End of camp, start of a new adventure

My month at summer camp has finally ended.  It feels like I've been there forever, yet at the same time it's gone by in the blink of an eye.

I had an amazing time, even if it was generally exhausting!  I slept on a tarp under the stars...

I made s'mores on a camp-fire...

I rode a yellow school bus...

I got crazy tan-lines...

I walked in a creek...

I ate funnel cake the State Fair...

I was kept up all night by kids who talk in their sleep...I got bitten by bugs...I (repeatedly) tried to get into the wrong side of the car...I learned what 'twerking' is...I got sunburned...I laughed...I cried...and I met some of the most incredible campers, youth leaders, and staff.

Now I'm going on to my next adventure of the summer!  I'm currently in Columbus, Ohio - I arrived an hour or so ago on the Greyhound bus.  I'll be here until Friday, at which point I'll head back to Indy for the afternoon (meeting a friend for lunch), then going to Nashville, Tennessee for a few days before flying home.

My arrival in Columbus wasn't fantastic, I have to admit. I stepped out of the bus station and was immediately accosted by a mentally challenged lady asking for a quarter. I declined, saying I didn't have any change, and she absolutely flipped out. She started yelling and swearing, thankfully not directly at me, but near me. It was a little scary! I decided to ignore her and keep walking to the taxi rank. While I waited for my pre-booked taxi to arrive, I spotted someone I recognised from the bus. I'd helped him get his bag off the overhead storage, so I figured that made it socially acceptable to stand near him in the hopes that the lady would leave me alone!

I chatted away with him about travelling, American health care, and other random topics, and his presence did seem to discourage the woman. She came over and asked us both for a quarter again, but she didn't freak out when we both said no. Big improvement! He laughed when I said she'd flipped when she asked me before, and said he wondered why she'd been yelling.  So, I'd like to say THANK YOU to the friendly young man from Bloomington, who was going to the very Christian (and therefore tee-total) wedding in Columbus! You kept this big wuss from getting too nervous, and it was nice to have someone to talk to while I waited.

My hostel is quite nice, it looks like a normal house from the outside which was a little worrying (my nerves were already a little rattled), but inside it's set up really well. It's an odd mixture of looking run down in places, and really modern in others. My bed is a single bed, but it looks huge compared to camp bunk-beds! The staff are lovely, and they have a small yappy dog, whose bark is worse than its bite. I've not ventured outside just yet, but I've been told that Columbus is a pretty decent place. Despite how I was greeted, I feel optimistic about my couple of days here.

Looking forward to my next adventure :)

Charli

Summer Camp: Crazy Things My Kids Have Said

And by "my kids" I do of course mean "other people's kids who I have the pleasure of looking after for a week".  I don't actually have kids of my own, even though 24 is "old" according to my girls this week.  I suppose it is quite old when you're only 10...

I'll add to this through the next couple of weeks, but here is some of the things the kids have said -

• "Are you kind of British?"
• "Is it true you have a prince over there? Do you get invited to balls?" (I love that they think England is like living in a Disney film)
• "Would you like some sunscreen?  You're too light to be dark"
• "College kids are smart.  We play with Legos and talk about how we hate things" (Said by a visiting college student)
• "Are you a regular person, or are you ghetto?"
• "What's your favourite disease?" - "Anything, so long as it's not an STD"
• "What's your religion?" - "I'm atheist" - "Oh. That's bad"
• "You have a smart car. It has two seats. There's you, your most trustworthy friend, the love of your life, and a pregnant woman. What do you do? ... You go home and rethink your life because you bought a Smart Car!"
• "When they put the jelly [jam] on my sandwich.  It fell off."  (My co-counsellor was just like...um...ok?)
• "Are you from British?" (Not only was this an incorrect use of the term, it was also said to an American counsellor!)
• "It's like having a headache in my legs"
• "What language do you speak in England?"
• "Don't bring weapons to camp" (When asked what the most important rule was at camp)
• "Do you wear hats in England?"
• "Is this what the jungle looks like? We'll have to kill all the innocent bunnies!"
• "No killing people" (When asked what a rule was for archery)
• "What's your weakness?" - "Pepper spray!"
• "I want to move to Africa to build homes and help people" (Can we get a big 'awwww'?)
• "I had a dream that a CIT was The Lorax. We were all the animals, and we all died.  He wasn't a very good Lorax" (Said by one of the counsellors)
• "You can't be eighteen. Teenagers are eighteen, not adults!" (Said to the above counsellor)

Summer Camp: Why Do I Do It?

My decision to volunteer at summer camp for 4 weeks has been received by a lot of confusion - from the airport immigration officer, to the youth leader I'm working with.  No-one can quite seem to understand why I would want to spend my own time and money to toil in the blistering heat for the sake of a bunch of kids with attitude.  Of course, if I looked at it like that...I wouldn't do it.

The youth leader (my Counsellor-In-Training this week) did seem to genuinely be curious though, and I can't say I blame her for wondering.  We were out on camp-out, and had been faced with nothing but negativity from the campers.  As we walked through the woods, carrying heavy camping equipment, sweating profusely in the high temperatures, she just asked "How do you do this?!".  At moments like that, I'm not sure myself!

The truth is, it's hard work.  It's exhausting.  I'm bone-tired.  I have the most ridiculous tan-lines.  I ache all over.  I'm covered in bug-bites.  I got badly sunburned last week.  I'm hungry.  I'm a fussy eater, and camp food can occasionally leave a little to be desired for a picky person like me.  My kids keep bickering, they won't listen, they answer back...but after camp, all of that fades.  You remember all of the negative things, but they're not the first thing that comes to mind when you think "camp".

Instead, you think about the other things.  The good things.  That's what camp is about.

