The Retreat

So, after a week of sleeping nine hours a night, doing laundry, and cleaning my room, I feel back on track after last weekend's retreat. The weekend was one of extremes; lots of ups and downs. The diocesan camp is beautiful, and there were many lovely new people to meet, but it was frustrating not to understand conversations, plans and instructions... and, I'll admit, I was struck with a little birthday homesickness when people kindly offered me fried plantain instead of cake last Saturday. And I had always thought cake wasn't all that important to me - it's funny to suddenly miss things like that!

On Saturday, we spent most of the day hiking in this beautiful mountain river, to finish with a swim at a big waterfall. Being unable to understand the plan, I first saw the river and thought, Well this is just a glorified Indiana creek! We started wading in and out of the water, moving upstream. Almost imperceptibly, the current grew faster and more and more rocks and rapids began to appear.


People began to slip in the water and grab each other for support. We passed a beautiful waterfall, cascading down the mountainside and into the river. Birthday photo-op: Here's to 23!


We hiked on and on; the water grew rougher with each step. As we alternated between fast rapids and water up to our chests, it became clear that the only way to get through would be to form chains. I learned the Spanish verb for grab right then and there, as everyone yelled at me to grab onto them and reached out their hands to link with me. We were in hysterics fighting our way upstream, clinging to rocks and to each other, and sometimes just waiting to get lifted from one spot to the next by the bigger guys in the group. I, still not understanding the plan, asked in awkward Spanish, "Are we going to return by the same route?" and was met with an uproar of laughter. In retrospect, that is a pretty funny idea!

We hiked this way for two hours. It would suddenly hit me, as I pushed through water, gripped huge boulders, or clambered through jungle plants: I, Kate, am fighting my way through a mountain river and the jungle of the Dominican Republic! Amaaaaaazing! It sounds corny, but there really are no words to describe that feeling of doing the unbelievable. After a while, the current grew so fast that we had to stay to the very edges of the river, where the sides of the mountain had crept in. Here, the river had carved out room for only itself. We pressed ourselves against the rock and inched forward for this final stretch (overhead view):


And after that last hurdle: The waterfall!


We met up with everyone's kids (who, needless to say, had not been part of the hike), and started to swim. Beautiful!




After another hour at the waterfall, we climbed a path up the side of the mountain and had a late lunch before going back to the camp to clean up and rest. I was exhausted, but happy!

The river hike was the ideal ice-breaker. And shrieking and laughing and helping were all things I could do without speaking Spanish! I noticed (and appreciated) how firmly people reached out to help me through the rough parts, even when I didn't ask. I noticed that when I said, "thank you," no one responded with the usual "you're welcome." And I noticed that when I helped people no one said "thank you" to me. It dawned on me that helping each other through the water wasn't a special favor, needing a thank you - rather, it was just what you did. I was touched to be a part of this, and relaxed into its reliability. What a wonderful way to usher in a new year!

Now, a week later, I have just run into two of my newfound friends at church. Even though the retreat was filled with both struggle and joy, it looks like it laid the way for many great new beginnings. Wahoo! Here's to rivers!

Have a great week, everyone!