Week One: Sticky Science / Nature Nuts

Hey Blog Fans!

Wow this week has gone so much faster than last week! I've got loads to tell you!

"WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME..."

Last weekend the camp closed and we were all off until Sunday morning, so we decided to go on a jolly! We tried to get rooms in New York but there were none available (and the telephone staff at each hostel were all really nasty!) so Fiona and Georgia tried Boston, Massachusetts, and got us beds in a guesthouse just outside of Boston. So 15 of us all packed into the heffer camp cars and drove to New London (how original!) to get the train up on Friday night. Once we got to the hostel it was seriously like entering the Twilight Zone - creepy antique furniture, portraits on the walls, creepy 1920's music, a stag's head above the fireplace, host wearing a flat cap...

Boston was fantastic. It's such an open and welcoming city - not at all daunting and dodgy like New York. We got a subway to the Theatre District in the morning (after a Dunkin Donuts breakfast!) and strolled through the park, had a banter with a passing fireman and policeman... but the best bit had to be the Cheers Bar! We visited the 'inspiration for the legendary TV series', and I have to say it was very small inside! I did go into squeal mode though when I saw the sign with the hand pointing down the steps - it was very exciting! The rest of the day was spent exploring the city, markets and harbour, taking photos aplenty, and then we met up at the Hard Rock Café for tea. One of the girls from Connecticut - Schnitz - works at a Hard Rock so she got us 50% off! She also got up on the table to do the YMCA. It was a lot of fun.

911? WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!

Saturday night, however, was not a lot of fun. We were still up chatting in our tents at 2am when we heard male voices, grunge music, a dog barking and a car revving coming from somewhere in the woods. We got really freaked out, especially when we couldn't get hold of the office or any of our supervisors. To cut a long story short we ended up calling the police. Who came 20 minutes after we'd stopped hearing anything. We spent the night in the health centre we were so shook up, and I only ended up getting about 5 hours sleep.

WEEK ONE BEGINS AND THE FIRST GIRLS ARRIVE

This week has been great. I worked with Monkey, Helena from Sweden (who has now acquired the nickname 'Dude', c/o Christina, because no one can pronounce her silly Swedish name right!) and 'Luna' (aka Sarah from Connecticut), which I was very pleased with cos I got along with all of them. We had 8 girls in our unit, all aged between 9 and 11. And they were all angels. We were so lucky.

Anyway, they'd each signed up to do either the 'Sticky Science' or the 'Nature Nuts' programme, but because they were such small groups we combined them. For Nature we did an alphabet nature hunt (where you have to find something for every letter of the alphabet) and exploring pond life by the lake. For Science me and Luna put together some great lessons! We made goo out of water, glue, detergent and food colouring, and made clay volcanoes - when you put vinegar and baking soda in them they froth up and erupt! We had lots of fun. The girls also did other activities that we got to join in with, like sports, arts and crafts, archery, campcraft, swimming and drama. Also, on Wednesday night we had a cook-out, where we made macaroni and cheese over a fire!

So as a result of this week I know how to make 3 different kinds of friendship bracelets, I've made goo, a volcano, and I cannot get camp songs out of my head. I think having Monkey in our group was a godsend though, because she's been coming here for 10 years either as a camper or a counsellor, so she knew exactly how everything went! I was really sad when my girls left on Friday. Every counsellor I spoke to from another group all had nasty brats and said they wanted my group cos they were all so good! I'm dreading getting horrible kids next week!

NIANTIC

Today we had a day off, and me, Fiona and Georgia all knew we really wanted to go to the beach. So Brooke (our camp director) took us, Christina Ballerina, Becky and the new German counsellor, Kate, to a place called Niantic on the southern coast. It was a lovely hot day and we had a great time just lounging and indulging in the sun! Becky and Fiona got patchy burns on their legs from the sun it was funny.

THOUGHTS SO FAR...

So what do I think of my time here so far? Well, I've really enjoyed this week and it's been a lot less stressful than I thought it would be. It's great to get out of camp sometimes and chill out, like last night Woosh took us to WalMart (always a seriously thrilling event!) and I stocked up on sprite, diet coke and munchies for my tent (even though we're not supposed to have stuff in there in case racoons see it as an invitation). I also bought myself a Finding Nemo watch (cos I hate not knowing the time around camp) and the watchface pops out so you can use it as a keyring it's great! I was very chuffed with it. I also bought a red TY dog teddy at a shop in Niantic today so I don't feel lonely in my tent!

