Friday, June 27, 2008
Week Three: Routine
This week saw the onset of some routine: normal chug schedules, regular perek zayin and night activities, a day off and some rain. Michal and Ben finally arrived to camp, remedying a very understaffed tzevet mayim. I actually left for my day off before they arrived camp, but because we (Hilary and I) were driving south, we were able to park on the grassy median of 23/441 to say hello. We had a quick catch-up and then each went our separate, opposite directions. Most unfortunately, we arrived too late to even order from Pita House, so we were forced into pareve for dinner. We had italian instead, watched the very funny people at neighboring tables and tried to guess the ethnicity of Dimar. The next day brought some Wii playing including wild experimentation with Super Mario Galaxy. After that, we met up with the Killips for a very pleasant burrito lunch. They are coming to camp for two weeks to teach, I am very much looking forward to that, as it will also signify that everyone who is arriving at camp will be here (Jason and Alli, now that the Kabatznikim are here). Edit: I have now learned that Matt Bar will also be teaching at camp for two weeks. While I do not know him nearly as well, I trust that hilarity will ensue.
After lunch, we departed for home, took a little detour in the direction of (but not to) the airport and wound up in Spaghetti Junction, the most delicious of all the junctions. Once we escaped Atlanta traffic, we took a pit stop near Gainesville, where I stepped in gum with my first step out of the car and Hilary bought me a Gainesville Times, under the impression that it was a new York Time (neither of us noticed that it cost 50 cents instead of $1.25).
We are now in the last full week of session alef, so chugim are winding up, thunderstorms are finally moving into camp, trips are being taken and the excitement is building for this year's explanation of how Yom Something is going to be canceled.
After lunch, we departed for home, took a little detour in the direction of (but not to) the airport and wound up in Spaghetti Junction, the most delicious of all the junctions. Once we escaped Atlanta traffic, we took a pit stop near Gainesville, where I stepped in gum with my first step out of the car and Hilary bought me a Gainesville Times, under the impression that it was a new York Time (neither of us noticed that it cost 50 cents instead of $1.25).
We are now in the last full week of session alef, so chugim are winding up, thunderstorms are finally moving into camp, trips are being taken and the excitement is building for this year's explanation of how Yom Something is going to be canceled.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Week Two: Acclimation
The second week of camp usually brings a sense of normalcy, calm and routine to both the campers and the staff. There was some of that. Then there was also the frenzy of planned and unplanned chaos that is camp. Aside from chugim beginning (and switching of chugim starting today, already), which caused me considerable amounts of work and sun, there were more than a handful of visitors this past weekend. First off, it was board weekend. Secondly, it was UNC visitation weekend aka, Hannah, Alyssa and Alli. Naturally, I got the latter OKed, before someone realized it might conflict with the former, but Fred the Head worked it all out for us, and every got to come. This unfortunately meant something of a food shortage, but more importantly, that I missed hockey in favor of social engagements for the second week in a row.
Saturday night we had our first all staff meeting, mostly to demand that people fill out forms that should have been in a month ago, and to say keep up the good work and then make it better. Also, the director gave us specific instructions which all the senior staff knew very well, having been given quite the explicit lecture by the previous administration, at a very similar meeting.
Last night I had toran (now rosh shmirah) for the second night is a row, but I am sure that I will be well-compensated for it. While Ester and I were making our rounds, we discovered, among other things, a fairly large frog in the road. Details can be found at the top of the post.
At the moment tower staff is a bit short, as we have two people out on a trip and another at college orientation. This leaves us with only six people to cover our chugim (one of which is on said trip). I leave for my 24 on Tuesday, for the long-planned trip to the Brown House.
Friday, June 13, 2008
First Week of Camp
Shavuot was quite the experience. This was my third, and for the foreseeable future, last Shavuot at camp. The first one was also during a staff week, and I have no recollection of it. The second one was in 2005, I believe there is a post dedicated to my works created at that time (search for "Fresh Prince"). This one was not so entertaining. I went to a few shiurim, played a bit of Settlers and collapsed for an hour-long nap before shacharit, which ran 6-8 AM. The morning was spent sleeping, and the rest of Shavuot greatly resembled Shabbat, volleyball game included.
