Feeling better today

Seems like Heather is fast asleep now. I did nudge her and ask if she was
going to post tonight. I believe her response could be interpreted as "I
spliftid ashblook allik" or something along those lines. I assume that
means no, so folks, looks like you get to listen to me some more. For some
of you that may be a treat and for others, well you can just close your
eyes until you get to the end of the post so you don't have to read the
stuff I am writing. WAIT! Before you shut your eyes, at least go to this
link. We are famous on the front page of Gallaudet's website. We are
super stoked to be there and the article written about us is really top
notch!

Http://www.gallaudet.edu

I am feeling much much better this morning. It was touch and go last
night. I did consider on several occasions going into the hospital. I
just focused on getting hydrated and staying that way and I was just about
up to 100%. I was very careful of what I ate today, mostly a liquid diet
followed by solid foods this evening, which seemed to mostly agree with me.

Thankfully, we spent most of the day working indoors learning some new
activities. Today we worked with a deck of cards and had to do different
tasks, like place them in order and by suit while working in groups of 6.
After we had a discussion on how and why our timing improved over the
different times we did these tasks. You see, discovery is an offshoot
(further refinement may be more accurate) of a program developed by Kurt
Hahn. The original name used for these programs is Outward Bound.

Some of you may be familiar with the Outward Bound programs. With
Discovery we like to further the learning process through several
innovations we call generations. There are four total that I know of. The
first generation is to provide the activity and let the individual figure
out for themselves what they want to learn from it. This is the original
Outward Bound philosophy. The second generation involves a direct
discussion about what the person learned from the activity, this focuses
on the activity itself and does not talk about broader applications. The
third generation discussion leads into how this activity and learning can
apply to ones life and the choices we make everyday. The fourth generation
involves how all of this learning relates back to nature and life in
general. I do not have a firm grasp on the fourth generation which is one
reason why I am here, to learn more. The great thing about Discovery is
you never stop learning from those around you.

You can see an example of a discussion using the first three generations
(mentioned above), by reading a recent posting here. Look for the post
entitled "Things you learn on the road," I spoke about the importance of
hills. After reading this paragraph, I suggest you go back and re-read
what I said about hills, you will have a better understanding of what I am
talking about, both in the posting about hills and in the paragraph above.

It was in Discovery and working with Jean Berube that I was able to
recognize the importance of these observations and how they can not only
impact the way I make decisions, but also influence those around me in a
positive way. So if you are wondering why we do Discovery, think about our
hills. While being here now is not a hill for me, rather being here now
helps me to better apreciate the hills I encounter, and to understand where
I am coming from.

When we were walking back from rock climbing the other day I was having a
discussion with Carl, our instructor. I was tell Carl how a lot of people
have been asking us if we were going to ride back. I told him my standard
answer is "I am not stupid enough to go both ways, only one way". He
mentioned that I should describe myself as crazy and not stupid. After
thinking about it for a moment I explained my choice to him.

You see, crazy is what I was 3 months ago. I was planning a cross country
bicycling trip. Now it takes a crazy person to plan something like that
and implement it. Now that I have completed the trip, I know better.
After the trip, I realized I am actually stupid for just riding a bicycle
across the country. So I was crazy before, but now I am stupid but
definitely not stupid enough to go bicycling back to California.

Well I guess that's it for now. I start a program tomorrow morning early
at 7:30 am so I better get some sleep. I will let you know how it goes and
what kind of activities we do.

-dana