Survivor: South Pacific - Episode 12 in 15 seconds

I don't even know where to begin...

The past couple of weeks have been a gift. I went from having nobody in the city to watch Survivor with to seeing the latest ep with none other than my amazing friend and co-writer for this blog, Deeksha, and ended the night having drinks and great conversation with an awesome group of Survivors, both past and present.

Who was there, you ask? The first person I recognized walking into the bar was Stephen from Tocantins. Also present were Sash (Nicaragua), Brian (Guatemala), Eliza (Vanuatu; Fans vs. Favorites), Francesca (Redemption Island), who was nice enough to include me in this gathering, and Sophie, Cochran and Ozzy. I apparently just missed Courtney and Sandra, who were also in town.

Before I go any further, let me just say how unbelievably chill and fun-to-be-around all of them were. I was worried I wouldn't be welcome in the reunion, but to the contrary, they were all really friendly, and their favorite topic of conversation was the same as mine: Survivor.

For those of you who know me or follow my blog, it's no secret that Ozzy is one of my favorite players, and that despite his flaws in playing the game, I can't help rooting for him every time. What I noticed from meeting him - and to a great extent, many of the others - is that what you see is what you get. He's a really chill guy who's easy to get along with and who has an exceptional relationship with nature. He might come across as arrogant or cocky at times on the show, but I don't think there's any harm in just saying it as it is: he's good at what he does, and he's not bashful about it. And I don't think he should be.

Cochran was an exciting discovery. He's also quite the same as he is on the show, but without the editing, so you don't get exposed to just one side of him in buckets and all at the same time. He's witty and approachable, with quirks that make him interesting and a lack of confidence that I hope will fade with time, because there's no reason for it.

And though I didn't interact much with Eliza, if she ever came across as annoying on Fans vs. Favorites (I haven't seen Vanuatu yet), she's nothing close to that in person. She's super bubbly, seems really caring (that's one thing I love about this whole group: when they like each other, they genuinely seem to care for each other) and she's clearly really smart.

15 seconds just couldn't cut it to describe this... but here they are anyway: