Locations

I should probably say just where I am in Germany. We flew into Frankfurt and then drove about an hour to Mannheim, where Kat's dad and step-mom live. If you look on a map it is right next to the Rhine, close to the border of France.

I slept from 10 last night until 8:30 this morning. Kaelan slept with me and he didn't move until 10:30 this morning! He told me he slept like a cadillac--does that mean he slept like a rock? He also told me he stings like a beaver. I think he's going for the version of Cars where Lightning McQueen says he stings like a Beemer. Anyway, he's fun.

I think we're going for a walk today to see a castle and be outside. It is beatiful here. The countryside looks a bit like Pennsylvania--lots of rolling hills covered in trees. I took a few pictures of the view from the yard above the house.

I guess we are supposed to be taking it easy today, but I feel fine. I think my internal clock reset itself already. Once the sun goes down, my body said sleep, and when the sun came up, my body said wake up! No problems. Once I took a shower I felt human again. And I squeegied the shower doors. I did have to take some Tylenol at about midnight so my leg would stop hurting. It feels ok now, though. I was worried for a while there that I would have a permanent limp while we are here.

More later!

I am already taking lots of pictures.

Germany

I am finally in Germany. After an entire day of flying--which equals a day and a night with the time difference. I started the trek at 8:55 AM and ended at 7:30 AM Germany time the next day. Other than a leg that is absolutely killing me and hurts to walk on, I'm ok. A wee bit tired, but I took a 4 hour nap today. I didn't want to do anymore because I need to get my body adjusted to the time difference. It is currently 9 PM here and I am ready for bed.
Other than being completely clueless about every conversation that takes place around me--unless it is in English--I'm enjoying it thus far. We are staying with Kat's dad and his wife and they have a beautiful home. I'm a little afraid to use anything though, in case I get it dirty. My bedroom and bathroom are immaculate and I worry about actually using the bathroom! White marble and gleaming fixtures... having my own shower will be great, though.
So thus far I have some observations. The cars here are little--there are quite a few of those that look like the kind circuses can cram 15 clowns into. And they drive at incredible speeds, all while following too closely and breaking in a manner that throws you against your seat restraint. Yikes! The village we drove through to get to Kat's dad's house had the tiny, European style street and old quaint houses. I'll include pictures later.
Kaelan and I played a game of soccer tonight after dinner. He's getting pretty good at kicking!
More later, with pictures!

Home Again

I am back!
After an emotional goodbye to everyone at camp--I am serious, that was the hardest one yet. I was crying so hard. I had just gotten myself under control and was ready to get girls on my bus when Bill hugged me and told me I was his favorite. I had to then get on the bus to hide from everyone else, because I was done saying goodbyes. I couldn't take anymore.
After that I was so tired and burnt out from not sleeping very well and then crying really hard that I felt sick. I dropped off the girls and then had to wait for my car service to take me to Newark. My driver, when he finally showed up, was extremely interesting. His name was either Wally or Willy and he was a talker! He never stopped. And he was an erratic driver, so I felt like I was going to throw up. I finally had to close my eyes in the back.
I met up with Tanya, Erica, Heather, Lindsay, and Rachel in the airport and we all sat together until it was time for us to leave.
And then the fun REALLY began...
There was a tornado warning in Manhatten, so I was stuck at the airport for an extra 5 hours. My flight was supposed to leave Newark at 5, with an arrival to Minneapolis and then on to Great Falls. My flight didn't leave Newark until 10:30, which put me in Minneapolis at midnight. That meant I totally missed my connection. I had a complete breakdown in the airport. I was that emotional passenger, sobbing in the corner. I cried on the phone to my parents and then my brother called me. As soon as I heard his voice, I lost it. I couldn't even talk, I was crying so hard. He pretty much thought I had lost it. I was just so tired and the last thing I wanted was to spend the night in the airport.
I don't even remember the flight to Minneapolis. I do remember getting there and locating a spot for myself to sleep. I ended up at some random gate--C 5 or 6, I think--on a row of chairs with my cell phone plugged into the cell charger they thoughtfully provide. I ate some vending machine food and went to sleep at 2:30. At 6 I got up. I think I passed out at some point, but it sure wasn't restful. Every 20 minutes or so a security guard would ride past on one of those airport carts, some random television was turned on really loudly, and the lights were all on. Still, at least I was fairly safe.
My flight in the morning wasn't until 11, so I had to go check back in at the gate and go back through security. Then I bought some contact solution and fixed my contacts. I smelled bad, I could barely see, and I definitely looked like I had slept in an airport. Ah the joys of travel!
I got to fly First Class, probably the first and last time that will ever happen. I think I fell asleep before the plane took off. I remember sitting down and then I remember the plane landing.
I went to bed last night at 6:30 and got up this morning at 7.
I am so happy to be home.
As for my breakdown, I felt extremely dumb until I heard from Erica that she was stuck overnight in Chicago and she cried on the plane very loudly, and then Heather R. was stuck in Newark all night and she cried too. I think we were all feeling physically and emotionally exhausted from no sleep and having to say goodbye to our best friends.
I don't think I want to fly anytime soon. And I'm flying to Germany in 2 weeks. Great.

