I Will Survive

Sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip. This week CBS debuts "Survivor," a 13-part reality show set on a desolate island off Borneo. Based on a highly successful Swedish series, "Survivor" follows the exploits of eight men and eight women as they struggle with the elements during the day, then convene at night to vote someone -- the weak link, the most obnoxious beachmate -- off the island. Why would anyone in his right mind do this? For one thing, the last person standing wins $1 million. Four of the "Survivor" survivors talked to NEWSWEEK about why they went to the island, how they coped with 24-hour video surveillance and what they ate on those days when the fish weren't biting.

'I Ate a Couple of Rats. They Tasted Like Chicken.' GERVASE PETERSON, 30 Willingboro, N.J., basketball coach

Why he went on the show:
To prove how tough I was to myself, if I could actually hang out there on an island for 39 days. I've never been camping, never been fishing, never been hiking. I didn't know how to swim at the time I was chosen. I'm from the city. I'm not the outdoors type. It was just an intriguing challenge for me.
Scariest moment:
I almost got bit by a poisonous snake one night. Walking through the jungle, I stepped down; an inch from my foot was a sea crate. He whipped his head around and had half a frog in his mouth. Lucky for me he was eating.
Biggest concern about island life:
Food. I love to eat. What am I going to do, just eating rice and water? They gave us fruit when we first got there: pineapple, mangoes. But it's so hot, you pretty much have to eat it right away. The only thing you could eat were fish and rats. We built rat traps from bamboo -- a little tube with a long piece of bamboo and a string and a needle that goes right through their head. I ate a couple of rats. You just skin them, gut them, put them on the stick. They were pretty good. I was surprised. They tasted like chicken. When you're hungry, you're just like, "Let's eat." I lost 15 to 20 pounds. You could just see it in everyone's faces, bones sticking out where they shouldn't be.

'I Heard Words in This Thing I've Never Heard Before' RUDY BOESCH, 72 Virginia Beach, Va., retired Navy SEAL

Why he went:
I like challenges. This looked like a challenge, and it was. My wife was all for it. She wanted to do it along with me.
What clothes did they allow you to take?
I had two bathing suits, a pair of sneakers, a pair of socks, two T-shirts, a baseball hat and one pair of sweat pants. They gave us a raincoat. Every person could bring one "luxury" item. I brought a toothbrush, which everyone was mooching off me. One guy brought a Frisbee. We fanned a fire with that thing. One guy brought a Bible. One girl brought her beads; she was a hippie. Things like that. Dumb stuff.
What was the first thing you did when you landed?
We started building a shack out of bamboo and palm leaves, the stuff that was lying around on the beach. It took a day and a half. But the palm leaves leaked like a sieve, and it rained almost every night. After about half an hour, you were laying in a quarter inch of water.
Toughest part:
Getting along with the younger generation. They speak a different language than I do. I'm surprised at the language that these young kids use. I've been around every scroungy sailor in the world, and I heard words in this thing that I've never heard before. I probably made enemies with one or two of the women. But you always got the option of voting them off. When I left, I shook hands with the people that were there and said, "Don't call me, I won't call you." These are people I wouldn't pick as friends. There were some odd people there, in my opinion. They are probably saying the same thing about me.
Were you concerned that one of the participants in the Swedish version killed himself after being voted off the island?
I read that in some paper. Personally, I don't see why the guy committed suicide. Suicide is nature's way of getting rid of the weak. That's my opinion.

'It Kept Getting Closer and I Kept Swimming Faster' GRETCHEN CORDY, 38 Clarksville, Tenn., part-time preschool teacher and mother