One thing of interest did happen during the two days of Chag. I was in my bathroom, minding my business, when suddenly something struck me on the back of my head. My first thought was "Who throws things in the bathroom?" Naturally, I was completely alone in my windowless bathroom, so this was a rather foolish idea. I soon realized that what had hit me was the cover to our bathroom light. It had been lit for quite a while (chag and all) but why it chose that exact moment to fall on my head is beyond me. I have yet to put it back, possibly out of a residual fear that it will attack me again.
Immediately following chag, prep for campers kicked into high gear. I had all of six hour between the end of my airport meeting (11:30 pm) and the departure time of the early van for H-JIA (5:30 am). The day at the airport went unusually smoothly, despite its inordinate length. All the bags, children and flutes left on airplanes were found and accounted for, and left the airport near the time to which they were slated. We had grand plans to take the van to Pita House after the last bus left, but they were thwarted by a staff member's delayed flight.
Shopping day, when the campers tour all of their options at camp, is a light day for the tower staff. After we watched AdAm give the initial shpiel, I went to help the Ivrit staff level the younger aidot, now a three year tradition for me. Afterwards, the entire tower staff did some practice climbing, pictures, and put up the shade tarp. The final step is to purchase a hammock, to be used both at camp and then somehow in my apartment next year.
Today, Friday, I finally ate the snack that my father brought me on Wednesday, to avoid the hunger that pizza lunches tend to cause me.
Shabbat Shalom.
One thing of interest did happen during the two days of Chag. I was in my bathroom, minding my business, when suddenly something struck me on the back of my head. My first thought was "Who throws things in the bathroom?" Naturally, I was completely alone in my windowless bathroom, so this was a rather foolish idea. I soon realized that what had hit me was the cover to our bathroom light. It had been lit for quite a while (chag and all) but why it chose that exact moment to fall on my head is beyond me. I have yet to put it back, possibly out of a residual fear that it will attack me again.
Immediately following chag, prep for campers kicked into high gear. I had all of six hour between the end of my airport meeting (11:30 pm) and the departure time of the early van for H-JIA (5:30 am). The day at the airport went unusually smoothly, despite its inordinate length. All the bags, children and flutes left on airplanes were found and accounted for, and left the airport near the time to which they were slated. We had grand plans to take the van to Pita House after the last bus left, but they were thwarted by a staff member's delayed flight.
Shopping day, when the campers tour all of their options at camp, is a light day for the tower staff. After we watched AdAm give the initial shpiel, I went to help the Ivrit staff level the younger aidot, now a three year tradition for me. Afterwards, the entire tower staff did some practice climbing, pictures, and put up the shade tarp. The final step is to purchase a hammock, to be used both at camp and then somehow in my apartment next year.
Today, Friday, I finally ate the snack that my father brought me on Wednesday, to avoid the hunger that pizza lunches tend to cause me.
Shabbat Shalom.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Zeroth and Staff Week at Camp
A two weeks ago today , I was getting extremely antsy waiting for graduation to end so that I could drive down to camp immediately afterwards. The caravan consisted of four cars and nine people and all of their luggage, which mercifully fit in without issues. We drove from the Boro to Asheville without incident, found J-Po and tossed him into the car, and then only stopped again in Clayton. I managed not to get lost, but of course that meant that two of the other cars did. We reconvened at the Circle K which was ridiculously expensive, an unfortunate omen for the rest of the summer. Despite arriving 5 hours after the advertised time, it did not appear that we had missed anything.
Camp Yofi was an amazing and immensely educational experience for me. This was my first prolonged contact with autism, and while I approached with a fair amount of trepidation, it was far more familiar than I had expected. At the tower, there was really very little difference between Cochavimers and their siblings. Camp Yofi operates according to one might call "Family-Camp Style." There are daily full staff meetings, everyone does shmirah, and everyone is exhausted after one weekend. The great thing about yofi is that the staff-guest ratio for once "favors" the staff, because each child with autism gets a chaver, someone who is with them for all peulot, and then the anafim are very well staffed.
