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

Exploring Indianapolis

As promised in my 4th July post, here is the tale of what the two English counsellors did during the day of 4th July.

I'm 23, and my English co-worker is 22, so have both been able to drive for about 5 years, and are both relatively independent.  Now we're at a summer camp in a foreign country, with no car.  The shops are within walking distance, but the "internationals" get yelled at every time we dare venture out to them.  I understand why - there is a heat advisory out, and none of us have phones with us, but still...we were starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

Therefore, while sat on the porch on a warm, muggy Tuesday night, we hatched a plan.

We decided that it would be a shame to live here for 3 months, and only have seen Walmart and a few bars.  Other counsellors assured us that downtown Indianapolis was easy to get to on the bus.  It was settled - we were going downtown on the bus tomorrow!

We got up early the next morning (well, 8.30am), with the intention of leaving camp by 9am.  It was more like 9.30 when we actually left, and it was already stifling outside.  The bus stop was only a 10 minute walk away, though there was no pavement the whole way, so we had to walk along the edge of the road.  Much to the horror of all passing cars, I'm sure!

The bus stop was exactly where we'd been told it was (a sign depicting a bus and number 8 fastened to a telegraph pole), and we settled down to wait.  After a while we started to wonder...were the buses running on 4th July...?  Luckily a bus almost immediately arrived.  We bought an all day ticket, which was an experience in itself.  In the UK, you give the money to the bus driver.  In the USA, it turns out they have little machines next to the driver, and you put the money into there - exact change only.  We put our $4 in, received our all day pass, and sat down.

The bus announced each stop as we approached it, which was novel.  They don't have anything so fancy on the rural, village buses where I'm from.  Finally we reached downtown, and we realised...we don't know where to get off!  We saw the Indiana State Museum ahead of us, which was one of the places we wanted to go, so we decided that was as good a place as any to stop.

The night before, we had decided on our Plan of Action.  To start with, we were going to visit the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.  Apparently it's only 21 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty, and gives a panoramic view of Indianapolis.  We reasoned that it would be best to climb this first, before the midday sun made it too unbearable.

We set off down the street, not knowing where we were going and getting a "Chicago feeling coming on".  Eventually, we figured it would be best to ask for directions before we got too lost.  We stopped a random woman on the street, and tried to ask how to get to "the soldiers' memorial".  She didn't know what we were talking about, and we ended up having to describe it "that tall memorial...you can climb it...?".  She finally understood, and gave us directions in a slow, loud voice.  Is this how everyone feels when the British try to talk to people when we're abroad?!

The directions were quite simple, and we do sometimes have difficulty understanding people's accents, so I suppose it wasn't too bad that she talked to us as though we don't speak English!  The route took us past the lovely State Capitol Building.  It took us a while to figure out that's what it was, but it was beautiful all the same!  I'd have liked to have looked around inside, but we weren't sure if we were allowed so we kept walking.

In the UK there is a memorial in every village, town and city to the brave soldiers who died in the World Wars.  For this reason, we were intrigued to see an American memorial, although this monument is to commemorate a different time period.

Now, I'll hope you can forgive me for saying this, as I truly respect the men and women who give their lives in the service of their country but...I'm not a big fan of the monument.  Not because of what it represents, just...aesthetically.

It's spectacular, there's no doubt about that.  It towered above me as I stood, staring up at it.  It was beautiful but...where were the names of the soldiers and sailors it was representing?  Apparently there is a box with all the names in the corner-stone but...that's not quite the same.  I know that shouldn't have bothered me, but in a strange way it did.  It seemed to make the entire monument less about the people themselves, and more about "look at what a big, huge tower we built!".  I'm sure this is a terribly unpopular opinion, and it didn't stop me from paying $2 and going up in the elevator to enjoy the view, but...I don't know.  It just seemed too...brash?  I might be biased, but I think I prefer the small, simple memorials we have in the UK, where the main part of the memorial is the long list of names carved into it.  Anyway, I'll get back off my soap-box now!

We walked around the memorial, and admired the different statues before going inside.

