Entries this day: Tulsa-arrival Tulsa-day

Tulsa arrival

4:18am Saturday 2 September 2000

We have arrived. Many hugs after the vans were greeted by happy youth. We just parked them next to the curb and abandoned them. I grabbed the keys and all my stuff. Now I've found a quiet-ish area to sleep. Nice carpet. A tad chilly but my sleepin' bag will take care of that nicely.

One other advisor sleeping here; it looks like Lee Ann, but I'm not sure of her name. I'm pretty sure I know her face (but she's sleeping face down.)

I'm going to set up my bed and go downstairs to say HI and stuff.

I see many youth whose names I don't know (saw many) I'll just have to go learn them.

Yay!

It's 4:21 am now. I'm tired.

5:05 am

Music blaring, Elizabeth and I are sitting on the couch quizzing and learning names. Amber, Beverly, Brian, Nick, Amanda, Bethany, Susie, Heathre (not misspelled).

Noah, Ryan M, A.J. hanging and swinging from the ceiling iron. Very primatial. Psycho even joined them for a bit.

- - - -

Psycho being introduced to Bethany. Bethany was all, "no, really what's his name?"

"Psycho."

so Psycho was all, "no, reallly what's your name?"

"Bethany. "

"No, really what is it?"

Very funny.

- - - -

"The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things - of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings."

5:13 am

Kellen, Andy, Cassie,

5:54 am

Nearing name overload, but doing well. I'm upstairs, vaguely on a quest to find where the T-shirts are. except this year they are wife beaters. (tank tops) with a logo on the front and the back.

Elizabeth determined that my name-learning crutch was Bryn. Now that she's gone to Australia, I am bad at remembering names. But I think that the main reason is that I'm tired.

- - - -

Elizabeth to me, "we need to play Silent Football"

"I'm not going to play."

"What?"

I laughed.. She believed me!!

Bethany says she'll play if we explain the rules. "We always explain them at the beginning of the game."

5:58am

I'm going to sleep now.

6:43 am

We just talked to Bryn!! She said she was all sad that she was missing the rally then thought, hey, forget that, I'll just call!! She's talking to several of the youth here. She's 15 hours ahead of us so it's 9:43pm Saturday night there now. Wow.

She said we should come visit now because the airline prices within the country are ridiculously low for the Olympics. "No, come fly with us!" $66 to fly from Sydney to Brisbane to Mebourne.

She said that even though it's winter there, it's all hot and dry and fires are breaking out everywhere.

I told her youth council was great.

6:47am

Oh!! I just ran down to tell her she could read about YC online, but she had only 2 minutes left when I quit talking; they've hung up now.

So I told her briefly about Youth Council and that Laura Douglas got us $400 to visit another district so we're going to come down to see her. Elizabeth was all, "I get to go!"

I said, "true" about something and she said that they just didn't get it down there. I was all, "tell them that all Americans say true and false instead of yes and no."

The phone connection was wonderfully clear.

6:50am

I'm going back to bed.

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Tulsa day

10:10 am

awake. AJ's voice in the hall woke me up. He tried to lie and say it wasn't him. He wasn't really trying to lie so much as he was just not willing to admit that he was in error for hollering near the advisor sleeping area.

10:57 am

Sat in on Adam's touchgroup, got some information on upcoming workshops and carnival festivities. Then we all told something that people couldn't tell by looking at us. I told peeps that I had a masectomy of my left breast.

So Ryan said, "So, for a while, you didn't have a boob."

"Um, no."

"I'm just kiddin' I just wanted to say 'boob'"

me imitating Beavis or Butt-Head "huh huh you said 'boob'"

Ran around randomly and hugged Oliver who is leaving for Maine. See ya, Oliver.

11:01am

Now I'm in balloon workshop.

This guy is sibling of Stevie. He has dry humor, and pretty funny.

First balloon animal: Worm. 2nd snake. 3rd a lizard with all its legs cut off.

His name is Dustin. He can tie a balloon with one hand.

11:08 am

We all made dogs. I made a 6 legged dog.

11:13 am

We all made hats

11:25 am

We all made different shape dogs

11:28 am

I made a dog with wheels.