It's the twins with their corny but slightly unexpected jokes that leave you howling.
It's the pre-teen girl announcing that she wants to be an organ donor.
It's the surprising vote of confidence from the loudest child, who recognises that counsellors have feelings (and get tired) too.
It's the conversations about diabetes at 1am with a little girl who doesn't let it get her down, but instead launches herself into the nurses office when she's "feeling low" shouting - "I is in da HOUSE!".
It's the young man who stands up in the Talent Show to defend a boy with special needs because he felt the audience wasn't being properly respectful.
It's the sound of childish laughter ringing across the camp.
It's the camp songs, sung with enthusiasm (if not much tune).
It's the campers shouting your name from across the field, who just want to wave and say hello.
It's being remembered by campers, even though a year has gone by.
It's the funny questions about England ("Do you get invited to balls?"; "Are you kind of British?").
It's the young lady making a stand against bullying.
It's getting to know the other counsellors as you make camper awards at 2am.
It's the little boy who jumps for joy every time his arrow hits the target in archery (even if it's not a bullseye).
It's the 10 year old girl working hard to learn Spanish so she can communicate with her new best friend who doesn't speak English.
It's the 7 year old girl who translates from English to Spanish, so the girl doesn't get excluded.
It's the boy who dances during the Talent Show, and the whole camp dances with him.
It's the girl who calls everyone her brother and sister, and loves her camp family dearly.
It's PB&J sandwiches, s'mores, and campfire fajitas.
It's the sound of the campfire popping as you lie under the stars.
It's the campers who cry when they have to leave.  And the counsellors who cry with them.
It's the 10 year old girl who says she wants to move to Africa "so I can build houses and help people".
It's the happiness found in the smallest of things, by the children who have the toughest circumstances.
It's the expression of joy and wonder on the face of a camper, because her counsellor took the time to read out her award in Spanish as she doesn't speak much English.  And it's all the hugs (and tears) that follow.
It's the 'cool' teenage boy who sings a song for his mom (who sadly passed away) in the Talent Show with his sisters. It's the moment where he wraps his arms around his sisters, bows his head, and cries. It's all the staff who cry with him. It's the moment the next day where he tells the other teenage boys that "it's ok to cry".
It's the 18 year old counsellor who tries not to cry as he explains how he feels like camp is "where I'm meant to be". It's his 20 year old friend, who never says much, who tells him how proud he is of everything he's achieved this summer. It's how proud I am too.
It's the tears as the summer ends, and everyone goes their separate ways. It's the promises to meet up, and stay in touch.
It's the friendships made that last forever.
It's the lifechangers.

That's why I come back.

Summer Camp!

Eight days in and I don't think I stand a chance on catching up on Camp NaNo.  I've only written something on one day, and even then it was only 500 words!

That's right, summer camp has officially started (for me)!  The kids all arrived yesterday, and my cabin are a lovely group of six girls aged 11 to 14.  My co-counsellor is from New Zealand, and she's lovely too.  It seems like we have a great group of girls, though I suspect there's potential for some serious attitude. Going to have to stamp all over that!

I'll be teaching archery this summer (for real this time, not like last summer where I got qualified and then switched out to Journalism!).  The activity leader was one of the youth leaders (known as a CIT - Counsellor in Training) last year, so it's pretty cool to see her as a full counsellor, and leading the activity that she helped out at most last year.  Another of the CIT's I knew last year is also a full counsellor now - she was my CIT almost every session, so I'm like a super proud parent.  One of my campers is a CIT this year, and I'm very proud of her too!  It's great getting to see campers I knew from last year, and realising just how many of them remember me.  I keep having to enlist assistance from people to sneakily find out names - I feel guilty that the kids know my name, and I don't always know their's!

It's not quite so hot in Indy this year, though it has its moments.  It's much more overcast and damp, which I think means more mosquitos.  Yuck!  My feet are already covered in bites, and my legs are looking pretty bad too.  I try and avoid walking through the grass as much as I can, but it's not always possible.  Tuesday night will be our camp-out night, so I'll probably get bitten up so bad, I'll not know what I was complaining about today!

Today was the first proper day, so it's hard to say how I'm doing, and if I'm getting back into the swing of things, but I'd like to think that I am!  I'm feeling pretty tired, but I didn't sleep too well last night so I'm not surprised. I'm a light sleeper, and I've stopped being used to sharing a room, so being in a cabin with six girls who snore, talk, and wriggle...Well it doesn't lead to a great night's sleep.  Hopefully tonight will be better.  The kids should be pretty tired, so should probably go to sleep and not be so restless.  They all woke up at 7am today, even though they didn't need to get up until 8am. I was laid in my bed like...go back to sleeeep!  I was wanting to nap on my break, but I don't have a device with an alarm with me (it's in the cabin). So frustrating!  Plus all my bedding is in the cabin too, not in my staff quarters...

I'm hoping that I get to go to Walmart (or Walgreens, or whatever, I'm not fussy about that!) sometime soon.  I'd like to stock up on snacks for when I'm being fussy about camp food.  I need to pay more attention to which Americans have a car.  The ones I know of aren't on the same break as me.  It can be quite frustrating not being able to get anywhere independently.  I'm used to having my own car and being able to go out on my breaks if I want to.  Last year I got to know everyone very well during staff training, so there was always someone with a car.  I'm sure I'll figure it out soon enough, though!

All the best,
Charli

Camp NaNo - Still not started!

Well, it's now Day 5 of Camp NaNo and that officially puts me 5 days behind. BUT I'm not worried because I'm at CAMP! Real camp, with cabins, camp-outs, s'mores, everything!

I had a lot of fun sat in airports people-watching. I even bought myself a notebook (which was annoying, as I had TWO in my suitcase) to write down my observations and some story ideas.

I arrived in Indianapolis late last night, and watched Fourth July fireworks the whole drive from the airport. I fell asleep to the sounds of nearby fireworks too, which was pretty cool.

I had a bit of a scare at immigration, where it looked quite likely that they'd send me home to the UK, but thankfully they let me through. Many thanks to the camp Program Director for taking a phone-call from them, and confirming that I am an unpaid volunteer!

I woke up at 8am, Indy time, absolutely wide awake and no jet-lag to speak of. WIN! I refused to get up then though, since I knew everyone else would still be in bed, so I dozed on and off for the next few hours. I then unpacked, got a nice hot shower, and generally felt much more human.

I've spent the rest of the day catching up with my camp friends from last year, getting up to date with my Facebook, etc. I probably could have spent that time doing some writing, but never mind! It'll get done :)

I'm now surrounded by Americans and New Zealanders, and am having trouble understanding half of what people are saying, but it's definitely good to be back. Bring on the kids!

Charli

Camp NaNo - Day 1

As expected, I'm already behind on Camp NaNo. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the month!