When we went in we learned that we could either climb the 331 stairs for free, or we could pay $2 to go in the elevator.  I decided that, despite not being too fond of lifts, I was too lazy to go up all of those stairs and would happily pay $2 to not have to!  My co decided that she would rather walk up 331 stairs than go in the lift.  More power to her for it!

To give her a head start, I looked around the gift shop for a minute before buying my ticket.  The man at the desk was laughing at our quick discussion, and agreed that he'd pay $2 to go up the "lift" too.  (I later realised he was also teasing me for not calling it an elevator).  I asked if he'd ever climbed the stairs, and he told me that he used to.  Apparently he'd been in a big accident and had broken several bones (I forget which, but I think his hip was involved..?) and it was too hard on his body to climb them anymore.  He told me that he still climbs down the stairs every day, since gravity helps him in that direction.  I have to say, I was very impressed.  To still climb down 32 flights of stairs, every single day...?! Wow.  That's dedication!  I feel tired just thinking about it...!

The elevator was very small, but luckily I was able to ride it by myself.  Three people got into it and smiled at me in understanding when I panicked and told them "I'll wait 'til the next one!".  Once I got off the lift I still had to climb 30 extremely steep, narrow steps in a tiny stairwell.  I stumbled and hyperventilated my way up them, and was very pleased to reach the top!  I have relatively poor balance and don't like small spaces, so that wasn't very much fun for me.

The view from the top was worth it.  The top of the monument was a glass room, which I imagine got suffocatingly hot later in the day.  We got a full 360 view of downtown Indianapolis, which was really cool.  In comparison to Chicago, Indianapolis felt spacious and bright.  It also had a much more relaxed feel. There were barely any people around, so it was very quiet, but we think that might have been due to it being 4th July.  I think Indianapolis is the 12th biggest city in the USA, but...it didn't feel like it.

We saw the nearby Indiana War Memorial, which we learned was also a museum.  We decided that would be a good place to go next as it seemed to be an interesting building.  We also wanted to see how an American World War museum would be different to the ones in the UK.  Our displays World War displays are heavily focused on ration books, gas masks and items relating to children being evacuated.  Obviously a lot of this wasn't relevant in America.

The memorial was a few blocks away, and the sun was getting hotter almost by the minute.  We stopped to rest in the small park next to the building and admired the wildlife.

Squirrels happen to be my favourite animal, so I have a tendency to take a lot of photos of them!  This one was just too cute to not photograph though.

We walked around to the front of the memorial, only to discover that it was closed for 4th July!  Oh, no!  Ah well, maybe next time.

This seemed as good a time as any to head back to the Indiana State Museum.  We went back the way we came, and stopped at a Subway for so I could have lunch and a drink.

The Indiana State Museum was so cool - literally!  The air-conditioning was a welcome relief after the hot sun outside.  We sat on a bench in the foyer for a while as my co ate her sandwiches (I didn't want to bring a packed lunch; warm cheese sandwiches didn't sound worth saving a few dollars!).

After a bit of discussion, we decided we'd pay the $7 entrance fee (usually $9.50, not sure why it was discounted).  It was an interesting museum. I really enjoyed learning more about Indiana's varied history.  It's not a state I knew much about, other than it having the Indy 500.  I hadn't paid much attention to Indiana's existence before I was accepted at the summer camp, if I'm honest!

One of the things I enjoyed the most about the museum had to be the "yarn bombing".  I'd heard yarn bombing mentioned a few weeks earlier, as a possible art project at camp, but I thought it was simply throwing a ball of wool at buildings, similar to teepee-ing a house!  How wrong was I?!

Yarn bombing is much more interesting than that.  There were random knitted additions to displays all over the museum, and I was like a child on a treasure hunt trying to find them!  I was fascinated and more than a little delighted by it.  It gave the museum a sense of light heartedness that appealed to me.  Here's a few of the ones I found...

We finished at the museum at about 3.30pm.  We decided this was probably a good time to head back to camp, so we could shower and change ready to head back downtown for the 4th July fireworks.  We figured that we'd probably get back to camp for 4pm, maybe 4.30 at the latest.

Oh no, nothing's that simple for us...

