Presenting... DOC Trips 2009

A man with bluish hair was climbing up the side of our bus. A woman wearing shoulderpads started screaming rather enthusiastically in our direction. And suddenly we were surrounded. On all sides, we the naive little 'shmen saw colorful insanity.This was our introduction to the awesomeness that is DOC Trips 2009.

And did we run? Did we hide? Did we yell for our mothers? No- well, only a little bit; for we soon learned that these amazing people were H-croo, also known as some of our new bestest friends. They put us at ease the second we saw their flair and crazy hair. Shoutout to H-croo, right here!

The next group of people we met were our trippees, of course- the people with whom we'd be spending the next four days (and incidentally the next four years). To put it mildly we were excited. To put it a little less mildly we were totally psyched! We discovered that our trippees were pretty much as cool as we could have imagined... and just as nervous and awed as we were (shared freshman ignorance is bliss).

And then came yet another few dozen miracles! These were dressed pretty funkily, too, with Mardi Gras necklaces and animal suits and neat hats that must have been one of a kind. Who were they? How could there be yet more impossibly cool people at Dartmouth? And yet there were. They were our trip leaders, our fearless trip leaders, ready and willing to lead us into the forest- to learn about Mother Nature, to fight off the bears, and to eat gorp and pita! (And to answer quite a few questions with the word... sausage.)

So it was, and so we were off into the wilderness. We learned a few Dartmouth "secrets" (which of course I can't reveal), played a few name games, were quickly educated in the traditional core subjects of Wa and Pterodactyl and Mafia and Mingle. We hiked. We laughed. We bonded.

And at the end of a few all-too-short days, we were off again- this time to Mousilake Ravine Lodge, a.k.a. the Lodj. We eagerly jumped off of the bus or hiked up that last trail. The lodge was in sight! And so were our crazy-haired friends! But wait! These people weren't H-croo... They were Lodj croo, another few dozen of the coolest people on earth! There at the "Party at the Lodj" (yes, Miley Cyrus, your hit song has been Dartmouthized), thanks to Lodj croo, we learned some nifty dance moves as well as a few more key Dartmouth traditions.

I won't give away any secrets until Section J has returned home to Hanover and there are no more 'shmen to be awed by Trips this year. But I'd just like to express my gratitude and amazement at just how magnificent H-croo and trippees and trip leaders and Lodj croo are.

And so here I pay well-earned homage: To H-croo! To trip leaders! To Lodj croo! And to Dartmouth, our unique and crazy and awesome home.