Bumps, Bruises, and Bonding

So this morning I got back from my Outdoor at Emory Orientation (OEO) trip. We went caving, aka spelunking (which is a much cooler word, though less ppl know what it means). Well, that is, we spent about 6 hours total caving. The rest of our time was spent in the pool, the van, or making fire and talking. =)
I should explain. Basically what happened is this. I moved into the dorm a couple days ago, and the next day packed my backpack and left campus to get in a van with 8 strangers and go to Tennessee for two days. This van full of strangers and I were to camp for two days and nights near a mountain with a cave system in it, and venture into the caves on the second day.
It was definitely an interesting experience in many ways. First, there was the weirdness of traveling and spending 2 days with ppl - strangers- my own age, which is just surreal on some level. Then there was the fact that despite the campsite's being equipped with an (and I quote) air-conditioned shower house and a pool, we were indeed sleeping intents, on the ground. I might add that it was very rocky ground (that is where some of the bruises come in. :P)
The two most interesting aspects of the trip, though, were the caves and the people. I will start with the caves, because I am still sorting out my impressions of and thoughts about the people (yes, this is a mild form of WABing :P)
The cave that we went into is a wild cave, for the most part. After you get past about the first 150m. Then you turn your headlamps on, get on your (padded, thank goodness) knees, and begin to crawl, climb, clamber, walk and scoot over, under and through literal tons of rocks. The formations are astonishing... some look like cumulus clouds frozen into rock, others are shaped like a watermelon rind that someone scraped out with a spoon- all pocketed. Still others look like waves of rock, and sheets, and columns. There was one formation, our guide told us, that is never the same twice. It looks like it's made of mud, and water drips down it constantly. The swiftness of the drip determines whether the formation grows or shrinks. If you've seen The Lion King, there was a place that reminded me of the gorge. I can't describe it to you in the little time I have, just imagine (unless your imagination's broken, in which case I a) pity you greatly and b) can't really help you anyway). That's just the formations. There were also little black salamanders, and brown Crystal Cavern spiders (4 known exemplars). There was a stream, and pebbles, and gypsum roses forming. The passages were all named: the Superman hole, the Keyhole, the 180 foot belly crawl, the 49 cent crawl, and many more. Every name has a story behind it. The superman hole, you have to stick both arms out in front of you and "fly" (or inch, more like) like Superman; the discoverer of the 49 cent hole lost the change he carried in his pockets while going through- you guessed it, 49 cents. Our guide joked with and teased us. It was a blast, and the caves were so amazing. It's incredible the things we don't see... this summer I've been on all levels of the earth: above its head, on its surface, and in its belly. :)
Anyway, that's all I will write for now, as I have a meeting to head off to.
over 'n out.
K