Camp Debrief

My last 10 days were so fantastic that the only way I could truly communicate to you just how fantastic they were would be to immediately call a taxi, fly to your city, sprint to your front door, kick the door open, grab your by your shoulders (forcing you to drop your mug of coffee which leaves a stain on your rug that you'll never be able to get out), shake you so hard that you kind of get whiplash, and shout "SO GOOD. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. SO GOOD"

Instead, let me share a few revelations:

1. You never stop growing up.

I had a few late night talks with some terrific people, and I think growing up was a general theme. Man, I have the best, coolest, most sincere friends in the world.
2. Canada is a really beautiful country.

I didn't keep my camera around with me as much as I would have liked, so the only picture I have that showcases the beauty of the valley we were in is this incredibly wanna-be-glamour shot. We just thought the wind was making everybody's hair look wonderful.Anyway that is the world's largest glacier deposit lake (or something) right there, folks. Camp is in the valley of the Canadian Prairies. The Prairies are CRAZY. The days would reach the mid thirties, and the night winds would drop the temperature to 10 or lower. We'd be wishing for more time in the pool during the day, then wearing three sweaters and two pairs of pants trying to fall asleep at night.

The skies were so cloudless sometimes that one could easily forget that water ever condensates. At night I'd stare up at the incredibly starry sky and realize my own (in)significance. The only place I've ever seen shooting stars or the Northern Lights is at camp. One night we stood at the top of a valley hill and watched a thunderstorm that was going on hundreds of kilometers away. So fantastic.
3. I might not be a city girl after all.

I just spent a week being exhausted, dusty, sweaty, smelly, sunburned, bug bitten, greasy haired, hairy legged, wearing pretty awful clothes with spills from lunch that nicely showcased my bike shorts tan. The soft water leaves you always feeling a big slimey. I have so many zits and blackheads. And it was completely blissful. You kind of have to leave your self conciousness at home when you go to camp. I loved being outside and surrounded by nature all day. Sorry NYC, you might not be for me afterall.

4. People are fantastic.

I worked with some of the most positive and inspiring high schoolers in the country this week. They're all just such good sports. I think some of my favourite moments of camp came while sitting in the cabin talking about everything under the sun (mainly boys).

Example: we woke them up one morning with 80s jazzercise music dressed like this:And they all joined in (instead of getting a bit of extra sleep) the forward-forward-back-back. It was pretty hilarious times, let me tell you.

Every person at camp was just so supportive of each other. Seeing 15 year old boys tear up as they hug each other good bye on the last day of camp is enough to make me start crying (again).

Man. Camp. It was the BEST.

Oh also, I won in a game of Settlers of Catan with only 5 points on the board (I had 3 victory point dev cards, and turned over a soldier for largest army one turn before somebody who had 9 points who was about to built a city. It was GLORIOUS.)

I miss it already.

Ps. This song will always remind me of camp 2008. Have a listen and imagine people dancing around a giant campfire: