AWANA–What Happens in the Van, Stays in the Van

Or not. ;)

Yesterday, we had the annual Awana Quizzing/Games competitions in Phoenix. These competitions test the students' skills in Bible memorization and athletic games played on a circle.

The drive up wasn't so bad. We had to meet together at 5:30 a.m.! It was impossible to sleep in the car either. So, I just listened to the chatter and studied my notes, trying to calm my nerves. Our whole high school team(s) went in the same van–all 15 of us!! But the atmosphere was lighthearted and my friends made me laugh, so I wasn't as nervous.

Once we got there, we painfully watched the Trek (middle schoolers) quiz. It wasn't painful because they were bad (the Trek actually did really good.) but I was really nervous. I guess it was apparent because my leader kept telling me to take deep breaths. My quizzing partner Grace told me not to listen to the Trek questions so they wouldn't throw me off. So I recited the preamble of the Constitution over and over to myself. It helped. You can't study any extra materials once you enter the auditorium so I had nothing else to do.

Once it was our turn to quiz, I felt much better. In quizzing, there are two parts. The first part is multiple choice and the second part is called "speed quizzing" and you must be the first person to buzz in to answer the question. We got all the multiple choice questions correct!

Then we went into speed quizzing. I answered the first question. The guy only got through four words before we buzzed in. And then I got the answer correct! Our team couldn't answer any other questions cuz we weren't fast enough on the buzzer. You would not believe how fast these high schoolers buzz in. It was insane!!

The other team from our church took 5th place. With 340 points, we came in THIRD PLACE!!! It was awesome! We got "medals" and we took tons of pictures (coming soon, since I never so much as touched my camera.) We had sandwiches for lunch and got into a rousing game of Tips which is a basketball game played in a circle. I'm not very good at it but it was fun.

Shortly after, the games competition began. One church had FIVE teams competing in the games. It was crazy but nonetheless, we did so good! And we screamed so loud for each other! (And the other green team in Flight 2) If you'd been sitting next to me, you might've been temporarily deaf. I screamed until my mouth was dry and I was hoarse. It was great. And in the end, we got FIRST PLACE!! We have never ever gotten first place in Awana games so it was doubly awesome. Fifteen minutes later, I was still saying "oh my gosh." in disbelief. We all thought we were getting second but we owned in the last three races and that clinched the win for us.

There was much revelry at In-N-Out afterward. I indulged myself by ordering a vanilla milkshake and extra crispy fries. And they were tasty! We all ate together outside and did goofy stuff (but no french fry wars this time.) The boys were going to do an awesome mime of a tug rope across the drive-thru (One person stood on each side and when the car came, they were going to pull on an imaginary "rope" to see if the car would stop.) but they got in trouble before they got to test it out. The idea was hilarious though.

And then, we mustn't forget the Starbucks. Yes, after In-N-Out, once we got closer to town we stopped at Starbucks.

Ten caffeinated teenagers in a van makes for one interesting car ride! Joe was crazy. He screamed and went supersonic at random intervals. We also sang several tuneless versions of songs such as "We are the Champions" (very appropriate for our victory), "Amazing Grace", "The Song that Never Ends", and "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" among others. (I have no idea how our leaders out up with us but secretly, I think it all greatly amuses them.)

Joe began singing "The Wheels on the Bus [Go Round and Round]". He then proceeded to make up his own hilarious renditions of the song. For example, "The kids in teh van are spazzing out." and "I am about to be threatened". (The meter got messed up here but nobody cared.) There were lots of verses about different things going on. I think it was the most interesting car ride I've ever had the privilege to witness.

It was such a good day. I could not stop smiling and laughing (even with my nervousness). I had the strangest urge to say "That's it?" once it was over. We studied and practiced so hard for weeks and weeks and it was all over in a single day. A few days ago, I wanted the madness of studying to be over but it was definitely worth every minute of awesomeness.

I♥Awana!