Wild Weekend, I Almost Blacked!

I feel like I need to share (in great detail) my Saturday. So I went to Briancon (for probably the last time T_T, it's such a beautiful town that really represents the Hautes-Alpes), but deciding to go there was quite complicated. So there's this British dude and Scottish girl that I get along with and we both vibe well with helping immigrants (and overall not ignoring social issues and doing what we can when possible). And the Brit is a super social extrovert that has connects that spans pretty much all of Europe, and told us about another manif, for the ignored POC immigrants at the French-Italian border. So we decided like last week we would go and use the Scot's car to get to the border since there are no trains that stop there, but then the Scottish girl was "knackered" (AE= tired). So we called it quitsies, or so I thought, then at 5am the Brit was like...let's go anyway and just do have of manif, and I was like, you know what I have nothing better to do, let's go! But I read and coordinated this while I was in the shower and only had 25 minutes to buy the ticket, finish showering, get ready, and make it to the train. Somehow I did it, but I forgot my mask. I was tempted to run back, but luckily the "buffet" at the gare had plenty of free mask for me to use. But I def could've ran back because the train was 30 minutes, per usual (particularly for the trains in the Hautes-Alpes I've noticed).

(Technically this was on the train ride back, but whatever)

Any who, the train ride was magnificent and even had a nice conversation with the Brit which I usually hate on train rides, but I didn't mind this time (I tried to speak with the Italians in French since they know no English, but quickly failed and gave up lol). We made it to the first location of the manif, and we were told it was full, which was wack, so we decided to catch up with the other assistants. No biggie, right. Sike! Briancon is off the side of a mountain, and essentially you have to hike to get to the touristy area, but guess who's out of shape and didn't eat since for more than 24 hours. The Brit literally runs, so he just kept walking to get it over with, but I was D-Y-I-N-G. He's like 6'2" so I was practically jogging to keep up, and at first I thought I was having a mini asthma attack. But the more we walked, the more uncharacteristically tired I got. Like I've been living in the mountains and hiking quite a bit and the last I went with Naoni it was no biggie, but I assumed within the week I got out of shape and brushed it off. We got to the tourist area and that's when things got dark, literally. I kept seeing black spots in my eyes and by the time we got to the other assistants in this mini shop the spots were blotting my sight so bad I thought my glasses were transitioning a little bit too much, so I took them off, but the black spots kept getting bigger, and I could barely breathe. I caught myself on this little barrel, but barely. Not only that, but I was losing consciousness and was becoming easily irritated (I kinda snapped at this girl because I said what I wanted, and she was trying to give me a suggestion, but I didn't want it and we waited 40 minuted for the store-owner to make 6 sandwiches...idk I'm usually more patient with randos). I connected the dots and realized my blood sugar was severely low, and I probably also dehydrated. So I took the Brits offer from earlier of his banana and water, I didn't want to take them earlier because I didn't want him to view me as weak, but boy does pride kill. So I went on the side of the street to eat and recollect myself. My mouth was literally numb and it was so hard to swallow. And I kept feeling like the world was going in and out. I got a little scared and called my mom while I try to stay conscious and eat. Luckily, with low blood sugar you get back to normal in like 5 minutes, so I lived. And started eating a bunch of carbs and sugars (I drank an Oasis, ate the 40-minute sandwich, and some M&Ms later on). It was honestly a scary experience, and on the train ride back I mostly stared out of the window and fought to stay awake. But while I was with the other assistants I bought some gifts for someone, took some (awkward) pictures, and spoke with the other American assistant for the first time (she's cool, half French and went to Wellesley, so +3 point for style). Overall, I'm glad I went, but my psyche and body needed all of Sunday to recuperate. But enjoy my last photos of the highest town in France (basically a photo dump of the day)