The drive to Cumbria was absolutely lovely, though. It was a 6 hour round trip - the furthest I've ever driven. The morning was spent trying to research travel insurance for my upcoming trip to Indianapolis.  I didn't get very far on getting the insurance due to quirky internet, but I'm working on it.

This evening my brain has been reduced to mush (as I said - furthest I've ever driven!), but I've been having fun researching more images for my story. That totally counts, right?!

Tomorrow I intend to get some packing done for real camp, buy my travel insurance, and get some writing done for Camp NaNo. You never know, it could happen!

I'm a little put out that my cabin group for Camp NaNo doesn't have ANYONE that I requested, and one of the campers has a character with a very similar name to one of my main characters. I'm already turning into a paranoid writer..!

Good luck to all my friends doing Camp NaNo, hopefully I'll get some writing done this month..! :)

Charli

Camp NaNo - Nearly Time!

First of all, where did June go?! I'm sure it was only recently I was celebrating my birthday, doesn't feel like 2 months have gone by!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Camp NaNoWriMo, and I'm already falling behind. Tomorrow I'll be driving my sister and her boyfriend to the Lake District for a holiday, which (along with other errands I need to run) writes off my whole day. No pun intended.

Then on Thursday I fly to Indianapolis for 5 weeks. I'll be up with the sun, toiling all day in sweltering, humid temperatures, running around after squealing children until late at night. That's right, I'm headed back to camp! I'm volunteering for 4 weeks, then have a week's leeway for possible travel. I've been invited to go to Kentucky to visit one of the friends I made at camp last year so I may do that. I go wherever the wind takes me, basically! If I get to tick off another state (I aim to visit all 50 - I'm approximately a 3rd of the way through) then all the better.

Basically, all this means that if I get ANY writing done (never mind hitting my target), it'll be a Camp Magic Miracle.

Wish me luck!

Why I Loved Camp

I know, my posts are all getting out of order!  I've not finished writing about camp and I finished there about a week ago, and I've not finished writing about my travels yet which are also almost over!  I'm sure no-one minds too terribly though.

When I made the decision to apply for summer camp, I wasn't in a particularly "good" place mentally.  That's why I applied.  I needed something to look forward to, something I've always wanted to do, and something "bigger" than myself.  I can now say, with absolute certainty, that it was the right decision.

I spent my summer in the blistering heat, corralling a group of crazy, funny, frustrating little children.  It was like herding cats trying to get those beautiful little monsters to go anywhere.  It was full of late nights and early mornings.  I've never worked so hard in my life and my body is still punishing me for it.  It was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting.

And I loved it.

I left a job which was pretty good, as far as office jobs go.  The pay was decent, the people were great, my bosses were wonderfully understanding.  It's just...it was all a little meaningless.  I'm sure it meant a lot to the people who we were paying money to, but in the grand scheme of things it was just a little...flat.

Sure the money was considerably better, the hours were significantly shorter and it wasn't as draining.  But it also wasn't as fun, it wasn't as rewarding, and it wasn't as life changing.

For the first time in months, I feel like a whole, confident, happy young woman.

For the first time in years, I feel like myself.

All of that is absolutely down to the friends I made and the children I worked with.  There's something magical about the sweet respect (most of) the children gave to me without question, and the absolute acceptance I found in the mish-mash of people I found myself working with.  Children and counsellors from all walks of life, from a hundred different kinds of backgrounds, we all found a place to call home at camp.

I came to camp hoping to make a difference in the lives of the children.

My confession for this post?  The biggest difference that was made...was in my life.  I never expected how much of a impact they would make on me.  I hope that I made even half as much of an impression on them, as they did on me.

Some days were hard, I'll admit that freely.  I won't pretend it was all fun and games.  Some days, some weeks even, they were such a big handful that they'd reduce me to tears.  Some days the only thing that would get me through would be hugs from understanding counsellors and candy.  Lots of candy.  But the wonderful days made it all worthwhile.  The ones where I really connected with a child.  Where they'd give me a huge hug and ask me why I looked sad.  Where they'd run across the field to say goodbye to me.  Where they'd come back to drop off a sibling and they'd remember me, though I never had them in my class or cabin.  Those days are why I went to camp.  Those are the days that I'll always remember.

Those are the reason I'll come back as many times as I can.

Story Time

My posts will be a little out of chronological order here as I still need to post about the end of last session, but I want to take a lot of time to get that post absolutely right before I publish it.  Therefore, I thought I'd jump right into posting about the beginning of Wellness Week!

This session at camp is referred to as Wellness Week.  It is basically what it says on the tin.  We focus on an active lifestyle, healthy eating and all those other "not me" kind of things!  The campers this week are required to have two active/outdoor activities, and only one indoor one.  Journalism, Art Expressions and Culinary Arts are all considered "indoor", but I'm more popular this week than last week at least.  I have a total of five campers!  Yay!

I'm back with second youngest girls, so they're all about 11 years old.  There are eight of them this week, so it's a pretty full cabin.  We also have two "C.I.T.'s" (Counsellors In Training) with us, who are doing an amazing job.  Since there are only ten beds in our cabin, we have a roll-out bed for one CIT, and us two counsellors trade off each night who sleeps in the main bedroom with the kids, and who is in the cabin's staff room.

The girls this week are all very strong minded, so it will take a lot of tact and supervision to stop them imploding on each other.  Other than that, they're a sweet, talkative bunch and I'm enjoying working with them.

One of the girls is very afraid of the dark and because of this she didn't sleep very well on the first night.  Due to this one of the CIT's and I came up with a plan.  She had a necklace from work that when you connect the two sides of the chain together one way it lights up the pendant.  She gave it to the little girl last night to help her sleep, since she'd also lost her flashlight.

I then jumped in and told her that "This is a talisman.  That means that it's something to protect you.  It will keep you safe".  We agreed that it would keep her safe even if it wasn't lit up.  I also told her "it's full of Camp Magic".  This unfortunately left me open to the question - "Can you tell us the story about Camp Magic?".  (She also asked if we could tell her the story about "the man, the talis-man".  The CIT rose finely to the occasion and told them all a fabulous story about the man who "gave this ancient talisman to the boys and girls of camp").

