Ojai 'Survivor'
outlasts most
By Jesse Phelps

Christa Hastie was Ojai's first "Survivor" contestant. She nearly made it into the final four, but had her alliance break down toward the end. She took the time recently to answer a few questions about her experience.

Christa's Web site, featuring pictures from her recent wedding in Ojai, is now up at www.christahastie.com.

OVN: Though you didn't win, did you have a blast? Are you still on a high from it?
Christa: Totally. "Survivor's" the greatest thing ever. It's the only chance you'll get to go out on an island and be stress-free for 39 days. You don't have to use your cell phone or pay bills or any of that. It's not like you're actually starved. If you were about to die, somebody would actually help you.

OVN: What was the production schedule like? The producers, the team?
Christa: The camera people don't talk to you. They're everywhere. They know how to go around you and they respect you. They don't have food around, so they're not, like, eating right around you when you're starving.
The producers are very professional. You do the confessionals on camera but otherwise they leave you alone. They do their job really well. I've never seen a more together group of people.

OVN: Anyone you met on the show that you plan to keep in touch with?
Christa: Some of the producers are super funny probably a few of them. But I lead a different lifestyle than most of these people. Sandra lives on a military base. They are your average sort of typical American family. We would joke around and tell Sandra she should go take her kids to the national forest, a road trip. She was like, "Screw that."
Sandra and I would probably keep in touch, maybe Rupert, maybe Jon. Everybody thinks we're supposed to have this great bond, but they put on us on an island together. That's it.

OVN: Are you happy for Sandra, or maybe a little envious?
Christa: I felt like I won because she won. I was trying to think of every possibility and how (the jury) would vote and how they would vote for Lil or how they would vote for Sandra. I was so damn happy (when Sandra won). I was the only other person on stage crying. Of all the people, she totally deserves Chit. She's such a great mom and wife to her husband, moving around from military base to base.
I'd always hear about every way she'd cut down on cash, shopping at the military surplus and stuff. Now she's like, "Cool I get a car."
She appreciates it, as opposed to, say, Jon. Lil, I agree with her. Jon would have spent the money on booze and parties. (Sandra) deserves it.

OVN: What about ol' Scoutmaster Lil?
Christa: She came back and you've got to imagine that she felt pretty vulnerable getting voted off first. I can't imagine how she must have felt being with all of us and all of the people that had already voted her off. She did really well. It was more about, all night long, she's gathering wood like a psycho. Throwing it on the fire, waking us up. And the whole time, she's singing that scout song. Anything but that! I'm thinking, if I hear that n song again, I'm going to kill you, Anything new. Sing a new tune.
Crying all the time, freaking out all night long and the woman never sat down. Lil, sit down.

OVN: Is Rupert the world's coolest guy? Does he belong in Ojai?
Christa: It's funny because when I finally got to introduce him to my husband, he was like, "Oh my God, it's Rupert, man!"
He cracks me up. He had me rolling on the ground the whole time. Both of us, from the beginning, thought we'd be these outcast people. You know, he looks weird, but he seemed like he was totally just genuine and down to earth. He would totally fit into Ojaian Ojai type ofguy.

OVN: And then there's Jon Is Jon the world's biggest scoundrel?
Christa: He's a great player; he played the game well. You can't deny that. If you go to "Survivor," and you you don't expect a lying and cheating and stealing.
You got to do what you got to do. If you can get the sympathy of others ...
Jon just spoke his mind and I actually admire him for that. He's 30 years old and still partying real hard. I'm just a little bit more conservative these days. He's like, "Drink up Pasty!" and I'm like, "I don't really wanna get too (messed) up tonight."
If you want to go have party of a lifetime, go hang out with Jon.

OVN: What advice would you give a potential "Survivor" contestant?
Christa: First of all, here's some good advice: Don't prepare too much ahead of time in terms of survival skills. I went out there with this whole plan of action. There's some simple things. Learn how to fish, maybe. But it's more about reading people and knowing people.
Take an acting class and read some psychology books as far as the dynamics of people. Think one day at a time because the game changes every 10 minutes. You're constantly having to watch people, planning your dramatic act for the day. You've got to sell one person on something without the other person knowing it. It's one day at a time, the same thing in every day life. Remember yesterday, live for today and plan just a little bit for tomorrow - but not too much.

OVN: It must have been neat to go on David Letterman afterwards.
Christa: Totally. Paul Shaffer called me out later in the show. Letterman said, "Hey, that Christa Hastie, huh?" Paul said, "Yeah, she's what I call a nutty girl. I'm like, great. The nuttiest dude alive is calling me nutty."
The other contestants went on and I was like God, these people are horrifically boring. It's like, hey, that's what the early show is for. I just wanted to spice it up a little bit. It was a fun time. I was a little bit nervous.

OVN: Would you appear on another reality show? "Fear Factor"?
Christa: I don't know. Show me the money. "Fear Factor's" fine. I can eat anything. I don't mind not taking a shower, I don't need to brush my hair. I can handle anything.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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