I wish I could fly off to South America for the year again.

I guess that is not an option.
Real school.
Real white boards.
Real SCHOOL every single day.
I might die.


tts '9...you amaze me.

I GOT MY FUCKING LICENSE...so... STAY OFF THE ROADS AND WATCH OUT!

Not sure why. Actually no clue. Got home today. I'm failing, and falling. Whatever more you can do that is basically crashing...I am doing that for sure.
Weekend with Amelia was fun.
Visiting camp was OKay.

I think not sleeping for 3 days is bad.
I think gin is bad.
I think pine trees don't taste very good.
I think i make weird decisions when im wasted.
I think i didn't actually care at the moment, and i dont actually care now.
I think that its funny.
I think i had fun.
I think i knew that, that might be the last time i would have fun in a long time.
I think i am glad i went 1st session.
I think next year, I'm going to leave it at an amazing session. And not come back the next.
I think that not being able to see my favorite person for a while, could really suck.
I think that this person is someone important in my life, but i dont think i am very important in theirs.
I think that being young sucks.
I think that being 15, but saying you're 16 sucks.
I think being 15 or 16 sucks.
I think i need to sleep.
Goodnight.

Fuck that saying...Do you have the money and time to fly around the world, to see all your best friends? No.

( Some Stuff... )

TTS '9,
Holly,Sophie,Hannah,Emma,Lizzie,Christine,Jessica,Josie,Lindsey,Rachael,Sam,Cara,
Heather,Claire.
South America.
the feel, the culture, the smell.
Josua and his parties.
Being able to say whatever you want in english, because no one will understand you.
5:55 work outs.
reading cara's bracelet everyday (although i do have my own now)
"be the change you wish to see in the world"
BOOT CAMP.
bugging claire with millions of questions, such as...(nvm i wont name them) and screaming them from every different side of the camp site.
Gerson, Loope, Yupanqui, Sonya, & Ronnie
Backpacking (but actually wanting to stay back to go shopping).
Bug bites, the alchemist, water fights.
Wierd bugs, & being afraid that we would get eatn' by a jaguar.
spending 3 days apart during cuenca homestays...and having it feel like forever. (now were home, and i dont know how everyone else is handeling it)
Unsent letters, secret notes, & even motion sickness.
sophie making fun of heather, because claire isnt there. ex- the classic..."scratching your head won't make your brain work"
Hiking up a 17,000 ft glacier.
The rain, the hail, the snow, while lying in a tent.
Curious cows.
having plans change 30 times within the day, and being annoyed by it at the time.
Water breaks that last 30 minutes.
sam, and her use of "WOMENNNN"
The word OBVI.
wanting alone time & never getting it. (now i don't want it).
19 hour bus rides.
cara when she speaks spanish..."talk to you en la MAN-YAN-NA"
m0squito bites & the imprints they made on your books....
the fact that no one will understand how many mosquittos there actually were.
CHIEF DAYS (AND OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT)
the fact, that EVERYTHING i just said, no one else will understand.
making fun of claire.
Breakdowns
i miss....
the traveling school...south america....2007.



I also miss this...FOUR WINDS.
Marie
Alex n
Reyna
Shanyn
Bryn
Addison
liz
molly
trish
debs
rosie
tex
charlie
alex c
kara
whitney
ayja
suzee
stephanie
wells
zizzy
meghan
alex w
sally
elain
jordan
breanna
brian
maddy
sarah
kiana
emily
gwen
maddie
helen
monique
sam
katie
franny
valerie
goerge
jack
walker

god i could go on forever...

Yah. Its hard to stay away for that long. I stopped for about a year, and today i had my first training again. I loved it. It was semi-frusterating. But i knew it would be, because....I stopped for a year, lost all skills. But what is truly truly awesome about this. Is that were reworking everything. Absolutely everything. & It feels amazing. My trainer killed me, but i sunk some threes, and grasped concepts. I am excited, & Im in love again.
x0x0 dev

3/5/07
first day in the jungle...


Mid morning, we trekked into the great green abyss, it was spectacular. While in the living, breathing organism called the Amazon, we saw a plethora of flora and fauna. The sun glared down into the leaves making the air heavy, drenching us with sweat. The bugs were attacking us, as we were their prey. Gerson, our fearless leader taught us the meaning of living life in the jungle, and how to survive in this harsh environment. We were now part of the jungle...

The Trekking Terror by Devin:

As fearless Christine stared out the window, eyes widened, you could see the terror in her face. The rugged wheels of the bus kicked the rocks off the side of the never-ending cliff, as we gazed down at the little ants below. None of us knew what we were actually getting into, but it was too late to turn back now. A seven day backpacking trip up the Santa Cruz trail, full of wet clothes, hail thunderstorms, snack bags, and long eight hour hiking days. This trip could make or break us.

The steep winding road finally came to an end, and we all hopped of the bus, ready to start our adventure, a little dizzy from the bus ride of course. After a few minutes of getting ready and letting the Dramamine ware off, we threw our heavy packs on our backs and hit the trail. Just ten minutes had gone by and already the hot sun beat down which made sweat trickle down from our foreheads. Digging one pole into the fierce ground after the other, we slowly, and I repeat slowly, tried to make our way to our first camp. Looking down most of the way, half of me forgot to look up and the other half was just terrified to see how much more of the steep hill I had to drag myself up. Realizing I couldn't spend the entire seven days looking at my feet, although my brand new hiking boots are rather stylish, I decided I had to pick my head up. Once I did this, I found myself stunned. I was climbing in between two mountains; hiking up a narrow valley, green trees and snow-covered mountains towering over us.

