Camp Part VIII

Has it really been a week since my last post?! It really only feels like a few hours. I have barely had time to breath, but I love it.

Camp has been stressful in a good way. It has taught me so much. My hesitations about switching to a younger age group were correct. It threw me and my co-counselor, Allon, off for about a week and a half. We are just now really starting to understand our campers. I feel that this summer has made me grow dramatically as a person.

Well, what has happened since the last update? Its more like what hasn't happened...

I think I'm just going to talk about a few things.

I am the nature specialist again. I played this game called "hardcore hide and seek" with my campers. Basically I teach them about how animals camouflage by playing hide and seek in the woods. The kids get to wear face paint and they love it. I have a lot of fun as well.

Parsha Players!!!! If you are not a Judaean, let me explain. Each week there is a portion of the Torah that is read and we, the Parsha Players, reenact it in a humorous manner for the whole camp.

Tiyul! We went on the a camping trip with our kids. It was only one night. The camp ground really wasn't a camp ground. I have pictures. It disgusted me. That part is for another post. Anyways, we went tubing down a river. That's right, we sat in inner tubes and let the current float us down. I found it a little boring, but it was a great way to bond with the campers.

I had my second day off. It is annoying that they were only five days apart. Sometimes that is just how life works though. The day off ended up being the best one I have had this whole summer. My friend and fellow counselor Noah and I camped out in the far fields of camp. Then in the morning all of the people on the day off (myself, Elisse, Allison, Noah, Itamar,and Lisa)went into Waupaca. We walked around, had lunch at the Waupaca Cafe (all you can eat fish fry!), and then we hung out at this cool park on the back side of all the shops. Once we got back to camp Noah and I climbed one of the high ropes elements called mission impossible. Its a set of railroad ties made into a giant cable ladder. Seems simple to climb, but is far from it. You work as a team climbing it, and Noah pretty much carried me up. Thanks everyone that went on the day off, it was a ton of fun.

Today was Yom T’nua for the second session (see Camp Part II for an explaination on Yom T’nua). This session I ran the Pluralism station with Lisa. We were really ill prepared. I felt bad, but I feel we did the best we could. I think the younger kids got something out of it though.

My group of boys is having some difficulties. There is a majority of the boys that are really well behaved. Then there is a few boys who ruin everything for the rest of the cabin. Allon and I exert too much effort disciplining the misbehaving boys instead of rewarding the good kids. So we developed a point system with A-ron, our merkez this session. This way the good kids will get to do some fun things that the bad ones will miss out on. Hopefully this will inspire some attitude change.

Next weekend a lot of visitors are coming to camp. I am really excited! Emily and Maddie who are long time YJ friends that I haven’t seen since December, and Kuhn who has been busy ruining around the world. Check out his blog, the link is on the side of this page.

On a side note, I have done more reading this summer than I have in the last year. I have read Three Cups of Tea and I have almost finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Both have been really good. I highly recommend them.

33 more days until Year Course!!!!

P.s. Thanks for the grad gifts!!!!

P.p.s. Soon there will be a picture post!