I agreed that once everyone was in bed, silent with lights out, I would tell the Camp Magic story.  That gave me a few minutes to make one up!  They all dutifully settled down into bed, with only a little arguing and I told them all about Camp Magic.  It was a daft little tale about the woman who founded the camp, and how she chose this plot of land because she could feel the magic flowing through the trees.  I told them how Camp Magic keeps all the children safe, and that's why bears and other dangerous animals aren't here - they're kept away by the magic.  Each year, with every smile and every laugh, the camp magic grows stronger, and that's what brings us all the way to this camp from as far away as New Zealand and England!

She then asked "was that a true story?".  I told her "it was a story with many truths".

Now we just have to hope that she can hold onto her belief in Camp Magic long enough to get through camp-out in the woods tonight!

Session 4 so far!

I'm a day into the next session and it's already looking pretty good! Not quite what I expected though, which is definitely keeping me on my toes.

I've been placed with the second oldest girls this week, so I have ages 14 and 15.  I'm also doing both Journalism AND Archery for the week.

I only had 2 campers sign up for Journalism, so for the second activity I'm helping out at Archery for 45 minutes, and then getting planning work done for the last 45 minutes.  It's hectic but I'm enjoying the change in scenery.  I'm also liking having only two campers, despite it throwing off my entire lesson plan (!), since I can focus much more on their development.  One of them has so many amazing ideas for what we can put in the newspaper, I can't possible fit it all in!  Plus I had her brother earlier in the summer, so it's great to see her and know that she joined Journalism because her brother loved it so much.

My girls this week are absolutely wonderful (well, my girls are wonderful every week, obviously).  I feel like we can have such deeper conversations which is lovely, even if I am having trouble adjusting to all the conversations about boyfriends.  My 8 year olds didn't really have boyfriends!  Some of the conversations are a little difficult to deal with, since some of these girls have been through things I can never even imagine, so that's definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone.  At the moment I'm just facilitating these conversations, letting them talk and hoping they know they can come to me.  Not sure what else to do!  I'll post more on this at the end of the week, by which point I hope I'll have figured it out...

There are a few issues with cattiness and other things that you find much more with teenagers, but I had a taste of that last session with the 13 year olds at least.  My approach is that I simply won't tolerate it.  I don't care if it was "just jokes, J.K! J.K!", it's not acceptable to say those things.

I had the lovely experience today of giving one of my campers her first Orange Bead (Social Competencies - only bead she didn't have).  She's been to camp several times, and is part of our youth leadership programme, but has never in that time been given a bead for her Social Competencies!  After we awarded all of today's beads she came running over to tell me.  I'm so pleased to have been able to give her the joy she felt at finally completing the "set".

A few funny moments from the day -

Youth Leader : "Oh, you're from the UK?  I thought you were from England?"

Camper : "You are so cool because you were born in England!  Do you know how cool it is to be born in England?!"

Camper : "When the super-bowl was on, I supported England."

Also, there is now another counsellor from England, so there's three of us!  Yay!  So good to hear another English accent around the place.

All the best,
Charli

Happy 4th July!

...For yesterday, of course, I do know it's now the 5th!

This was the third 4th July that I've spent in America, but it was a first for the other two international counsellors.  I had a vague idea of what to expect, especially since it seems very similar to our Bonfire Night, but they didn't!  Then again, my first 4th July was spent frantically cleaning toilets at Disney World, and my second was spent on a boat (tied up at the dock), watching the reflections of fireworks bouncing off the huge bridge that was blocking the fireworks themselves...

Our original plan was to go to downtown Indianapolis in the evening and have a picnic at the park.  We'd take peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a Frisbee, maybe even a "soccer" ball and hang out until the fireworks started.

As increasingly appears to be the case...this didn't quite happen.  We didn't leave camp until 9.45pm (fireworks were due to start at 10pm), and went racing downtown, with 5 people stuffed into a 4 person car.  We ended up pulling up at a car park and stood out on the sidewalk to watch the show.  The firework show was synchronised to music on a local radio show, which our American friend played on her phone for us.  

It wasn't quite as planned, but it was still good fun.  All the people who lived nearby came out of their houses to watch the show, so we stood with a lot of other people, including highly excited little children.  This gave the entire experience a sweet, community feel.  Plus, everything is more fun with wriggling, giggling children around!  (I know, I know, I have to say that, I'm a camp counsellor...!  Doesn't make it any less true though).

The fireworks were spectacular.  A lot of time and effort had clearly been put into them, and I'm very glad that they weren't cancelled.  There's a burn ban in effect in our area at the moment, due to how dry it's been. A lot of the smaller shows had to be cancelled, and it's currently an arrest-able offense to set off fireworks.  Since I'm from damp old England, this is quite a new concept to me!  But then I look outside at the brown, dead grass and I realise...it probably wouldn't take much to set the entire field alight.

All too soon the fireworks were over and we hopped back in the car.  It took a long time to get back to camp, fighting the traffic the whole way, but it was worth it.  We sang and danced along with the radio the whole time!  I think we surprised the friend of the American counsellor, but that's what camp does to a person - life suddenly becomes a musical!  A crazy, happy, bouncy musical.  And I wouldn't have it any other way!

So I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July, wherever you might have been!

PS.  Watch this space for tales of how me and the other English counsellor spent the day exploring downtown Indy on 4th July.  It's a fabulous story, filled with adventure and an exceptional ability to get hopelessly lost, wherever we go....

Travel Theme : Art

Today I found myself tweeting with Amtrak, the train and bus service that I'm seriously considering using on my Big American Train Journey.  While searching through the people they follow on Twitter, I found this blog -  http://wheresmybackpack.com/.


As well as being an enlightening and interesting blog, it also suggests travel themes for each week. This seems like a fabulous idea to me, budding travel writer that I am (as of yesterday...).  So here I am, jumping on board with this week's Travel Theme - Art.
This then got me thinking...what do I consider to be art?


I'm the daughter of a photographer, so to me a photograph is art.  To other people I suppose it is specifically a drawing, or a sculpture.  I also consider certain types of graffiti to be artistic, but to many that is vandalism.  I suppose art can be a great many things, and for me it is simply something beautiful that makes me smile.  Nothing more, and nothing less.  Beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places.  Sometimes all you have to do is be willing to see it.

Chicago Road Trip!

At my camp there are three international counsellors - me, another English girl and a girl from New Zealand. Obviously, we all stayed at camp for the two week break.  We've also been joined by a handful of Americans who drop in and out.