Something else I noticed at Yofi is that either because of the weather or just the Wrath of God, a multitude of flies and other insects descended on camp. After about a week of swatting and waving of arms, some orange fly-attractors appeared and seemed to have lessened the burden of the swatting (wo)man. That and a bought a two-pack of swatters at the DG and have brought the war to the bugs.
The composition of the tower is unusual this year. Not in the personality of its staff (see previous years) but in the number and distribution of its members. We have AdAm and I, seasoned veterans, and then two JC's one of whom was a CIT with us. Then we also have five mishlachat members. To begin, nine is far greater an number than has even been on tower staff (I have experienced summers with only five). This is great in terms of belayers and hours worked, but we also have to traing seven people from the ground up. To this end, we had four long days of training on the tower, Odyssey, swing, and wall. While all the training was immensely useful for the new staff, it was very tiring and prevented them from doing anything but peulot erev with their eidah. In theory, this means they will be excellent tower staff members but mediocre mumchim (mixoim). We will see.
As usual, I am feeling my age at camp. I am older than most of the mishlachat, and the entirety of the staff minus the roshes. I have plenty of friends among the youngins, but it just seems to weird to me that they are no longer campers. I seems like so long ago that I made that transition. It is that transitional period that stays in my memory, while the intervening years are all a blur. Also possible is that my mind has remembered the horrors of that year and has forgotten the comparative calm that followed.
Shavuot is upon me! I have half an hour to shower and throw on a polo shirt. No shaving, there is just no point before a two-day yomtov. Wednesday is arrival day, and while I am going to the airport, I hope I will not have any reason to pass through security.
Camp Yofi was an amazing and immensely educational experience for me. This was my first prolonged contact with autism, and while I approached with a fair amount of trepidation, it was far more familiar than I had expected. At the tower, there was really very little difference between Cochavimers and their siblings. Camp Yofi operates according to one might call "Family-Camp Style." There are daily full staff meetings, everyone does shmirah, and everyone is exhausted after one weekend. The great thing about yofi is that the staff-guest ratio for once "favors" the staff, because each child with autism gets a chaver, someone who is with them for all peulot, and then the anafim are very well staffed.
Something else I noticed at Yofi is that either because of the weather or just the Wrath of God, a multitude of flies and other insects descended on camp. After about a week of swatting and waving of arms, some orange fly-attractors appeared and seemed to have lessened the burden of the swatting (wo)man. That and a bought a two-pack of swatters at the DG and have brought the war to the bugs.
The composition of the tower is unusual this year. Not in the personality of its staff (see previous years) but in the number and distribution of its members. We have AdAm and I, seasoned veterans, and then two JC's one of whom was a CIT with us. Then we also have five mishlachat members. To begin, nine is far greater an number than has even been on tower staff (I have experienced summers with only five). This is great in terms of belayers and hours worked, but we also have to traing seven people from the ground up. To this end, we had four long days of training on the tower, Odyssey, swing, and wall. While all the training was immensely useful for the new staff, it was very tiring and prevented them from doing anything but peulot erev with their eidah. In theory, this means they will be excellent tower staff members but mediocre mumchim (mixoim). We will see.
As usual, I am feeling my age at camp. I am older than most of the mishlachat, and the entirety of the staff minus the roshes. I have plenty of friends among the youngins, but it just seems to weird to me that they are no longer campers. I seems like so long ago that I made that transition. It is that transitional period that stays in my memory, while the intervening years are all a blur. Also possible is that my mind has remembered the horrors of that year and has forgotten the comparative calm that followed.
Shavuot is upon me! I have half an hour to shower and throw on a polo shirt. No shaving, there is just no point before a two-day yomtov. Wednesday is arrival day, and while I am going to the airport, I hope I will not have any reason to pass through security.
