"Livin on a Prayer!"

Have you ever heard the song "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi? If you have, then you will fully understand what I say when I tell you that my friends Nicole, Nadia, Alison, Katie, Rylee, and I literally lived the chorus of that song. This week all of my fellow 8th grade classmates and me went on Week Without Walls to Malaysia. I experienced so many scary, thrilling, mind-boggling, and life-changing happenings. I am so thankful that I have had this opportunity!

Day 1- After being dropped off at the airport at 12:30 AM by Mom and Mrs. Lemons, we all proceeded to the check-in counters. It was a long flight with long layovers, but we finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur where we were greeted by D' Jungle People, who would be our guides for the rest of the week. Then we took about a two hour long bus ride to Awana Genting Highlands Resort where we stayed the night.

 

Day 2- The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the resort, which was our last luxury for a long time.  We then split up into our three teams which would be visiting different sites. After another bus ride of four hours, we arrived at our dorms. We had lunch, met our other guides, and then proceeded to the river. WOW! That's pretty much all I can say! We floated down the relaxing river, while enjoying the scenic jungle. It was an experience that you would think only happens in the movies. Like I said about Greece, moments like these you never want to end. Then we had dinner aka chicken and rice, as was breakfast the next day, then lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner etcetera. Lets just say, I am not going to want chicken or rice for a long time!

Day 3- The next day we started our two and a half hour trek to Elephant Cave. With this being our first jungle trek, we were so tired by the time we got there. We had a packed lunch and then explored the cave. Elephants still come to this cave today. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any but we did see their tracks. The cave was dark, but we still saw lots of interesting rock formations and bats! Sometimes we even had to get down on our hands and knees. I quote Meera, "We saw elephant poo, then bats pooed on us, then we saw dung beetles eating the poo!" After this, we trekked back. I am sure that you can see how we were tired after trekking five hours. I have to admit, by this time, all of us wanted to go home.

Day 4- When we got up the next morning, we were unenthusiastic about facing the next two and a half hour trek that day. Then, after breakfast, we boarded trucks for about a twenty minute ride. After this ride, my mood had changed to completely the opposite! Up and Down, around corners at an extreme speed! It was awesome! This trek was much more exciting because we got to cross rivers, climb muddy hills, and dodge leeches! Our quote for the week was "What if I get a leech up my butt?" It was so much fun!

  When we got to our campsite we set up camp, then we jumped in the river to try and catch fish. Then we hung out until we learned how to make animal traps, cook eggs using mud, and rice with bamboo. It was neat. After dinner, we took a night trek. It was really creepy because we weren't supposed to turn on our flashlights. We saw all kinds of glowing leaves, bugs, and mushrooms. Then we went to bed. I don't know if it was just fate, but Nikki, Nadia, Noora, and I ended up sharing the smallest tent. 

Day 5- In the morning, Mr. Raisdana asked how we had held up. Nadia replied, "Well, we survived, but I think I died a little inside." We could barely breathe! We then trekked back, and it was even more fun! When we returned, we enjoyed a well deserved lunch, and then had the opportunity to swim with some of the rarest fish in the world! As we were running out of time, we didn't have enough time to shower because we were going to the rubber plantation. It was neat. We learned how to farm rubber, one of Malaysia's chief exports, and even made bouncy balls! Then we visited a school. This was so neat because it meant so much to them that we came. We had planned ahead for our boys to play a soccer game against their team. It was more that just a friendly soccer game. They got uniforms, the whole town was there to watch, there as an opening ceremony, and there were referees from the National Malaysian Soccer Association. Well, we got completely owned! Five to zero!  However, you have to hand it to the guys who played pretty well considering they had not practiced, they were not actually a team, they had literally walked out of the jungle onto the field, and they didn't have cleats. It was lots of fun cheering them on!

Then the girls went and painted with the girls from their school. We each got a partner with which we talked and got to know. I loved getting to know my partner, named Ayu,  and we switched paintings and addresses. Then we got a well-deserved shower! It felt so good!

Day 6- The next day we returned to an area around the resort for the rest of the day. There we met up with the rest of the groups and shared presentations and stories. That night we boarded the airplane for home.

Of course I was sad to leave, but I was also happy to return home. If you asked me what my most changing and favorite experience was I would say playing with the children at the base camp. They were small children who me, Allison, and Nadia played with every night. What really got me, was that they had so little, but were so happy. One night I saw one of them bathing with a hose. It really made me appreciate my warm showers that I get at home. Another thing I took out of this experience is not always to focus on getting where you're going. If you only focus on where you're going, you'll never appreciate the getting there. This is especially evident when trekking through one of the oldest rainforests in the world.

 So, the chorus of "Livin' on a prayer"  goes... "Whoooa we're half way there, whoooa livin' on a prayer, take my hand we'll make it I swear, whoooa livin' on a prayer." When trekking, you really have to have teamwork to make it. We learned that this week.  In order to make it we had to stick together, and also "Live on a prayer," because the treks can be extremely treacherous. We stuck together, encouraged one another by playing games and keeping each other going, and finally, we made it through this week!