First we had to try and find a bus stop.  We reasoned that if we went back to where we got off the bus, then crossed the road, there would surely be a bus stop to take us home.  We retraced our steps...crossed the road...and lo...no bus stop!  We walked a way down the street, and still could not find one.  We went into a nearby hotel and asked them for help.  They gave us directions which we dutifully followed.

By this time my co was having serious problems with her shoes.  They were new and were causing her no end of pain, after all the walking we'd done that day.  She ended up taking them off and walking through Indy in her socks.  Every time we stopped and waited to cross the road she hopped from foot to foot, squeaking that the pavement was burning her.  So you can see, we hoped we'd find a bus soon.

We eventually reached the bus stop the hotel had directed us to...and discovered it was a greyhound bus station. There were several buses...but not the one we wanted.  We found a police officer and asked him to help us. He found a number 8 bus schedule for us, and directed us to a street where we should find a bus stop.

Wearily we headed back the way we came, and wandered around the street he suggested, to no avail.  We went back into the Subway from earlier and asked one of the staff for help.  She directed us down another street.

Finally!  A bus stop!  Unfortunately it wasn't the right bus stop, but the one we wanted was only a few yards further down.

With no end of relief we sank down onto the seats in the bus shelter.  My co had to throw her socks away and put her shoes back on, but we were at a number 8 bus stop.  We were almost home!  Right?

Wrong!

After sitting chatting to some friendly locals for a while, a number 8 bus pulled up.  We jumped on and asked the bus driver if he went to where we needed to go (note to self: have more knowledge of the area around camp, not just the street camp is on!).  He told us no, he only went to the airport, we'd have to walk the rest of the way.  This didn't sound right, so we thought we should be on the bus going the other way, which was about to pull away from the stop across the road.

We leaped off the bus, flagged down the driver and ran across the road.  The driver laughingly told us he wouldn't have left without us, and we settled down on the bus, happy to be heading back to camp.

After being on the bus for a while, we started to realise that we didn't recognise the area.  We silently hoped that was just due to us being foreign.  The driver pulled up at the last stop, a Meijers store.  With some trepidation, my co whispered that this wasn't the Meijers near camp.

Oh...

We ran to the front of the bus, panic stricken, and asked the bus driver if we'd gone the wrong way.  Once he finally figured out where we were trying to go, he told us that yes...we had gone in totally the opposite direction.

Argh!

Luckily he was a very sweet, kind man, and told us that he was going in Meijers for 20 minutes, then he'd be turning around.  We could go get a drink and get back on the bus, and then we'd be going the right way.  He  told us not to follow him around the store - he wouldn't go without us!

We got ourselves a drink and some ice cream, feeling silly but reassured that we would get home.  We accidentally got back to the bus 10 minutes late, but as promised, he didn't leave without us.  I am so thankful for that man.  Not many people would make their entire bus route 10 minutes late for the sake of two daft travellers!

With a slight sense of deja vu we headed back the way we came.  We drove back through the neighbourhoods, and back downtown.  We were slightly chagrined to learn that there had been several bus stops next to the museum - if only we had turned left instead of right! But if we had done that, then we wouldn't have ended up on the bus with the kind driver.

Half way back to camp we had to change buses since the air-con stopped working (it was one of those days!), but finally we made it to familiar ground.

We're not sure if you can tip bus drivers, but here in America it seems customary to tip every man and his dog, and this was someone who genuinely deserved it.  So, when we gleefully left the bus we pressed a small sum of money into his hand and gave him a huge hug.

We staggered along the walk back to camp, laughing and joking about our adventure.  We agreed that we wouldn't tell the other counsellors about it - it'd just be further proof that we shouldn't be allowed off camp alone!

It was 7pm by the time we reached the staff quarters.  It had taken us 3 and a half hours to get back.

I'm not sure we've ever been so delighted to be back in "The Bubble"!

It was a long, hot, tiring day with a little too much worry, but it was a fabulous adventure and we got to see a lot of Indianapolis.  More than we would have if we'd not got lost at all!  We got to meet the sweetest, kindest and most helpful people who all made our day so much brighter.

I highly recommend Indianapolis to anyone who wants to visit, and I look forward to exploring it some more before I leave.

And this time, we know were the bus stops are, and which direction we're meant to be travelling!