One of the Americans very kindly offered to drive us to Chicago for the weekend.  It was only 3 hours (ish) away, so not a massive undertaking.  We set off in the evening on Friday 29th June after booking ourselves into the IHSP hostel in Damen.


The drive was kind of boring, with the most interesting thing to see being a wind farm!  We have wind turbines in the UK, but nothing of that magnitude (that I've seen).  There were literally hundreds of them, stretching off for miles.

We arrived in Damen (a suburb, which was later recommended by a friend who used to live in Chicago!) sometime in the evening.  We drove around a lot.  The biggest issue with the hostel, from our perspective, was that there was nowhere to park outside the main building for us to check in.  We literally pulled up at a Tow Zone and had to dump the car with our hazards on.  That was once we found the building...!  Despite these minor problems, the hostel was actually really nice.  We were in a different building, a couple of blocks away (again, no parking - we parked on a residential street somewhere) and had a 4 person, private room (i.e. not a dorm).  The beds looked like Ikea bunks, but were in good condition with nice smelling bedding.  The entire building was quite nice - apparently it's a relatively new hostel.  They offered free pancakes at the main building from 8am-11am.


Once we got ourselves settled and showered, we headed out into Damen to find food.  This turned into a problem, since it was 10pm and we had someone with us who was under 21.  A lot of places wouldn't let us in, even for food, without ID.  We finally ended up eating pizza someplace, which was nice, but the whole situation was frustrating.


We then decided to head back to the main hostel building, which had a rooftop terrace.  We hung out up there (we had it to ourselves) for at least an hour.  There was an outdoor gig nearby, so we could hear the music from the roof, could see the lights from all the buildings downtown, and watched fireworks from all directions.  Overall, an excellent way to end the night!

We aimed to get up at 8.30 the next morning, go get pancakes and then head downtown.  Sadly, this did not work out.  This was partly my fault, since I was in charge of the alarm!  I didn't notice that my alarm was set for "Wednesday, Thursday, Friday" (it's a second hand phone and the alarm hadn't been used since it was given to me).  I woke up at 9.30am and eventually hauled everyone else out of bed.  They then decided they needed showers, which took a while as apparently everyone else in the hostel also needed showers at 9.30am!  We reached the main hostel building for approx. 10.30am, by which time all the pancakes were gone.  We gave it up as a bad job and went on a hunt for cheap brunch.


The hostel provided us with a list of Cheap Eats, which included brunch.  The first place we tried had increased their price, and we decided it was no longer worth it.  The decision was made to try the other suggestion for breakfast.  Thus began an hour (or more) long trek around Damen.  We got so lost it wasn't even funny!  At one point we stood at a stop sign, trying to figure out where to go (the American's smart-phone wasn't being very smart), when me and the Kiwi spotted a cafe in the distance.  We made a couple of tired comments about it looking like there was food over there, before being dragged off down another street.  Half an hour later we find ourselves stood outside that same cafe.  That's where we ended up having lunch.  Seriously.  Half an hour later.


I don't know if something got into my shoe or what, but by this point my foot hurt and I wanted to change into flip-flops.  The sky was also a seriously ominous black in the distance.  We agreed to go back to the hostel to get our waterproof coats.


The hostel was a lot further than we thought, and by the time we got there it was so dark the streetlights had come back on!  The wind was fierce, and a few drops of rain were plopping down onto us.  We almost ran into the building, and by the time we walked the 50 steps up to our room (it was a lot of stairs, so we counted them!), it was pouring it down outside.  Good timing!

We waited for about half an hour, hoping that the rain would let up, before we decided that we wouldn't melt and should just go anyway.  Grabbing our raincoats and our sunglasses ("optimistic but realistic", Kiwi), we ventured back outside.


The rain wasn't too terrible, and we jumped onto a bus fairly quickly.  The bus took us to a pretty "sketch" part of town, where we could get a train into downtown.  We found out later there was a train station quite near to us and the entire bus journey was a waste, but so it goes!  We discovered we could not buy an "all day" train ticket at the station.  We could buy one...but had to go to a nearby supermarket to do so...!  This was very odd, but we wanted the $5 all day ticket and complied.  Tickets in hand, we finally boarded the train and so our downtown adventure began!


Our destination was Millennium Park, and we enjoyed walking around there.  We got to see what we think was a Quinceañera - a Latin American celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, which is the transition from childhood to womanhood.  Our American friend explained that to us, as all I knew was that there was a teenage girl in a bright pink, huge dress!  Her and various other people in pink clothing were having their photos taken around "The Bean" and other places in Millennium Park.

As it was much too hot for little English Roses like me, we did take a brief stop to dip our toes in some cool water - as did many other people!

We had a leisurely stroll along the BP Bridge and the surrounding area, then stopped for lunch at Panera Bread.  While we ate we discussed our options, and decided on a Plan of Action.  Next stop would be the Buckingham Fountain - one of the largest fountains in the world.


It was pretty spectacular!  Absolutely huge, and really quite ornate.  I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it.  I loved it!  I also discovered that I'm definitely the daughter of a photographer...but not because of any particular photographic skills of my own (all the photos in this post were taken by me though).  We wanted a photo taking of all of us, and I pointed to a nearby couple and said "ask them to take it".  Turns out the man was a photographer, and was very willing to help us out.

No, that's not us in the photo!


The fountain was at the edge of Lake Michigan, and we could see Navy Pier in the distance.  Navy Pier didn't seem too far away and sounded cool, so we set off in that direction.  I don't think we were even halfway there before we were exhausted!  It had been a long, hot day and we rapidly lost interest.  We're not very hardcore tourists - we didn't even see Sears Tower!  Mostly because it was closed...

(Note: I had zoomed in significantly to take this photo - we were much further away than this!)


We started to feel a little hungry, and my friend remembered she'd heard of a great pizza place that she thought was nearby.  We agreed that Chicago-style Pizza was a necessity, so we set off on the hunt for this pizza place.


We should have remembered how much of an epic failure our last attempt at finding a specific food place was!  I don't know how far we walked, or for how long, but I know for sure we walked in a massive circle at least twice.  Halfway there her not-so-smart phone died, so it was even less use than before.  Nooooo!  Eventually we ended up at a different Italian place, eating a different Chicago-style Pizza!  It was a huge, thick pizza and did look quite good.  Sadly I don't like pizza, and will only eat garlic bread pizza, so I had spaghetti instead.  


