Wednesday, December 29, 2010

It wasn't so bad...

Well, it's over, the last camp that is. It was not as bad as I was expecting, though not nearly as fun as I might've hoped.

It started with a LONG drive to Niinisalo, the very same place I did my basic training. The travel time was possibly the biggest low-light of the week. Without adequate heating the two stops, and meager packed lunches were not nearly enough to keep me warm, and mixed with the low ceiling and limited leg room, I was not a happy camper by the end of the trip.

Things picked up, or rather plateau'd once we got to the first camp site. We walked around, located our positions, walked around, found back up positions, walked around, looked at the other teams' positions. Then, as soon as it was dark enough we built our tent and went to sleep.

I don't really remember any specifics for the rest of our time there, and can't say I'm overly keen on pushing myself to recall.

After four nights it was almost over. I had dug my last foxhole, built my last tent, packed my last tent. My last march and equipment cleaning, however, was yet to come.

After another long, uncomfortable, and cold (the heating was actually broken (only-7)) drive we were back in Helsinki, and ready(?) to start the last march. With only 12km and the frozen urban-scape between me and indoor plumbing I was pretty eager to get going, but the closer I got the worse I felt, and by the time that we were crossing the barrier between civilian and military land I was aching, and a little feverish.

We waited in the cold. We stood, we listened, we had our bags, vests, and rifles checked for rogue ammunition, and one by one we were released.

I hurriedly ''packed'' my gear and made for the warmth and electric glow. I dumped everything, washed my hands, and lay in my bed...

...IT WAS GOOD!

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