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Published: July 10th 2006
Well this is the first time i've had a chance to get online on a high-speed connection when this website was working, so it's the first update, what excitement, what joy!
Arrived in San Francisco and had a lovely day just exploring the city, was meant to go to Alcatraz but everyone was too slow and busy getting BURNT so we missed the last ferry booking. Boo! Oh well I can do SF after camp, I want to do the city justice anyway.
Camp is just... bizarre. I can't really describe it, it's like every weird american cliche you've heard/seen in movies come to life. And yet most of the time, it doesn't completely disgust me. Always nice. The kids are nuts and pretty much never shut up, whether it's cheering (the subject is a distorted version of a cheer) or complaining. I also never get any time alone which can be a pain but i reckon i'll have to just learn to sneak away on my breaks (which are a rarity believe me!). My 'tribe' is called Iroquois, it's the middle girls gropu (aged 10-12) which I think is ideal really cause they're old enough not to wet themselves every 10 minutes and cry constantly, but young enough to still be fun and not too scary. The summer's split into 6 sessions of campers, we've now had two. The first session was a dream, we think it was actually child actors employed by the government to give a good impression of military kids (the first session kids were part of something called Operation Purple, which pays for military kids to go to camp). They were so lovely, they listened when we talked, they rarely had any complaints, we just loved them and were so upset when they left. And when the new kids arrived we really saw how great the first group were! These are Bay Area kids, all full up of attitude and "hyphee" on Kool-Aid. They didn't give us ANY respect, they constantly backtalked and gave us attitude, every time our backs were turned they'd fight each other and it was just generally a nightmare. One of the kids in my cabin didn't even give me a hug when i left, I was a bit annoyed by that really, especially now i know she's coming back for another session! NOOOO!!!
The staff here are great, I have made so many new friends. I adore my tribe, everyone that works in our tribe is AWESOME. I have started to pick up all kinds of weird american phrases, like hyphee, hecka, all that weirdness. Yesterday Rodney (a counsellor and Shelia - one of the other Iroquois cabin leaders' boyfriend) "ghostrode the whip" in his car while i was in the back, which means he put it in drive and jumped out to dance! It was strange and fun. Last night a whole bunch of us slept out on "secret beach" which is actually a private beach here in Fort Bragg, it was hecka cool (you wouldn't believe how natural that sounds now). We all had lots of alcohol but I'm starting to get a chronic head cold, which is my excuse for a bad head this morning. Probably from swimming in the river, which is FREEZING! It's all totally beautiful though, this place is amazing. There's all kinds of wildlife here, I keep seeing deer (in the camp!), squirrels (one as big as a cat, i'm not kidding!), chipmunks, a woodpecker and we nearly ran over two skunks in a row last night! Awesome. All in all i'm having a great time, it's totally exhausting though, and I'm so glad the last kids have gone. One of them said to me "i'll be so glad when i go home" and i was so sick of her i told her "yeah me too, i'll be laughing". She wasn't impressed. Stupid kids.
Hope you're all well, I miss you all lots and lots.
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LaurenParry
Lauren Parry
My little adventurer!
Hay Jenny, Really great to here that you are having a good time in America it seems like ages since I heard from you! I am having a great time in Mexico, heading to Guatemala this weekend to start teaching my kids... who knows what phases i shall get of them! I am adding a blog tonight or tomm so keep a check out! Hasta Luego Lauren