They brought out this huge, and I mean huge bowl of spaghetti bolognaise.  I ate a lot, I was constantly eating the whole time, and didn't even make a dint.  It was unbelievable.  In the end I put it in a box and gave it to an old, toothless homeless woman.


After this it was time to head back to Damen, which is when we discovered that we didn't need to go on the bus - the train took us almost the whole way there!

We staggered back to our hostel, with the intention of showering and changing, then going back to the rooftop terrace.  Unfortunately by the time we all felt sufficiently clean, we were very comfy in our various beds and couldn't bear the thought of more walking.  I think we hit the hay at about 10.30pm!  Oh yes...we lived the high life in Chicago!


The next morning we actually woke up at 8.30am (well, I did, the others were harder to wake up) and were out of the hostel by 9.30.  We dropped our bags in the car, then went and got pancakes.  We had to make them ourselves, and had to share the two small griddles with other travellers, but they were very tasty!  I had two huge pancakes - yum yum yum!


We checked out, visited a couple of shops, then it was time to head back home to Indy.


The drive was just as long and hot as the drive there, but it was enjoyable singing loudly along with the radio for a few hours with my friends!  We got 80-cent slushies when we were almost home, and rolled into Camp on a major sugar rush!


I spent the rest of the evening catching up with my facebook, uploading photos, had a long, hot shower, did my laundry (oops, that's still in the dryer!), and other relaxing things.  I needed to sit down after all that sitting down!


Tomorrow we plan on going into Indianapolis in the afternoon, to visit the canal then go to Mass Ave for a free wine tasting.  I don't like wine, but I love Mass Ave, so I'm happy to go along!  The day after is then 4th July.  At the moment our plan is to take a picnic, a Frisbee and maybe a football, then hang out in a park, watch the fireworks, then abandon the under-21s and go out drinking downtown!


Going to be an amazing week I think, and I'll be sure to let you guys know how it goes!


Best wishes!

Two Week Break!

One of the pretty awesome things about my camp is that we get a two week break in the middle!  I don't think all camps do this, but I LOVE that mine does.  By the time we got to our break I was utterly exhausted, and that was exactly what I needed.

We went out in the town and went out to eat obscene amounts of food, but other than that for most of the first week I just slept.  Honestly.  I slept then crashed on the sofa and read.  Or I napped in the hammock garden.  And let me tell you...it was BLISS!

A sneak peek into some of my facebook statuses from the week -

"Definitely loving this break so far :) Had a lovely, lazy morning and now getting ready to hop in the pool for a few laps :) Work off some of the large amounts of food I ate at the All You Can Eat Buffet yesterday! Then off to relax in the hammock garden with my book and my music...and probably end up having a nap :) Just what the doctor ordered after a very chaotic, exhausting first few weeks of camp!"


"Just got back from the hammock garden.  Never felt so deliciously relaxed in my life :) Had a very lovely doze, rocking gently under the soft, green canopy of trees, with the bright blue sky peeping through, and the birds singing a beautiful lullaby..."


"Had a nice stroll around camp, and a good long natter with the other International counsellors on the Observation Deck :) Now headed over to my staff cabin to watch A Knight's Tale :) Swimming, hammocks, walking, AND Heath Ledger all in one day?! Bliss :)" 


Now doesn't all that sound beautiful?  I thought so!  I definitely need a hammock of my own...

And so ended the first part of our week, and then that weekend we headed off to the big old Windy City!

Camp Positives

I realise my recent updates haven't been the most positive in the world.  I've tried to end on a good note, and I've simply been honest, but still...not especially positive.  I haven't had chance to update my blog much, but I  decided I needed to come on here and give a post entirely dedicated to the absolutely wonderful, positive things that happen at camp!

• The staff.  The people here at camp are just amazing.  They have so much love and passion that they bring to this camp, and it truly shows.  We might all be here from different corners of the globe, from different backgrounds, different ages but...we're all here for the same reason, to do the same thing - bring joy to the lives of children.  They're all a bunch a crazy, energetic people thrown together for one purpose, and I have to say...I love them all!  We go through so much together here at camp, and we're together 24/7, so you can't help bonding with them.  I feel closer to my camp friends than I do some of my friends from home that I've known for years.  Cheesey, but oh so true!

• The children.  The kids at my camp can be a bit of a handful sometimes, but they're absolutely worth it.  We're here for the inner-city children, the under-privileged children and the ones with mild special needs.  Some days that can be an interesting combination.  Other days it brings you so much more joy that I can't even begin to describe it.  Last week I had a girl in my cabin group who had some pretty obvious special needs.  Her motor skills weren't very good, and her mental age was a lot younger than her biological one.  The other girls (12-13 years old) could have rejected her, could have been irritated her, could have been cruel to her.  Instead she brought the whole group together.  They adored that girl, and did everything they could to help us help her.  If anyone on camp had messed with her, they would have had 6 very angry teenage girls to deal with! 

• The little things.  Things as simple as one of the children in your activity bringing you a flower.  Or giving you one of the things they'd made in Art Expressions.  Or a girl coming back the next week to drop off her sister, and bringing you a picture she'd drawn especially for you - with a letter inside saying how much she missed you.  Or a child spending their "money" (points they'd earned by reading) on candy...then giving half their candy to their counsellors.  Or the catch in a child's voice when they say they don't want camp to EVER end.  Or the hope in their eyes when they ask if you'll be back next year.

• The growth.  This is my first year at this camp, but some of the counsellors or youth leaders have gone through the whole programme.  The youth leader who assisted me in Journalism first came to camp when he was 6 years old.  He's now 17 and will be a cabin counsellor next year.  He hasn't missed a single summer in 11 years.  I might not have seen him grow up, but I can see him, and the others like him, in the determined faces of the children.  The ones who tell me "I want to be a counsellor when I grow up", or "I want to be just like my brother when I grow up" (the little sister of a counsellor who has also been through the entire programme).  I already hope to be here year after year, so I can see these compassionate children, turn into wonderful counsellors.  

• The hugs.  This week I didn't think I'd connected to my girls as much as I had in previous weeks. Maybe I connected to them the same, but I felt since they were older it should have been a better connection?  I'm not sure.  But either way, I didn't think I'd done too well.  Then when it came time for them to go I had endless children (whether they were in my cabin group, or activity, or not) come up to me, give me a hug and take special care to say goodbye.  I know I won't see a lot of these children again, so I treasure each and every hug (3-second, side hug!) as being absolutely precious. 