The main thing that I've noticed about America so far is the food. Everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - is packed with sugar. I bought a lemon-lime slush today and it was a deep radioactive green colour and it tasted like pure sugar. Nothing like lemon-lime! It's all really crap and I can't stand to think what rubbish I'm consuming. The second thing is the bugs. I got a spider bite on my knee the other day and it came up in a big, hard, red lump. Quite worrying. I've also been bitten so many times by mosquitoes I think my blood must be toxic by now. I'm not even close to kidding - I've got about 20 bites on each limb, never mind the ones on my front or my back.

Anyway, I guess that's enough ranting for now! I'm moving into the mice-infested cabins tomorrow and doing the 'Night Owls' programme with Luna and Dude. It's the same age group (9-11) but they get to stay up later than the rest of the camp and do night hikes and stargazing and stuff. So if they're all up for it, it should be good fun. If I get chance during the week I'll post again, if not I'll do another weekly update next weekend. However, it does get lonely here sometimes so if you fancy writing to me the address THIS WEEK is:

Christina Page
White Pines
Laurel (CT)
175B Clubhouse Road
Lebanon
CT 06249
USA

Ciao for now, Chips (that's my camp name, by the way!)

This One Time, at Camp Laurel...

Hey Y'all!

Just thought I'd let you know how I'm doing at camp! The first couple of days were really hard, especially since I felt ill and had a migraine, and was finding it hard to come around to the idea that we were never going to move into cabins and no male counsellors were gonna arrive! Yep, were still in tents and we're still all female! It's kinda hard!

Anyway, this week has been mostly staff training, program planning and, for the most part, dossing about. I've done some First Aid Training and I started Lifeguard Training. Unfortunately I found it really difficult to retrieve a brick from the bottom of the lake, and even though it's the only thing I cannot do, I need to be able to do it, so there's no point in me continuing the rest of my Lifeguard Training. Which is annoying.

We've been having lots of fun with campfires and going out for ice cream and stuff, and everyone is really nice which makes the whole situation a lot more bearable. There's a real mix of people here - Americans, English, Scots, Dutch, Swedish... and we all get on really well. We even joked last night that when the girls get here they're going to ruin everything!

Anyhoo, the girls arrive on Sunday and it should get really hectic, so I have no idea how often I'm gonna be able to post. I've found it really hard this week to find time to breathe, never mind get on the net, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Cheerio!

Next Stop - The United States of America!

Hey Blog Fans!

I do apologise for the major decrease in posts over the last two months - this has been solely due to the fact that my home internet access has been non-existent recently, thanks to the astonishingly incompetent customer service staff of a certain leading broadband provider! However, this does not mean to say that I've not been up to anything - quite the contrary in fact.

Since my last post I have been to Manchester with travel accomplice Claire to attend an orientation session for Summer Camp USA. I was so grateful to attend this session with the knowledge of a placement rather than without, since it made the whole programme sound great and it got me really excited about going! That evening we went out into Bolton (to make use of the fact that Lauren was in town for the election). I have also been down to London to obtain my visa from the US Embassy, which was initially very frightening but ultimately a good day. I like London a lot, and to be honest I wish I'd utilised my time there in seeing some sights rather than sitting in Euston Station for hours! But hey ho.

What else have I been up to? Well I've been working 6 days a week at the Blundell, which I thoroughly enjoyed! The staff there are wicked and we have a right laugh. I was even bestowed with the 'honour' of MCing Quiz Night two weeks in a row! I was very sad to leave, especially to leave a certain person there who I'm sure I will miss the most!

Anyhoo, after much hassle, borrowing of much needed funds and days of worrying about whether I'm ready for another three month jaunt, I'm am currently back yet again at Heathrow Airport, on one of those amazingly irritating internet points with the most hardest-to-use keyboards in the world, awaiting a flight not east this time, but west, to Newark (which I'm not sure whether is in New York or New Jersey), in the good old USA. I can't believe this time has come so quickly, and I'm not sure I'm really ready for it. I can't get my head around being out of the country for another three months! Does not compute! Anyways, I guess if I'm going without any expectations then I won't be disappointed.

Ok my fingers are hurting now and I got a plane to catch. I'll post again next chance I get.

See you round!