March 03, 2020
After an exciting first night in our wilderness cabin located near Walden, CO, the Power to the People ECS started another great day filled with snowshoeing, amazing views, and intense, competitive games. The day started off with a game called Waka Waka. In this simulation, two extremely different cultures were intermixed to show how some cultures find others intrusive and rude. This is not always true, but many extroverted cultures when mixed with introverted cultures find the others to be extremely strange. The game showed the group how cultures can adapt and make the other feel comfortable when foreigners travel away from home.
After lunch, the group set out to snowshoe on trails near the State Forest State Park Moose Visitors Center. After sinking into the deep snow several times, teamwork was necessary to assist one another through the delicate snow. When we returned from snowshoeing, the team cooked up some hamburgers and enjoyed a warm, peaceful dinner.
The next activity (my personal favorite) was a game in which two teams tried to outsmart each other to achieve their goals. Being in separate rooms, team members had to communicate with each other to find out who was on what team and who they could trust. As more character cards were added, it became very apparent that deception, communication, reliability, and risk-taking were all key components to the game. As we debriefed the game, we realized how relevant these qualities are to how we handle political issues in the real world. The entire day was truly eye-opening to how traits in simple games can be related to real political issues, and although I was sad to leave the cabin, I was very grateful for the opportunity we had to bond and share our thoughts about bigger political themes.