• The kindness.  Some of these children have very little.  That's the sad fact of this camp.  Some of them can barely cover the costs of coming here, despite most of their fees being heavily subsidised.  Yet they are the sweetest, most giving children I've ever met.  One girl told me "when I grow up, I want to start a charity to give homeless people homes".  She was 13 years old.  Another girl told me "It must be sad to not have an arm.  If I saw someone like that, I'd help them pick things up".  She was also only 13.  They were all so thoughtful and compassionate.  They looked out for each other.  They looked out for the staff.  If they thought we were tired, or stressed, they'd come up to us and ask us if we were ok, and what could they do to help?  They marveled in the kindness and patience we showed to them, not realising it was their due, yet selflessly would give the same to us without expecting anything in return.  These children are beautiful, both inside and out, and I am honoured to have met them.

I love this camp, I love the children, and I love the people I get to work with every day.  I am already making plans to be back here next year!  It's hard, exhausting work, but without a doubt - it is worth it.

The Kindness of Children

At my summer camp we have a "bead" system.  Each day the children are awarded two coloured beads - one from each cabin counsellor - for positive things they have done throughout the day.  This could range from holding the door open (social competencies - orange) to passing the Swim Test (boundaries and expectations - brown).  At the end of the week they are presented with their eight beads.

Last night we had our camp-out, which we have each session.  Boys have theirs' Monday night, and girls' is Tuesday night.

We were all huddled in our sleeping bags next to the dying fire, under the beautiful starry sky.  My "co" and I finished giving out that day's beads and were about to give the order to go to sleep.  One girl asked if they could please give out beads.  We agreed and made sure they understood they were only hypothetical beads.

Almost every girl then proceeded to give my "co" and I a bead.  We were thanked for our support, our kindness, our patience and our willingness to listen.  I admit, I teared up a little.  I know it's my job to be all of those things, and I'm sure the girls know that too, but it was so sweet of them to think of us.  The sweet, simple kindness of these 12-13 year old girls was genuinely touching.  I know my "co" was as moved by it as I was.

They then went on to give "beads" to each other.  In previous weeks this worried me a little, as young girls often give them to their "BFFs" only.  I shouldn't have worried this week.  They made sure no-one was left out.  If they forgot someone, they would ask to have another turn.  They also took extra care to include one camper with noticeable special needs.  Their gentle inclusion of her throughout this week has been truly heartwarming.

Thank you to my beautiful young ladies.  Last night you showed your true colours - Purple (positive values), Red (empowerment) and Blue (support).  That sweet moment by the campfire will stay with me for a long time.

Friendly Warning!

Further to my "Reality Check" post, I thought I'd add a couple of friendly warnings of things to look out for at camp :)

- Mid-week, the children will start to lose it.  Today is Wednesday, they have been here since Sunday evening and will stay here until Friday evening.  Before lunch one of my girls was playing a game, got carried away, and smacked an older girl in the face.  At lunch another girl lost her temper and threw her plate at the floor (almost hitting me).  Then one of the boys lost his temper (repeatedly) and started yelling and slamming things.  I left for my break and outside the dining hall a further boy was yelling at one of the head counsellors.  It's going to be an interesting day!

- Some children will wake up obscenely cheerful.  Even after camp-out.  The will chirp "Wakey, WAKEY, eggs and BAKEY!".  They will sing camp songs.  Loudly.  All morning.  Sadly, as exhausted as you are after sleeping on the ground, being bitten to death by bugs and dealing with kids all night, these are not horrific crimes you can punish.  In fact, you are expected to encourage such disgustingly happy, morning behaviour!

- Teenagers are sensitive creatures.  Think everything through at least three times before you speak.  I forgot that one girl had new braces put in, and asked her (nicely) to stop making a slurping noise.  She burst into tears and wouldn't speak to anyone for an hour.  Do not make the same mistake!

On the plus side!  The girl who got slapped in the face controlled herself very well, did not retaliate and remained calm, polite and smiling.  That's more than I think I could do if someone hit me for no reason.  My girls leaped to help clean up the mess on the floor, they held the bin lid open as I scraped food into it, they offered to run and get a mop, and generally were the pinnacle of helpfulness.  And I do know that it's good they're happy in the mornings - at least they weren't being stereotypical monstrous teenagers!

So it's not all bad :)

Reality Check

So I'm now two weeks into my camp experience so I thought I'd drop by and give a slight reality check.

It's amazingly good fun, but nothing you can ever read can prepare you for some of the things that happen in camp....

- Having a child who will just pee themselves.  Repeatedly.  While fully conscious.  And then lie about it.
- Having children just take off running.  And then leap over the fence and dive into the pool.
- Being woken up at 2am on Camp Out by a child screaming that there was something in the woods.
- Being woken up at 3am on Camp Out by a child who wants the bathroom.  Then arguing with said child until 6am to try and get said child to pee behind a tree.
- Having an entire cabin-worth of children crying of homesickness.  All at once.  Every single one of them.
- How flirtatious some of those pre-pubescent girls can be.  Guys beware of this.  Girls, if they keep acting up, don't let them go talk to the male counsellors so they're "talking to someone about it".  That will be a reward.
- How incredibly whiny some of these children can get.
- Having to function on no sleep yet still having to be happy happy HAPPY!
- Feeling like you're living in a musical - you will be expected to sing and dance almost constantly.
- Going out into the "real world" and feeling compelled to sing whenever someone says certain words ("Oh!" gives me the uncontrollable urge to break out into "OH!  A Pay-Day!  A Snicker, Snicker, Milky Way!").
- Going out into the "real world" and having to resist the urge to speak to everyone like they're a camper ("Hey, good job!  That was awesome!").
- Going out into the "real world" and having to resist the urge to raise your hand to get people's attention and be silent ("Hands are up, mouths are closed!").
- Having certain songs in your head constantly.  Justin Beiber is a main contender.  Closely followed by One Direction.
- How slowly some of your campers will walk.
- How far ahead some of your campers will run.
- How tactile these children are.  You are fair game as far as they're concerned.  They will play with your hair if it's not tied back.  They will play with your jewellery if you're wearing some.  They will hug you constantly.  It all sounds sweet, but the phrase "Hands to yourself" will soon be your most repeated sentence.

