Diarrhea discussions. That's always fun. I don't mean to bitch about editing, and I'm going to try really really hard not to, but it REALLY is not like the evil girls are rotting from the inside out and the happy boys are healthy and frolicking. Come on. Those boys were spraying so much out of their asses they were practically beating each other out of the bathrooms for their turn. We ALL were sick. (I wasn't, but that's probably because my stomach is made of steel. I eat beef jerky and slim jims regularly. My body can take anything.)

It was more than just the runs going on here. 35 girls = billions of fermones in the air. It was PMS/MS city. Ruthie's cramps were crippling. I think a few other girls were dying from it too. I think Anne was upset about cramps, Amaya about the poos. Either way, people were hurting, and we were EXHAUSTED.

Getting to the damn challenge was a chore in itself. It was getting postponed over and over again. Rachel, fresh off her Campus Crawling Winnie, suggested that delays were almost always caused by missions involving a crane. Sure enough, we roll up to the place and we can see the crane from a mile away. I see that we'll be hanging, and I'm thinking, "Okay, I practiced this, I can hang, no problem." Then, he announces we'll be hanging upside down. I thought it would be easy enough. Girls spend our entire childhoods hanging upside down on swing sets and jungle gyms (sp?). Granted, I wasn't one of those girls, but I thought that maybe it's in our genes or something.

Many of the girls panic a little. Okay, not many, but a few, me included, and it's not because we don't think we're capable, but because we don't want to do badly. I don't know how strong my hamstrings are, and I don't know how powerful my willpower is, but I know I want to do well.

Naturally, the order is messed up, which is something we predicted. Ruthie's group was first, then mine, then Emily's. So, we see me fall first. I was SO UPSET. However, in my defense, if you look at my time, I'm right around the middle of the chicks. 2:17. Hey, that's okay. Maybe a little closer to the lower half, but I'm okay. Still, I was devastated by it. I cried my stupid little eyes out because I thought I completely sucked. At this point of the Challenge (like day 4), I want to do amazingly. I want to be there to the end, and I was SO disappointed in myself for falling when I did. Okay, I think I was definitely in the lower half. Whatever. I was a ridiculous mess.

1. I didn't know about Jake's thong. Maybe I didn't care. I was not his biggest fan.
2. I didn't realize how long Puck was up there. He did really well. Ruthie's felt way longer, but it really was only half a second longer.

Funny quote because of its obviousness: Veronica saying, "Okay, it is REALLY, really, really, really important for the women...to like...hold on for as long as they can." Should I talk about it, or should I let it be funny on its own? Let's talk about it. What else would be important here? I mean, is that not all we are meant to do? What if she said something else? Could it be really important to...not lose? ...to win? ...to not fall? Either way, I'm sure we know this much.

Ruthie is my Jedi Warrior. She's a ridiculously strong person, and it's all her mind. I mean, she's strong in other ways, but that girl GETS what she wants. She works so damn hard. I don't know how she does it. I guess I never had to push myself like that until now.

So, we win movie passes. That sounds like a really dumb thing to win until you get to bring you and a guest to movies for free for a year. Hey, that can add up. Movies are expensive, and this is cool. I haven't utilized this prize NEARLY enough, nor the DVD rental, but I should because this is some good shit. It's practical.

Inner Circle: Okay, I think we should discuss this for a bit. The women had decided two days prior that we would not use the point system. We thought it would be best to factor in all the details that makes a good team, not just run of luck, which tends to be the case when it comes to these kinds of challenges. Think about coaches picking their football teams in the beginning of the year. Now, if they start by running, and a fast runner trips on a rock, does the couch decide not to take him? No, there is so much more going on here than that single run. I mean, you think Brett Favre has never tripped in his life? (I'm talking about football players, something is wrong with me.) Anyway, one must consider all of the person's abilities, the person's personal drive, his passion for the sport, his willingness to work all day and night for it, his support of all the other players, his natural ability to keep a team together. One cannot get rid of a player like that because he tripped on a rock one day in practice and fell behind. The girls wanted to have the strongest team; therefore, the point system was not the most effective way to get it. This was our reasoning when the Challenge began. We will examine this concept as we progress.

The boys went by points because then there would be no blame, no subjectivism, no manipulation. You cannot argue with math, and as long as everyone agrees with that system, then it is flawless. Is it flawless? Of course not, but for their purpose, it is. Again, we will examine these two systems later after we've seen more on how these systems can work for and against the group.

