Back from the wild, and what a wild trip it was! We actually arrived home about a week ago from a seven day backpacking trip into Retezat National Park, only 10 minutes from my Soviet Bloc Apartment. The nature that we encountered was absolutely breathtaking- the pastures with hay bales and shepherds and foliage touched by the bitter fall winds, reds oranges and yellows leaking into the trees surrounding us; the epic, craggy and jagged peaks puuting this feeling of lonely solidarity with the Creator into your soul. I dayhiked the third largest peak in Romania (only 12 feet from the highest point) and realized halfway into the hike that every step I took was higher than I had ever been in my life, and that was crazy! I am so glad that I had this opportunity, since the hiking and adventure of this area was an integral reason why I came to Romania. I don’t know when I’ll be out that far here again, so I tried to drink it all in.
Aside from the nature and beautifully short hiking days, this trip was very challenging. We had a very large leadership team of varied nationalities, ages, and previous experience and we didn’t organize that well enough beforehand. The tough thing about a small NGO in a foreign country is that your coworkers are your best friends, and now they were also co leaders. It put crazy strain on our relationships and more than a few tears were shed when things got hard (three participants with violent, 48 hour food poisoning). However, the most beautiful thing is that we pushed through those hard times together, talked about our struggles, and I realized how very much I had been focusing on myself. I was so focused on how alone I felt, that I wasn’t supporting Katie, Ilie or Janelle. Last but not least, although this trip was really tough on Katie (as the main point person), I will look back on it as one of our best times. It really reinforced our friendship- early morning laughter under our tarp, tears and hugs over chocolate pudding, and step after step in the Transylvanian Alps, carrying our burdens together. She was and is a favorite coleader- even if she isn’t a LaVida hermana.