Travel Planning Take 2

It didn't take long for me to realise that simply deciding "this shall be my route" is not all there is to planning an epic train journey.  Reality is beginning to set in (and not just the reality that I'll be doing all this solo, and will have a huge suitcase to lug behind me the whole time).  I'm going to have to think of a definite plan (there I was thinking I could just say "hey, this city looks nice, let's jump off here"), the time frames involved, and see just what exactly I can afford.  This means making the dreaded journey onto my online bank account - always a depressing venture!


Rather than face all the "grown up" aspects of my adventure, however, I've just been planning the route more thoroughly.  Much more fun that way!


Turns out I can't have the specific journey I want, so I've started over.  Still trying to get from Indianapolis to Orlando, but then carry on from Orlando and fly out from somewhere else.  I had a lot of fun on the Amtrak website and their interactive route atlas.  I thought the site wasn't as easy to maneuver as I'd have liked, but it was acceptable.


I can have 12 segments of travel, within a 30 day period, for $649.00 (approximately £420).  A segment of travel counts as when I get on, then off, a train.  So if I have to change trains as part of my journey from A to B, then that will count as multiple segments.  For example, if I am travelling from Orlando, Florida to Charlotte, North Carolina, I will have to change at Cary, North Carolina.  This will then be two of my segments.


My latest (ideal, but probably still unrealistic) route is as follows -


*Finish at camp*

Indy (Indiana) - Cincinnati (Ohio)

Cincinnati (Ohio) - Charleston (West Virginia)

Charleston (West Virginia) - Charlottesville (Virginia)

Charlottesville (Virginia) - Richmond (Virginia)

Richmond (Virginia) - Savannah (Georgia)

Savannah (Georgia) - Orlando (Florida)

*Go to Star Wars convention*

Orlando (Florida) - Cary (North Carolina)

Cary (North Carolina) - Charlotte (North Carolina)

Charlotte (North Carolina) - Birmingham (Alabama)

Birmingham (Alabama) - New Orleans (Louisiana)

New Orleans (Louisiana) - Memphis (Tennessee)

*Fly home to the UK*

If I stick with this route, (which is not wholly likely given the time frame I have), I will have the opportunity to visit seven new states.  Not quite as good as my original plan of eleven, but still a significant number!

So there you have it, the fruits of the last couple of hours of my life!  Is there anything you suggest I do if I make it to those cities?  Or places you recommend I go instead?  Birmingham, for example, is just on there as it was a big city in Alabama on the train route!

All the best,

Charli

My Bucket List

While reading a "Bucket List" post on TheHoliDaze.com,  I realised that is something I need to do.  It's all well and good knowing there are many things I want to do in life, and sure I have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to it, but still it's so...ethereal.

Many years ago my friends and I made our Bucket Lists from tea-stained canvas, but we were quite young and rather drunk at the time.  I seem to remember having just come out of a long term relationship too.  Overall, this sort of...affected...what we wrote down.  Besides, that was so many years ago (4 years, I think?), my list has changed in some ways.

So, without any further ado, I present you with my Bucket List (which I reserve the right to come back and change whenever I please!) -

1. Set foot on every continent
2. Visit every state in America
3. See the Northern Lights
4. See the Taj Mahal
5. Visit Tunisia and go on a Star Wars tour
6. Visit Ethiopia
7. Volunteer in Africa
8. Have a travel article of mine published, either online or on paper
9. Write a book and have it published
10. Take a drive directed entirely by a spinning arrow, or perhaps by rolling dice
11. Hula dance in Hawaii
12. Do Tai Chi in China
13. Buy a sari in India
14. Celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans
15. Release a floating lantern
16. Eat pasta in Italy
17. Ride a gondola in Venice
18. Ride in a hot air balloon
19. Holiday on a house boat
20. Make a "fort" from blankets - sleep in it
21. Attend a masquerade
22. Visit Charlotte, North Carolina - take a photo outside a sign with the place name on it
23. Meditate in Tibet
24. Visit New Zealand
25. Teach English as a foreign language

I don't want much...just adventure in the great wide somewhere....

What's on your bucket list?

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.