Light at the End of the Tunnel
Posted by Jackie , 29 July 2010 9:25 PM
The time is flying now that parents' weekend is over.
Monday was beach day and went quickly because of the change of routine. We had excellent weather and the girls were more than generous with their food and candy. I was part of a lifeguard rotation and had an hour off for every 20 minutes I spent in the water. Otherwise, I hung out with the girls, chatted with the staff, and munched on some awesome treats. The epic find of the day was pretzel M&Ms: they're filled with pretzel centers!! So amazing.
Tuesday was a great day off spent at Old Orchard Beach and diverse locations around Maine - I spent two hours at a Chinese buffet and dance partied in a Walmart parking lot. One of my co-workers, Rachel, has a car here and we went around with another girl, Hannah. It was nice to travel in a small group in a real car, rather than being limited by being part of a 15 seater van. Old Orchard Beach was extremely commercialized, with a host of hotels lining the ocean and a permanent carnival just off the wharf. I think the beach is a common vacation spot for Canadians, as there appeared to be more people who spoke French at the beach than English sometimes. Though the air temperature reached 90 degrees at one point, the water was only 61.2! As a result, we spent the vast majority of our time on the beach and only ran into the water to quickly cool off. Leaving the beach, we did some shopping and then met up with Cara, another staff member, for Chinese. The rest of the night was pretty chill - after stopping for a few items at Walmart, we headed back to camp.
Yesterday, I spent the day in the ski department. One of their staff members went home, and I'm going to become a more regular replacement to maintain the number of staff required. Also, Pinecliffe was being audited by the American Camping Association to maintain its accreditation, and I think the camp wanted a Red Cross lifeguard on the boat if the ACA rep had any questions or requests. It was a nice change from my regular duties, being on the dock, spotting from the boat, meeting more of the campers who I don't interact with normally, and even skiing myself. There was one potential cloud in all of this, however. My co-counselor, Jess, was scheduled to work in small craft and our campers were left without a counselor to chaperon them. We picked one girl to be in charge, however, and make sure that all 7 campers were in the group before going from one activity to the next. As it turns out, the girls came up with a routine: the leader girl would shout "Sound off!" and the other girls would repeat their assigned number to check that each camper was present. I was proud of them for coming up with this, in a very maternal way.
After today spent in the swim department, I only have 13 more days of camp. The time is flying by, and I see the end as a bittersweet moment. Right now, I'm looking forward to the time when I can prepare my own food, wake up when I want, and only be held responsible for myself. At the same time, I can't imagine being parted from my girls after spending nearly every waking moment with them for seven weeks. I'll also miss many of the staff, the adults with whom I've shared my frustrations and joys in the compressed atmosphere of Pinecliffe.
We've still got some time left, though, and I plan to take full advantage of it. Up next on the schedule is the "Ten Day Calendar." This is a ten day extravaganza where each day has a different special activity planned. While I would expect this to start on Monday of next week, the official start date is kept secret from all of camp. The morning that it is to begin, the Junglers (our 13 year olds who have finished 8th grade) run around and wake up everyone early for a special activity. I'll let you know what happens once TDC starts!