Emotional

Today was a hard day for me. I have 5 bunks that I need to make sure are clean--and it just wasn't happening. I had to take an hour and sit in the office because I couldn't even be in there.
We had a GL meeting--our last sit-down circle, where we all get to say how we are feeling about the summer and thank each other. It is always emotional, but today was an explosion.
I cried throughout the entire thing. I really feel as though we were all friends--not that we just got along and worked well together, but that we were friends. I know I couldn't have done it without my fellow GLs, junior or senior camp.
Friday is going to be rough. Tomorrow night is going to be rough.
I have never been to a place where I feel as supported as I do at Bryn Mawr. I love Bryn Mawr. I love it a lot.

Color War End

Green won Color War for the 3rd summer in a row! The Final Fight was pretty spectacular--a giant hotdog on the green's team was beating up on Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and a pirate. Who knew hotdogs were so butch?
We have cleaning today and packing tomorrow. My least favorite days of camp. It just seems to take forever...but it isn't as hot as it normally is, so that won't be an issue. It has been freezing here. Last night on OD I was again wearing layer upon layer.
I have packed most of my stuff already. I'm on a bus to Westchester at 9 AM Friday morning, so I won't have time to pack much then. All my last minute stuff is still out, but it will get stuffed into my bags Thursday night. I will be flying home in my uniform--and I am perfectly ok with that.
It is going to be so sad to say goodbye to everyone. I am already prepping for the tears.
I am tired from having 61 girls to look after and feeling extremely run down. I woke up this morning with a sore throat--does not bode well. I am pushing the vitamins and the Cold-Eeze already. I can't afford to feel like crap on the last 2 days. I need to be present right now.
One of my girls got hit in the eye with a baseball bat during Apache relay a couple days ago--the result of a couple PDs who have checked out already and don't believe they need to supervise anymore. I was so mad. Her poor little eye is swollen shut and her glasses are a tad on the broken side.
We have late sleep tomorrow!

Summer?

What happened to summer?
It isn't here at LBMC, that's for sure. It has been so cold the past week! Since August started, it feels as though summer has peaced. It has been either raining and cold or just windy and cold--and OD is killing me! I froze last night--I was wearing a T-shirt, a long sleeve T-shirt, a sweatshirt, a jacket, and jeans and I still froze!
We are in our last few days of Color War and then will move into packing and cleaning. I am on a bus to Westchester, NY, for Friday morning. We are all already getting weepy about having to leave each other. I am so tired and ready to go, AND I will miss everyone here like crazy.
Good thing I was offered that job to work Conference Center here. I would start in October and work until December. I think if I like it, I could come back for spring through summer again. I'm not sure how I like the idea of living in Honesdale, but I do love Bryn Mawr and I hear Conference is much more chill than camp.
My girls in 11 caught a fish half-way through the summer and have kept him for an early wedding present for Drew and Britton. They named him Mighty Bob Ditterman--a mix of Bob Ditter and Bitterman, I gather. Anyway, he died 3 days ago and Chale, the nature director, woke up early this morning to catch another one and do the switcheroo so they could present Mighty Bob Ditterman (the 2nd) this morning. As you can imagine, Drew and Britton were thrilled. The girls were so excited about it, it was cute. Drew and Britton and I had a good laugh over Mighty Bob (the 2nd) and his story, but there is some concern over his life expectancy rate--which is well-founded, I think.

