Chapter 38 - Paintball!

In which our hero gets a shot in the arm ... and the leg and the head ... 

So this is like six week old news by this point. I went to play paintball for the first time ever. This was back on May 19. It was an event put on by GUYE (Griffith University Young Engineers). It was really fun, and really exhausting. There was lots of running around, and the first time I got hit was extremely painful and shocking. Like, really extremely. I was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I got hit in the upper arm. It caused a bruise that lasted for like two weeks.

Oooh ... pretty colours ... I think this is after one week.

I very quickly got hit on the leg, which actually broke the skin a bit:

OK, so I guess that doesn't look too bad. But it really hurt.

What happened was we played three games of fifteen minutes each, with like ten minutes to recuperate in between. We were divided into two teams, pink and yellow, indicated by ribbons on our face masks. In the first game each team had a base, and a flag, and the other team was supposed to go get the flag and bring it back to their base. Nobody succeeded. Then in the second game there was one flag in the centre of the field, and whoever got it first had to protect it for the rest of the game. The other team got it first. In the third game there was a person holding the flag, which was someone on our team. We were supposed to protect them, or if the other team got close enough the guy would have to hand over the flag. They never got close enough. It was really fun, as I think I mentioned, but really painful.

The most painful event happened in the second game, I think, when I was sure I was under cover, until I got shot in the head. There was definitely some uttering of expletives at that point. It caused a lump for a few days. I also got hit on the finger at least once, which I don't recommend.

Here's some group pictures from before the carnage.

That guy in the middle is the one who shot me in the head. He came up to me after the game and apologised.

See the guy beside me? He decided it was a good idea to play in a tank top. He got a few bruises.

I didn't actually know most of the people there. Some were familiar faces from large lectures, but most weren't. There were about four lecturers that joined the fun as well. We played with a few other groups too, so I think there was probably 100 people in total.

When I got home the kids were very excited to see all my bruises and my paint splattered clothes. The paint washes out, luckily, which didn't really matter because I was wearing scrubby clothes anyway.

There is a picture somewhere of my head shot, but I don't know where. I'll pass it on when I find it.