11:35 am

I made a somewhat bent baloon in attempt to make a piral. Special thanks to Sean for helping me pump it up.

Yes, while Dustin The Balloon guy can blow one up with one breath, Sean and I have to use one of Dustin's balloon pumps.

11:38 am

Phat Pat just made the large intestine.

11:45 am

He's showing people how to make a flower. I just made a something with no end.

11:55 am

We're not worthy!! Dustin just inflated a ballon, kept it straight, shot it up at the ceiling and it stuck there. As if it were just lying on the floor but it's on the ceiling.

12:02 pm

Phat Pat just made a fishing pole with string and hook and caught a fish, all in balloon.

It's so cool to see all the wonderful creativity in the room.

12:05 pm

Sean and I made a figure 8, or infinity symbol, all freestyle.

[smak!!]

12:19 pm

Dustin made us a rubber bullet and showed us how to launch it out of a balloon. Sean just shot a rubber bullet.

1:37 pm

We quit making stuff and pretty much just shot a lot of rubber bullets around the room.

Phat Pat made a drink holder that attaches to his arm and is supported with a sling thing around his neck. It held a full coke, but he seemed never to find a straw so he never could drink it.

Lunch was breads and soup; I mixed all three soup varieties - vegetable, tomato, and chicken tortilla. plus a cookie and lemon bread. very nice.

YAC meeting now or soon actually as people are gathering, they were sleepin.

- - - - -

After the YAC meeting, most of the rally youth joined forces to create some childrens' books that will be used in a local shelter or something.

6:16 pm

I noticed a youth not with the rest of the group. I sat next to her to see if I could help. I talked for quite a while with Angela, whose first rally this is. I'm pleased that she seems much happier and hanging out with people more than when I saw her sitting alone.

We had touchgroup meeting and played a get-the-group-across-the-lava game. They did quite well, but were not impressed enough to play again.

Now we are playing Mental Clue, and have been for over an hour. Me, Amy, Adam, Hillary, Sean, Elizabeth. The game is based on the board game Clue: Each person in the circle think of a person, place, and weapon. Then people try to guess what they are thinking. The thinker tells the guesser how many answers they got correct.

Now we're about to play frisbee.

8:11 pm

disc was great fun. We played through sunset in the parking lot. Angela's throwing got progressively better through the evening. Then I grabbed Travis' unicycle and rode around the parking lot a lot. I even rode up and down the parking lot with about a 5% grade (I'm guessing about the grade).

I even helped Whitney ride the uni about 2 revolutions worth.

Now I'm 'bout to drop off all my gear (camera, visor, wallet) at my bed and go visit the Conival "con" (conference) plus carnival)

12:03am Sunday 3 September 2000

Conival was great; I was recruited to get pie in the face (pie tins with whipped cream) and then I had a fun stint in the dunk tank. I counted 37 balls thrown and not one hit the thing to dunk me. #38 did it.

Sean got to be the dunkee and taunted me to throw balls to knock him in. I threw one with my eyes closed and missed. The second one I threw I knocked him in. I didn't use my third shot. Amy said, "stopping while you're ahead, eh?" "Yep!"

But now I'm wondering if I could have gotten two in a row.. Hmmm

There was a band and some concern about their "groupies".. friends that they apparently invited to watch them perform. Pretty much nothing happened that I saw, but some youth felt uncomfortable.

Cleanup was pretty long after the conival, ... Matt and I yelled/recited DMX "y'all gon make me lose my cool, up in heah, up in heah"

Made different lyrics and fun.

Psycho and I ran with a big cart of chairs, nearly crashing through doors, but we made such a ruckus that people moved shit out of the way, opened doors, moved chairs... we just blasted through.

Talked to Susie about possibly being local advisor type person for youth at Northwoods church.. basically my original YRUU stomping grounds. Northwoods was where I attended my first rally and all that.

My understanding is that they need an advisor and I am certainly free on Sundays and interested in reconnecting with the church and the youth, many of whom I knew as 4 and 5 year olds way back when.

12:11 am

Many peoples are sleeping, but many more are loudly congregating in the dining hall. I think for worship and or talent show.

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