick isn't fun--it's just a different experience.  This was girl power time.  Time to fart, bond, sing Disney tunes, talk about relationships--imagine "Sex and the Mountains" a new television series on HBO.

During one of our daily Round-Table talks at night, I mentioned how I loved having this unique opportunity to backpack and camp with nine ladies.  It was empowering!  I have hung out with small groups of girlfriends, but recently, most of my female interactions have just been one-on-ones with select friends.  I would jump at the chance to go on a big all girl camping trip again, and would love to--even if not with BCM.  The trip reminds you of how important female friendships are to women.  And let me tell you, they are indeed, and I know that those relationships will be the ones that get me through my two-year MFA stint without Rick by my side.  

So my advice tonight: invest in female relationships.  Go camping with girls.  Push yourselves together.  And--yes, take a shower...eventually.

Big City Mountaineers: The Characters

Seven days.  Five women.  Four girls.  Wyoming.  Backpack.  Adventure.  

Sounds like the opening to some suspenseful movie, right?  In that same spirit, and without further introduction, that's jump right into it.

THE CHARACTERS

ALLIE: me.  Twenty-four years old.  Afraid of the dark, sleeping alone, and had never been on a hiking trip past three days.  Usually gets anxious, but in some miracle, in the company of women, embraces everything about her experience: the oatmeal for breakfast, the pooping the woods, the endless team-building games, the Disney sing-alongs.  Awarded "Most Positive/Fat Kid."  Loves that optimism, loves that food.

TSEHAI: Twenty-seven years old.  The girl's girl.  The glue for the group.  You wish you were as cool as her.  Even with her endless mosquito bites, she's a bad-ass.  Wears blue rimmed sunglasses, a red bandana around her head and an orange one around her mouth.  A real bandit.  Awarded "MVH: Most Valuable Hiker."

TRACY: Twenty-six years old.  The soft-spoken, laid back leader of the pack.  She knows what's up, but won't baby you about it.  Like the wise, Buddhist-like sage that she is, she'll let you figure it out.  Blonde hair, medium build, glasses, and from Queens (sans New York accent).  She knows her shit, but won't flaunt it.  A real woodswoman she is indeed.

AINSLEY: Twenty-three years old.  Former YMCA leader and cheerleader, she's a big bag of tricks.  Awarded "Most Entertaining" for a reason.  Never a dull moment, she's always got some hand-clapping, chanting, hide-and-seeking, dancing, dinosaur imitating game in her backpack.  No wonder why it's so heavy.  

MIRIAM: Forty-something years old.  A woman with quite the interesting past: former telegram-singing clown, former oboe musician, former Alaskan salmon canner--you'd never imagine the colors behind the self-effacing computer programmer.  Doesn't like people to sing the song "Marian Librarian" from The Music Man to her.  "It's Miriam, not Marian," she rightfully declares.  Knows every type of flower on the trail.  Loves the little blue ones.  The Nature Woman.

OMOLAYO: Eighteen-years old.  Success story.  College bound on Volleyball scholarship.  Strong young woman (literally, she's a big and beautiful muscular masterpiece).  The leader of the girls.  The role model.  The go-getter.  The enthusiast.  Nothing stops this girl.  Watch out, Barack Obama, we have a future president on our hands.

FLORA: Twenty-years old.  A tiny, black fairy-like creature.  Beautiful, soft, yet with a biting wit, and can eat her body weight in one day.  An almost mythical creature.  A more quiet leader, always smiling, always trucking along on the trail eating her trail mix, of course.  Poetically awarded, "The Blossoming Spirit."

BRANDI: Thirteen years-old.  A black girl who likes alternative fashion and music--like skull and cross bones.  The sassy Grandma, simple and yet wise beyond her years.  Her pinky toe is stuck in the middle of the rest of her toes.  She calls it a birth mark.  Has a loving and endearing lisp.  Wants to be a part of the group, wants to be loved.  A genuinely great girl.

JAZMIN: Fourteen years-old.  The hardest apple, but most fulfilling of the tree.  The pickiest eater ever: no milk, no chocolate, no cheese...The photographer of the group, the veteran backpacker, the lovable, if not cranky, Grandpa to Brandi's Grandma: "Don't you be givin' her anymore chocolate!"  Afraid of thunderstorms, wants people close by her side even when she seems to shun them away.  Without Jazmin, the trip is too easy.  The favorite challenge, the funny woman, the courageous kid. 

UNCLE HERMAN: Age unknown.  A black shovel, sharp as a stone, used to dig up deep holes for dirty dumps.  Without him, the forest would stink of floundering feces.  Where's Uncle Herman?  It's time for a poop.