Weeks Seven and Eight - On Stage

Hey Everyone!

Well, this last fornight has been the hardest ever. We've had so many difficult kids, and we also had three different programmes living in one unit, which was very stressful. We got another theatre group, but I just didin't have the same energy I had last time.

We had Casino Night again on the Monday, when I skived off with Amber to go grocery shopping! And we also told our kids that Dude's leg was bitten off by a beavershark (a mythical creature that we've managed to get all the kids to believe in) and it was a bionic leg, and they had to figure out which one it was! Tuesday night was weird, our kids were all hyper after cookout and we just wanted to chill out. It just started to get tiring dealing with impolite, mithering kids all day. On the Wednesday night a puppet show came to entertain the girls in an educational sort of way, so me and Tania skived and went for a hike up to the outer units of camp! And on the Thursday evening me, Tania, Dude, Rene and Fruity got to run campfire since Amber was ill in the health centre. That was a lot of fun!

On Friday the 5th it wa Tania's 21st birthday, and it was horrible! I got her some party stuff and Teddy Grahams (cos she keeps nickin them from the kitchen!) but it was a terrible day for her. It was really humid and she ended up cleaning a camper who had diahorrea and had shat all over herself, her clothes, her suitcase... Happy Birthday Tania! We had a big water fight with our kids though, which was great, but Tjitske shouted at Tania cos she had campers going home and they were getting wet. Trouble at th'mill!

On Friday night we went to Sarah's house cos she was leaving :(
It was SO good - we got wine and I was blazing! We also had a lovely dinner of chicken and rice, but the night ended with me having a really silly disagreement with Tania cos of our drunkeness. Oh dear.

Saturday at Camp was Rene's girls' Hula Party, with was great! We had leis, shell necklaces, inflatable palm trees, water games, grass skirts and a limbo pole! Steve the legend, our cook, cooked us barbequed burgers and hotdogs with ice cream for dessert - yum!

Unfortunately, our night was spoilt by finding out that one of our campers had been bullying the others in her cabin - cursing, hitting, name-calling... I was just SO tired of all the drama with these kids! By the end of week 7 (week 8 with staff training) I was ready for it to finish!

By Monday I felt terrible. That was my worst day. I don't know whether it was physiological, fatigue, or just the fact that we were so close to the end, but I've never felt so down and miserable in my life. I had to take some time out, so I went for a trek to the outer regions of camp. I was so chuffed with myself - I managed to reach the border signified by a "NO TRESPASSING" sign, and I saw two deer too!

On Tuesday it was the god-send that is get out of camp day, so for my time off Brooke took us to WalMart for last minute stuff and then for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. We ended up coming back to camp 45 mins late! But it was lots of fun. Wednesday was Pirate Day, and Tania and I were really annoyed that we'd not been informed, since we are the ultimate pirates! Thursday brought with it my first complaint from a parent! Apparently I'd "been yelling". That really bugged me, cos yeah, I have to shout to be heard over all the campers' noise, but I have never once lost my temper with them. Gutted.

Our On Stage performance was on Thursday too. We were no where near as prepared as last time, but we did a show of all different folk tales from around the world. It was good in the end, and me and Tania did a Punch and Judy show which went down a treat!

I cannot tell you how relieved I was yesterday when all our last campers went home! We all went out for ice cream after dinner, and got really hyper on sugar and euphoria! Today has been spent tidying and cleaning, and then playing with the tubes in the lake, cos it's been unbearably hot and humid. Tonight we're having a banquet with steak and veg and proper food! Then tomorrow we leave! YEY!

My plans from here on are:

I'm off to The Warped Tour Music Festival in Northhampton, MA tomorrow, then on Tuesday I'll return to Hartford, CT before flying out to Denver, CO on Wednesday to see Mark and Susan and co! After that I'm gonna travel round by bus and kinda play it by ear. I have a plan but I'm not sure how it's gonna work out so I won't divulge it just yet!

Camp has been great really. There's been times of side-splitting laughter and times when I've just broken down and cried, but all in all it's been a fantastic experience that I wouldn't change for the world.

That's all for now!