Unexpected Setbacks

Color War is here and that means a very chill, hang out time with my girls. Except now my co GL had to go to the ER last night and won't be back for a couple days, if at all. Which leaves me with 61 little girls to be responsible for. I am not too worried, actually. I know the job well, I know the girls well, and they all like me. Also, it is Color War, which is so chill and laid back. If it was regular programs, I would be stressing right about now. Also, I have so many people to help me out if I need it. I am worried about Kara, my co, though. I hope she's going to be ok.
I played in the staff basketball game yesterday and my knee is telling me how stupid that was as we speak. I had to wear my brace today and it is all swollen. I just finished icing it and it feels a little bit better, but it is still pretty sore and feels tight.
Less than one week left.
Today I judged for the Junior Color War Gym meet. It was so much fun. Bill told all the girls that in 2005 I was the Pan-American Games 3rd place winner for Beam and not only did they buy it, I have had staff coming up to me all day telling me how cool that was and why wasn't I working in the gym? I told them it was because of my knee injury. After having a good laugh about it inwardly, I told them that Bill always tells people that. If you ask, I also hold the most records in the gym for flips and giants on the bars. It made me laugh, though. I wish I were a gymnist!

Color War

Color War broke on Wednesday. It was an alien invasion, complete with spaceship. I was a bad alien, which means that I wore a scary glow-in-the-dark mask, dressed in all black, and snuck up behind the girls to attack the good aliens. I think they were going for an Indiana Jones themed thing, with the good aliens and the bad aliens. Regardless, all the aliens died. I was only stepped on once, so it was a good night.

Here is a shot of the scene, complete with my (supposedly) dead body in the front of the ship. You can't see me directly, but I'm there. We had lots of strobe lights going off, so that made it pretty cool. I'll have to watch the video to see how it all looked when we attacked.

Glory Days

Lsst night was Chocolate Banana Night! It is still too crazy to really describe, and yet I love participating in it. It never gets old. I love the crazy tribal-banana symbolism, and the drums, and the chanting. And even though I am not that crazy about frozen, chocolate-covered bananas on sticks, I still thoroughly enjoy the event when it happens.

Today was Carnival, and I was Funshine Bear. All the GLs collectively were the CareBears. We looked pretty good, for decorating our shirts the morning of. I made everyone a set of pipecleaner ears and we were good to go. I really dug my yellow soccer socks. I think the costumes were pretty awesome this year. I am always surprised, with how little time we really have to prepare, how creative and great the costumes are.

I was once again in the dunk tank. This year they rented it from the same company we get all our blowup rides, and it was bigger than the sketchy dunk tank. It wasn't as deep, so the danger of drowning was eliminated. It was wider, so you wouldn't bang your arms. It had a step, so you could actually get out of the thing. There were no wooden or rusty edges to take off your skin. There were no ants living in the seat. The seat actually stayed down and didn't drop you without warning. That being said, it was still not an enjoyable experience. The water was about 50 degrees and it was not the warmest day today--hypothermia was probably a danger. I'm serious, it was so cold that it took your breath away and hurt your chest and then when you got out, you couldn't stop shivering. I was the first one in again this summer--I do love being the dunk tank guinea pig! I didn't sit far enough forward on the seat on my 4th drop and the seat whacked me in the middle of my back on the way down. I have the biggest bruise there already. It hurt! After that, I couldn't stop shivering so I went and took a warm shower and gave up the dunk tank. I did not escape injury yet again. Maybe it doesn't matter what kind of dunk tank, maybe dunk tanks in general are just sketchy. There is no feeling worse than sitting on a slippery seat, balanced way out precariously, afraid to lean back, unable to grab anything, and waiting to be dropped into ice cold water. No worse feeling.

This is me climbing up onto the dunk tank. Notice the little window for your viewing pleasure.

And there is me being dropped into the dunk tank for my very first run--Kara, my thoughtful Co, gave the thing a push to test it out. It worked, as you can see.

So Bill brought me a snow cone to make me feel better about hurting my back on the dunk tank, and I proceeded to drip orange all down the front of my staff shirt.

After that I was a fortune teller with Charlotte--she made me a costume this summer! I read the TarUno cards--yes, they were Uno cards--and I had some fun making up fortunes for girls.

Tonight was the fake break for Color War. A bit of an Indiana Jones fake.

Color War is coming up!