Here is the next post in my series about my Alternative Spring Break trip to a Native American reservation in South Dakota! Last time I talked about the issues the people out their confronted every day. Today I would like to talk about a lighter subject, something that I am becoming more thankful for as time goes by: the crew.
11 other people, complete strangers that I had only met two or three times before the trip started, ventured with me out into the plains. I barely knew any of them. It's not like I had any previously existing grudges towards them or anything, I just didn't know them at all. There is something invigorating about meeting a new person. They are like a blank canvas, and as they reveal things about themselves, whether on purpose or not, their picture begins to take form. And most of the time, it ends up being a masterpiece.
I got to know 5 of the 11 very quickly in our shared 17 hour car ride to South Dakota. We split the group into two vans of 6, and when I got the list of who was going to be in my van, I was nervous. These were 5 of the people I was the most unfamiliar with going out. But it doesn't take long to get to know someone when you are all crammed shoulder to shoulder in a mini van stuffed with millions of bags of snacks and blankets. We just needed to break the ice. And it all started with THE BATMAN.
Having things in common brings people together. And we all just so happened to have a bit of an obsession with this winged vertebrate-impersonating hero. We watched all of the movies, and one of the members in our van began mimicking Batman's voice in everything he said. I don't think you realize how freaking hilarious this is, especially when everyone is sleep deprived. We must've laughed for hours. After that, everything escalated rather quickly. We even named our van "The Batmobile" to honor the moment.
Some of my favorite moments from the trip are things that couldn't be planned: like lying on the floor laughing our butts off because of the "Sick Cat", and the "Chris Dance". Or playing the gummy bear taste-testing game (where yellow is the color of deception). Or clinging on for dear life as one of the only guys on our trip tried to kill us by driving 90 miles an hour around the sharp twists and turns of the Badlands. Or wondering how our tour guide, Ted, ate with his small cat-sized beard. Or having a bowl of popcorn shoved in my sweatshirt hood. Or watching the other van being pulled over by a cop for sticking their torsos out of the windows. Or being pulled over yourself for speeding at 3am. Or adopting a dog from the reservation and driving him the entire 17 hour drive home in a car with 6 people. Or watching another member impersonate an atom. Or any of the countless other unscripted moments that I shared with these 11 strangers.
These 11 strangers that quickly became my close friends.
It is amazing what 1 week of close contact and shared interests can do to 11 people. I never expected to love them all as much as I do: I'm not generally one to quickly make friends. But when someone is that real with you, when someone is that genuine and 100% comfortable being themselves around you...you can't help but return the favor. And that is something that I highly value in my friendships. We aren't afraid to be goofy and to laugh, and to do stupid things. We aren't afraid to be ourselves.
I couldn't have asked for a better group to travel with into South Dakota. I couldn't have asked for better friends. Love my crew. Love ASB. Love my life.
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