Beth. I thought she meant well also. She seemed nice enough, and she really really wanted to do well. I know that much. Rumor may say otherwise about her. Here is another girl with a reputation. Let's just say the word "horrible" was passed around a bit when she was discussed. I don't know exactly what she has done, so I can't make claims here, but I know that there are quite a few individuals who do not trust her.

I personally don't agree with her asking Ruthie to not vote her off. Poor Ruthie will have enough pressure in Jamaica, and this doesn't help. Then Ruthie says, "...And I don't ever hang out with the girl." Priceless. Then there is discussion about Veronica. Now, THIS is the shit I'm talking about. The inner circle had this rule, "What was said in the inner circle stays in the inner circle," which cracks me up because there is a camera there. It's not really among those three when we all get to watch what happens eventually anyway, which is why those of us who were not in the circle would pressure the others to reveal some information after the meetings. "Come on, I'm going to see on TV anyway, just tell me now." Well, I had NO idea that by the second mission, there was discussion about whether to vote off Veronica or Beth. The rest of us assumed it was between Beth and Gladys.

As far as Veronica not putting forth any effort towards the girls - sorry to say, I wouldn't know. I know there were a few girls who were always in the guys cabin - Melissa, Veronica, and Emily. Emily's boyfriend is there, Melissa is really good friends with Colin and Jamie, and a few others I think. I think Veronica was friends with a lot of the guys too, I guess, but I don't know. Veronica was around enough that I noticed. Maybe I only know this because I was always borrowing her waterproof mascara and lip lacquer. So, interesting...

So, Beth is done. To me, it wasn't really a big surprise. I mean, Beth isn't the strongest chick out there, or if she is, we never got to find out. Gladys would be going home soon enough because she is already showing and she's growing more and more everyday. Beth is voted off, and she walks up to Anne, says something rude that makes Anne cry. I don't know Anne very well yet at this point, but I can tell she is extraordinarily normal (the highest compliment I can pay to a RW/RR). Beth packs up, bitches that Gladys should have gone home, and we all sit around the patio with our Red Stripes and talk. Anne genuinely dislikes the late Beth and we laugh as she calls her horrible and says she's glad that she's gone. There is a discussion about sending Beth a postcard saying, "Having fun in Jamaica, too bad you're not here," which we find to be incredibly wrong and hysterical. We contemplate what kind of great gossip it would be had the postcard actually been written and sent, but of course, there are limits to what girls actually do versus what we say we will do.

Beth's comment to Ruthie in her interview, "What? Helllloooo...I'm your friend." Interesting, and indeed absolutely hysterical. Only moments ago was Ruthie saying how she doesn't even hang out with the girl, and if I remember correctly, Ruthie doesn't have that much faith in said friend.

When it's announced that Beth is going home - how gorgeous does Genesis look? My God.

Laterrian...okay, enough is enough. Go home and get some sleep. Let's talk about this side story on the psychopath Laterrian who has now been awake for like 478 hours, and does that goddamn "HooRah," thing every minute and a half. Though Colin at www.Colinsworld.com will most likely describe this part MUCH better than I can since he was there and I heard this story secondhand, I will attempt anyway. So, crazy LT was all into his goodbye speech to the camera. Some shit about them being warriors, yadda, yadda, yadda, and he is asked by the director what he plans to do when he gets home. Freakshow responds, "I'm going to get in my car, and I'm gonna drive, I'm gonna DRIVE, I'm GONNA DRIVE, until I run out of GAS, and WHEN I RUN OUT OF GAS...I'm gonna sit there." What??? What the fuck does that mean? Apparently, these guys cracked up. It's obvious that they were expecting him to maybe say something like after he runs out of gas, he's gonna walk, or run, or SOMETHING! Something about him being unstoppable, maybe? But no, he's gonna sit there.

So, when you get voted off, you have to leave the resort at which point you are put into a hotel, and taken to the airport the next morning for the next flight to your home. However, I think LT did not get the sleep he needed once he was voted off, and the boy missed his flight because he ran away. Yes, Laterrian was missing for...I don't know how long, but the crazy boy got crazier, and vanished into the depths of Jamaica. I think he was found wondering the streets before BMP picked him up and probably escorted the guy directly into his seat on the plane.

Next week is the house building thingy. Ugh, that's a long, long complicated story that is a bitch to describe, but I'll do it.