But it's also really good, there's nothing that can prepare you for how much these children can touch your heart!

- How sweet it is to see a camper come running up to you to give you a hug before they leave.
- Having a camper bring their Mom over to you to introduce her to you.
- Having an adorable message passed to you from a camper by another counsellor.
- The look on a child's face when you make them a birthday card and get your activity class to sign it for them.  Bless his heart, it wasn't even that good a card but he was so incredibly grateful.
- Having a child leap up and yell your name in delight because you walk into a room and they haven't seen you for a couple of hours.
- How much you will miss some of them when they're gone.
- Having children begging to know if you'll be back with them next year.
- Having children cry because they loved camp so much, and loved you so dearly, that they don't want to leave.
- How appreciative some of them are about everything, whether it's s'mores, getting three meals a day or just having a shoulder to cry on when they miss their moms.
- Having a child buy candy with "money" they worked hard to earn at camp (we have a reading programme where they earn "Bucks" each time they read a book, then "cash them in" at the end of session), then give half of it to their counsellors.
- How some of the most challenging groups can become your favourite.  I had one journalism class that made me feel like I needed to go for a lie down after their lesson, but they were the highlight of my day.  They were the bright spot on some difficult, long days.  They honestly kept me going sometimes!  I will miss every one of those sweet, wonderful, darling children.
- Hearing a 9 year old tell a child who is complaining that they're "starving" that "No you're not.  We have all the food we can eat, we just have to wait until it's our turn".  They are so incredibly sweet and perceptive sometimes.

Camp is the most chaotic, frantic, exhausting, wonderful experience I have ever had.  These children are both the most angelic and most monstrous people you will ever come across.  Every day they will make you want to laugh and cry at the same time.

It's long, difficult days, but they are absolutely worth it.

Staff Training is OVER!

It's been a long 11 days, but staff training has finally finished.  We've been taught everything they think we need to know, and Sunday our first bunch of children arrive!  I don't remember everything they taught us, but I'm hoping that I took enough of it in that I'll be able to use it when the need arises.

Since my last post I've been switched from Archery over to Journalism.  I'm quite excited about it, and I think it'll be great :)

I'm going to be working with the youngest girls for the first week - ages 7 to 9.  I'm so excited!  Me and my "co" have our Devotions (like Circle Time) planned out for most of the week, and I think we've got a handle on the whole thing.

We've had all today off, and all tomorrow, then the children arrive Sunday afternoon.  We get the keep them til Friday afternoon, then Sunday afternoon we get a whole new batch!  I'll also switch "co"s, so I get to live in a new cabin and work with a new counsellor each week.  I'll be teaching Journalism twice a day for the whole time.

My concerns for next week are -
- The Camp Out - a night under the stars not really my thing! We did it during staff training and literally slept on a tarp!  It would have been beautiful, falling asleep next to a campfire, with the stars peeking through the trees and people singing songs with an acoustic guitar...but unfortunately it was really uncomfortable and there were too many bugs!  My hands are still recovering from all the bites I got.  Friendly tip for summer camp :YOU NEED BUG SPRAY! A LOT of bug spray. Reapply it throughout the day too.
- Journalism - I'm hoping my first newspaper goes well.  Once I get into the swing of it, I'm sure it'll be fine, but at the moment I'm not sure what to expect.

I've had a great time during staff training, and have loved getting to know the other counsellors.  They're all amazing people, and I think we'll make a fantastic team.  I'm very excited for the children to arrive and see us all come together into one cohesive unit.

Gonna be awesoooome!

Archery Training

So today was my archery training, so I could become a certified archery instructor.  This was my first real camp activity since arriving 3 days ago.  There have been other counsellors around, but they're on Leadership Training as they'll be the head counsellors, so I've mostly been left to my own devices.

I had to be up bright and early (6am...on a Saturday!) to head to a camp that was an hour and a half away.  It was me, the other archery instructor, and two counsellors who were doing canoe training.  We drove in the Camp Van, rocking out to music the whole way!  The camp we went to was much more "out in the boondocks" (middle of nowhere) than my camp, so it was a little unnerving.  We headed off the main road onto some tiny, winding gravel road, driving through a mass of trees.  Little "double-wide" trailers were dotted all over, and run-down shacks with "PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs posted out at the front.  We finally found a small, hand-written sign welcoming us to camp and pointing down another tiny road.  We were a little freaked out, wondering where the director had sent us and if we would ever be heard from again!  Luckily the camp was pretty nice, and quite large, not half as scary as we thought it was going to be!

The archery training was good fun, but we were out in the sun all day so we started to go a little loopy by the end of the afternoon.  We had a lot of practice shooting, and then at the end we had a "practical test" where we had to each role play the different parts.  So we had to be the range officer, the instructor, the unruly children etc.  Playing at being problem children was the best part.  The other counsellor from my camp took this role very seriously, and was definitely an unruly child!  I discovered that I'm quite a bossy instructor though, and that I have a tendency to go a *little* power crazy.  This amused everyone greatly, and they all teased me incessantly.  However, I did notice that their role playing was very similar to what I said/did, so they must have thought I did something right..!

We all passed our training, and I am now certified to teach basic archery to children in the USA for the next 3 years!  If I need to re-certify after 3 years I can either take a test online, or have a refresher training as my instructor's assistant.  Sadly this won't be much use in the UK, but if I want to do camp again next year then it'll come in very handy.

I got to spend the evening with another counsellor and her family, since she invited me back to her house for tacos.  It was just us at camp, and I had no dinner plans, so she very kindly let me join her.  I had a great evening, they were very welcoming and asked a lot of questions about me and my life in the UK.

Overall, a great day!

Tomorrow is a sponsored walk around camp for the kids - a fundraiser to offset their camp fees.  I'll be helping set up by doing the food prep, then I'll be supervising activities at the finish line and generally having a good time with the kids.  It sounds like it'll be hectic and tiring, but I'm really excited to meet some of the campers.  Mostly excited about the lie-in I'll get in the morning though...!

Monday I'm leading an "outdoor education" activity in the morning, and then in the afternoon all the other counsellors will be arriving for Staff Training.  That is where the fun begins...!

Hope everyone is having a good day! :)