1. Ticks. I mentioned bug bites, did I mention ticks? It's a "wet season" this year, which apparently means the ticks are on a mating rampage. I've had one on my arm, one on my stomach, one on my hip and one on my face. My face! All in one day. At least I only had to go to the camp nurse once, and I don't have any lyme disease symptoms. Raechel: 1, Ticks: 0.
2. Excrement. Urine, mostly, but a healthy bit of feces and everything else that comes out of humans. I imagine that the ignorant think being a camp counselor is a leisurely job that involves bug juice, playing soccer with kids and hanging out at the beach. The ignore the fact that bug juice turns into pee, playing in the sun leads to major sweat, and the waterfront is one big toilet. Especially with the younger kids, excrement is a major concern. If you don't nearly force them to shower, everything is rank from the sweat. If you don't get up to escort them to the bathroom at three a.m., they might pee the bed, and someone has to clean that up. Everyone pees in the lake, end of story. The bathrooms require constant vigilance- campers do not hesitate to poop on top of the poop on top of the poop clogging the toilet. Some friends of mine found that out the hard way this week. Puke has happened too. Intense puke. You do not even want to know.
3. Drama. Got worse. Hope it gets better.
4. Laser tag! This is an actrual good thing! The girls, with no campers this week, went out for laser tag on Wednesday, and I won! The red team camped the whole game. In a hallway. They were asking for it. I just kept running back and forth gunning down every single one of them. The adrenaline rush was nuts.
I still haven't had time to watch a full episode of Project Runway. I'm having withdrawal pains. I did catch the end of the second episode today, and I was a little sad to see Malan go, even if it was inevitable. He was growing on me.
How could you not love that face?
Saturday, July 22, 2006
The Wonders of Summer Camp, Part Two
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Wonders of Summer Camp, Part One
1. Bug bites. My dear sweet God, the bug bites. They don't stop. Every weekend I come home thinking; ah, relief, at least I won't find any new bug bites for a few days. Incorrect, I think the bites are independently multiplying. I've just now counted twenty-five bites, on my arms alone. My legs are a whole other mess.
2. Mysterious bruises. When did I mutilate the back of my leg? Was I carrying a sledgehammer improperly? Did I mention that in addition to being an Episcopalian camp, the older kids do work projects? It's not as bad as it sounds- in fact, it's not bad at all. It's satisfying. I've chopped down trees, painted cabins, built bridges, scrubbed toilets... which reminds me.
3. I plunged my first toilet. That one wasn't an official work project, I'm just that damn handy. I woke up at six, had to pee, found a clogged toilet and saw a plunger. The boy may be a chef, but I'm well-versed in dirty work. I have willingness, nay, enthusiasm to, say, crawl under a cabin in the mud and rake. It's character building. It's a life skill. It's marriage material.
4. Drama! I can't speak a word of it, because I have love for my co-workers and respect for their privacy, but know that it's some of the most intense I've ever seen. Well, that's not true at all, but it's early in the summer, and the precedent is being set pretty high. Oh, and there are four Camp America counselors this summer, so the drama is going international.
I'm catching Project Runway season 3 for the first time right now, so nothing on that yet. I won't pick favorites yet, but it's a very promising group. I have to be back at camp in two hours, so peace, love and mango juice.