Although we came across our hard days full of snow, cold feet, and early mornings, the sights we saw were well worth it. I mean, that's what backpacking is right? Peeing outside in the snow in boxers and a puffy, having a staring contest with a curious cow while going to the bathroom just a few feet away, and who could forget the never-ending conversations from tent to tent, screaming at the top of our lungs because its too cold to go outside? Backpacking is yelling Freedom! at the top of your lungs, surrounded by the most beautiful, white, snow-cap peeks, with your Traveling School family. We didn't just trek up a 14,700 foot mountain, we ¬epicked¬ it.

Roses Never Die
By Devin Grenley

Let me hold you while you cry.
Tears backed up,
Clogging, Stopping, Strong.
You were always strong.
Fierce.
I never knew how to hold you, because you never cried.
A lion untamed.
Tears never dripped down your rosy cheeks, and onto your red swollen nose.
I wrapped my tiny arms around your legs; I'll be ready for when you cry.
Roses never die.
Your pedals stayed strong,
Never falling,
Bright red,
Colors make you.
Luscious, loving, luxurious.
Your colors only faded.
I never knew how to hold you, because you never knew how to hold me.
Take me back to when you loved us both the same.
I guess you never did.
She was yours, I was someone else’s.
But I prayed for you.
Take me back to when the questions never stopped.
They’d ask, “how’s she doing’?”
Take me back to the time, when I didn’t know.
I lied.
“She’s better, She’s strong” I would reply.
But you never cried.
Two years have gone by,
My love for you has never faded,
Yours has only grown.
No more shattered glass, broken falls, and dry eyes.
Holding onto you, I was always ready for you to cry.
It finally rained.
Drenching your pedals and stem,
Your root has been replanted.
Tears fell, crashing onto your lively blood red cheeks, and stumbled down your chin.
You were alive again.
I held you, and I never let go.
Words weren’t scattered on this paper to remember you,
You never left us.
Because roses never die,
They only wilt a little.
Thank god, you finally cried.

Last Trip Report...Ever.
Mountaineering....
More to come, from a while back.

Cramp Ons, Ice axes, and a 17,000 ft glacier


“Faltan dos?” Yupanqui asked, as we all stumbled down the cliff, ready to hop on the bus, and sleep for hours. We were all extremely exhausted from the 3:00 wake-up, and the fact that we were “lacking” two valuable group members, was not helping us make our way back to La Paz. With Sam and Emma lost, we watched the big “Turística” bus make its way towards us, but one problem started to appear in all our minds. There happens to be a lake between us, our big backpacks, and well, the bus. Hoping on a bus and crossing an unstable river, shouldn’t have made us shut our eyes and hold our breath, considering the terrifying adventure we had just tackled, but our reactions are unpredictable. Let me take you back 10 hours or so.

My watch pressed against my ear, as I tossed and turned in my warm sleeping bag. Dreading to venture out in the cold, my alarm clock obviously didn’t care, and it began to scream in my ear. I shot up instantly. Completely dark outside, my clock read 3:00 AM and I threw my jacket on. Standing outside, I let the harsh misty air smack me in the face. (Just days before, our group tried to talk our way out of our last backpacking trip, but of course, we failed. “Gen wouldn’t sign us up for something we couldn’t accomplish. Would you actually want to end our 3 ½ month trip with a shopping spree? Or don’t you want to go out with a band?” Cara exclaimed loud. Of course, she was right. Climbing up a 17,000 ft glacier, while being scared as hell, was what our group needed to end our adventures in South America strong.) I grabbed my hiking poles, scarfed down some oatmeal, and our group was off. Our headlamps sparkled on the lake that was frozen solid, and glistened in the moonlight. Jumping up and down, I followed Holly’s footsteps, while trying to ignore the sarcastic remarks the cranky girls were making, due to the lack of sleep we had all gotten. Once reaching the glacier, still shivering, we kicked off our hiking boots, chucked on our heavy snow boots, and got ready to tackle the gigantic mound of snow. Roped in, Cramp ons attached and Ice Axes in our hands, we started up the snow covered peak.

With each step, my breaths got shorter, and the peak stretched further away. The sun began to rise, and Holly, realizing she had forgotten her sun glasses, wasn’t liking the idea of bright red, burnt eyes, so she headed down to greet Sophie, who hadn’t been feeling well, and Heather. The time passed, and each vertical cliff was tackled. We had made it up the glacier. Of course, our voices echoed up and down the cliffs, and into the valleys, because the only way to get our group up to the very top of the peak was to sing.

My head spun, and I flopped down onto the snow. Feeling as if I was going to faint, I looked up and several other girls were sitting, while others began to get ready to make it through the final stretch. Only 30 more minutes of vertical climbing left. The catch was, this was steeper than anything we had ever climbed. Determined to make it to the very tippy top of the peak, and wanting all of us to do the same, I got up and began to fight with the vertical mountain. I was going to make it to the top. About 30 minutes later, we had all made it to the top of a 17,000 ft glacier. Yelling freedom at the top of our lungs, we realized that this was the highest any of us have ever been, and we all, without a doubt, felt accomplished.

I couldn’t imagine ending our trip with a shopping spree, or with a history final. This was, the perfect way, to end our adventurous South American journey. I went from Sea Level, to 17,000 ft up. We had started in the Amazon, and ended in the Andes. We had made it through, tears, sweat, bacterial infections, and amebas. We had been together for almost 4 months, and we weren’t ready to leave each other. Although excited to see our families and friends, we still wished we could all be together for longer. I didn’t realize at the time, how much we had learned about each other, and how much we would miss each other when we got home. We had accomplished more than any other high school girl has in the last 4 months, and we had done something that most adults never do. We had hiked up a 17,000 ft glacier, and done it with smiles. Cara was right; we needed to end our amazing trip with a bang.

TTS 9. I MISS YOU.
Love, Devo