Oh so THAT'S Camp! - June Updates

My June was all about getting to know a new side of camp, that started with the appreciation day. We started with the brick dedication for the peace pole, I HAVE MY OWN BRICK NOW, and it was just wonderful to see the camp community coming together, celebrating camp, all getting along and having fun without much program but a lot of love for camp. And it kept going like that the whole day, with everybody just hanging out and enjoying camp. We played some carpet pool, ate together, dedicated the volunteers of the year, Stanley and Tom who are both so amazing and I'm glad that I got to work with them this year.

I don't know if you know this but Jen and I have been practicing swimming to become lifeguards since like February and this June we finally took the class, together with Jessica who's also on camp staff. We were all so nervous for the pre-test but we made it and are all lifeguards. So you're safe to come swimming at camp now.

The first camp week we had this summer was a FaithX group, so a work camp, coming to do some service projects for us. They did so much it was crazy and they finished everything so quick we almost couldn't think of new things for them to do quick enough. Some of what they did was putting the bricks around the peace pole in, raking and mulching A LOT, planting new native plants, and building us a bridge. It was great having so many people to work on these things. While FaithX was still happening we also started our staff training, which was so exciting because now I finally have more then one person to work with!

And then our actual camp season started with Tween Camp. I did a couple of things for that week, I was a cabin-counselor, lifeguard, led archery, and helped out in the kitchen for lunch which is how I got my first nickname this summer: chef-dude.

It was a great week for me to get to know all the camp traditions and get used to what camp is gonna be like. We also started teaching words of the day in Spanish, French, and German. In my cabin for that week (Sequoia) also the tale of the nighttime-nibbler was born, you'll find out more about it when you're at camp - it's a thing now.

Following Tween and closing June we had Specialty Camp - so Horses, Creative Arts, and Outdoor Adventures. My tasks pretty much where the same as tween camp, I was a counselor for Creative Arts. We also added Japanese to the words of the day, because we had a counselor who speaks it a bit. This week was definitely different with all the specialized activities, and a lot fun still. I think what I enjoyed most was the fun campfire we had, learning so many new camp songs, which is kind of similar to what my youth group back home would do, so I really enjoyed doing that. I'd say the Bog Song is my favorite.

Both of these camps were amazing, I had great campers and great people to work with. This is exactly why I chose Camp Mardela for my BVS year.