I recently went on a trip to Mabira Rainforest with my class to collect data on, well, trees. Let me just start this off by saying that yes, this is the kind of forest where there are snakes, freaky bugs, massive spider webs, and so many trees you can't really see the sky and so many vines and underbrush that you can't see the ground.
It was muddy. It was slippery. There were mammoth tree roots protruding from the ground which we fought our way over in rubber boots. They were slippery, too. I am a klutz… It was only a matter of time before I fell. And so I was waiting for it; I was just waiting for an epic, spectacular fall. It seemed almost inevitable. I made it through the first three days of the trip, fighting through underbrush where you’re not meant to pass unless you’re doing research. For the record, fighting through an untraveled stretch of rain forest is not easy. The picture below is like what we walked through, only we were walking uphill... and yes I do mean the dense foresty part
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And so when I was required to climb up a 45 degree hill of pure mud (honestly, no rocks, no tree roots) it did not surprise me that I wiped out and did a face plant. The more funny part was that my backpack had gotten stuck on one of the many climber vines which hung down from the sky (okay from other trees but still). So when someone was helpful and lifted up that vine, I started sliding backwards down the hill until someone very nicely grabbed a hold of me and lifted me up.
With my spectacular fall out of the way, I trudged up the 45 degree slope fighting through underbrush so dense you could not see your feet, confident that I would not fall again. That was up until we started coming down the hill… I stepped off a dead, decomposing, splintered, creaking, hollow tree trunk and stepped down into the underbrush. The problem with not seeing the ground through the underbrush is that you can’t, well, see the ground. I put my foot down; the distance between the tree trunk and the ground was greater than I had expected, and of course the mud sucked my boot straight in. Yes, I fell backwards, landing on my shoulders. Well, I’m a klutz, what else was I expecting? So I tried to get up. Of course, this is a tropical rainforest. The underbrush contains about 5 trillion vines just waiting to grab you. I stood up, and quickly fell again. At this point I finely wizened up and so I untangled my feet from some of the vines which were on my boots. I stood. I was pulled back to the ground again. I untangled myself more. I stood. I was pulled back to the ground again. Finally I found the culprit: a woody vine with a death grip on my boot. I fought my way out of the underbrush onto the “path” we had trampled on our way up the hill. Thankfully, I walked down without further epic falls.
Then the afternoon came. Pleased to be finished with our data collection, we retraced our steps for some photo ops. Because I felt like it, my friend Valeriya and I trudged across an over flowing rushing stream and climbed up that same disastrous amount of mud which was responsible for my first fall. But I made it up that time, and so did my friend. On our way down, we had a feeling we might fall, and so we said we would fall down together. When I reached out to take her hand she shoved me, sending me slipping part way down. The same vine which had caught me earlier caught me again. When I tried to get up, though, I of course slipped and slid down the remainder of the hill on my shoulders. I landed with my knees bent up over my head.
Valeriya and I trudged back across the stream, and then I decided to start splashing her for revenge. We had a water fight for a while, and then she pushed me down and I landed with my face in the stream. I was soaked. My other friend Jordan then attacked Valeriya and took her up the hill on the other side of the stream. I won’t go into details, but the whole thing ended with Valeriya pulling me down into the mud, pinning me down, and Jordan throwing a pile of mud on my nose and mouth.
I just laughed, to the amazement of our chaperone, my favorite teacher. He encouraged me to keep a smile, and I did. There is video evidence of all of this, and the video has actually been a good thing for me because it’s shown that I have a not-so-serious side.
Since then, though, I’ve been thinking a lot about falling. I’ve come up with so many questions. No, I’m not talking about physically tumbling… But what happens when you end up sliding down pure mud with your legs up over your head? Is it okay to fall? You’re trained as a missionary kid that it’s not okay, that you have to be the example, that you can never slip. And so I fight not to. I have avoided doing so many things (and not all of them are actually bad) simply because I thought an MK wasn’t meant to do them.
But is life staying in the city, walking paved sidewalks? Or is life taking the risk that you may fall?
Or is He just standing back and laughing at me making a fool of myself?
And speaking of all of this, really, am I allowed to ask these questions? If I ask this, will you think I’m falling? Because what if I am? I’m not saying I am, I’m just asking.
I guess I walked away from the week with the knowledge that falling can be entertaining, for me and for everyone else. I guess that maybe it’s ok, as long as you can pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and walk away with a smile. But the question remains… does the rest of the world think it’s the worst thing in the world if I slip a little?
