I know I said at the end of my last entry that it would most likely be the last post I made while in the U.S. for quite a while, but... I lied. I realized that all I did was babble about the process of getting my CAQ which was, admittedly, pretty cathartic, but I'm aware that that's not in the least bit interesting to anyone but me. (Granted, that's probably the case for my entire blog, but that's beside the point.) Since the whole point of this blog is to keep my friends and family up-to-date about my life since I'm so far from most of them and will soon be even farther, I should probably have an entry that's actually about that, right? Right.
JBA ended in early August. I can honestly say that it was an amazing session filled with amazing kids and staff. I feel so lucky to have been able to get to know all of them. Those three weeks are filled with great memories that I wouldn't change for anything - the lip sync competition, being "in charge" of Team 10 a.k.a. Danalicious with Nixi, Beach Ottumwa, two crazy Wal-Mart trips, a knee injury (yaaay), having the best housing group in the history of housing groups, being gifted an adorable T. rex named Roger from said amazing housing group, having a super crazy class with a super crazy professor filled with super crazy kids, three dances, lots of chilli... it was awesome. It makes me sad to know that it was most likely my last session. I was told that I could technically do it one more year, but I don't know what I'll be doing next summer - working, taking classes... no idea. But it was an awesome way to go out!
But yeah... about my knee. On the second day of staff training, we were at Thousand Hills (the local state park) for a barbecue, games, and more training. We were playing a game called Stick in which one person competed against another person by spinning rapidly in a circle, staring up at a plastic baseball bat that we were holding. We had to spin ten times and then try to drop the bat onto the ground and jump over it. I found myself against the formidable Austin. I was actually winning until, somehow, my foot remained planted while the rest of my turned, and I was suddenly on the ground. It hurt. A lot. I was helped over to the picnic tables, got some ice and ibuprofen, and thought I was fine. Indeed, I was able to walk around with no problems for a while. Then, as I stood up to go swing, my knee suddenly gave out and I found myself down on the cement. Ow. The preceptors and staff took good care of me, helping me ice it some more and wrap it up, but I was mainly annoyed since I'd never really been injured before, and I don't like having to be taken care of. It got better and I was able to hobble around for the next few days, though I wore a wrap for the rest of training. I stopped wearing after a while when it seemed to get better, but then it started to twinge a bit, so I went to Wal-Greens to buy one that was more heavy duty. (Mainly so I could play dodgeball that evening. I love dodgeball.) Admittedly, playing dodgeball was not a good idea. However, it was also my moment of glory.
I hadn't been playing that hard, so when we got to the second-to-last game, I told myself that I was actually going to throw the ball and really try since it was almost over. I wasn't exerting myself too much, making sure not to really pivot or turn my left knee too much. Suddenly I realized that it was three against three. Then three against two. And three against one with me being that little one. Oh dear. Now, you might think that it's easy for a twenty-three-year-old to throw a ball at three fourteen-year-olds, but it's not. Those kids are fast and much more agile than I am. However, since I was the last one standing, I had the ability to go anywhere in the court while they stayed on their half. In an attempt to get me out, they threw all the balls at me, meaning I had all of them on my side where they couldn't get to them. I had all the power. Muwahaha. So I took one ball and ran to the other side and got one girl out, then another. Then it was just me and one another girl, who now also had the ability to go anywhere in the court. Having a lot of kids in my class and in my housing group on the sidelines, I heard a group of people chanting my name, which is definitely not something that's ever happened, and it certainly made me feel quite fuzzy! As I was running, I'm not quite sure what happened, but my knee gave out, and I crashed to the floor. Ow. Everyone went dead silent as Dan and Cory came over to help me up. I was far too aware of eighty people watching me as they helped me up, cheering when I was on my feet. I found myself able to walk, so I asked Dan, "Can I keep playing?" He looked surprised, but replied, "If you want." More cheers. (Yay!) So my opponent and I went back to our sides and we started again. I took the offensive again, wanting to get it over with and knowing I couldn't run worth a damn. I threw the ball and it hit her in the ankle. And I won! Yay! I got lots of hugs and high fives. It was the greatest moment of my life, and not even getting married or having kids will top it. Teehee.
So yeah, long story short, I hurt myself again. So I took it easy over the next week and thought it would be okay for me to play dodgeball again the following Saturday. Well, I'm stupid. It was actually the second-to-last game again when I was walking backwards, quite calmly, and my knee gave out. I managed to scoot to the sidelines to get out of the way, but I was furious with the whole situation and myself. Luckily a couple other preceptors and some girls from my housing group took care of me.
That night, I had trouble getting the swelling to go down, so when I called my mom the next day, she ordered me to go to the doctor. I did, and he said he thought I had torn my meniscus ligament and had me go to the hospital to get an x-ray done and gave me an anti-inflammation prescription. However, at my followup, I was told that I had not torn a ligament and that it was just sprained. Cool. Either way, I spent all of JBA hobbling around. Oh well.
So now I'm in Kentucky with my mom, aunt, and sister. I've been here for a week-and-a-half and I'll be here for another two weeks until we drive back to Louisville for me to fly up to Montréal! Exciting stuff!
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