If I had thought that there might be a slight lull in the excitement as we moved into the second session of life at Camp Hillcroft, I could not have been more wrong. The departure of campers at the end of 4 weeks and the arrival of new ones meant a fair bit of paperwork for myself and my co-counsellor. But I feel that the group of kids that we now have is much better than it was a couple of weeks ago. Also, my relationships with campers are growing all the time. I genuinely felt sad when one of my campers left last Friday and I have emotive reactions to their behaviour, like they are becoming a part of my life. I'm sure it sound very strange, but I find that I'm just having a laugh all day, every day, whether it is with staff or with children.
At the end of week 5, we had the annual Arts Festival. What this involves is where the whole staff decide upon a theme and transform the camp overnight, decorating buildings and creating props, all dressing in costumes, for the campers to see the following day. This year, the theme was Hercules, so camp was decked out with pillars and mythological alcoves dotted all around camp. Every staff member was dressed in some form of a toga; the effect was rather impressive. Throughout the course of the day, there were scenes from the story to perform, with a cast made up of staff. I played Philoctetes, the satyr, a cross between man and goat, and was asked by the director to play the role in a 'David Brent' style; the classic, English, dry sarcasm which Americans love to bits but often don't fully understand. I was dressed in merely shorts and goats horns and I pranced around camp all day long; as you can imagine, I had an absolute blast.
The following morning at 5am, I went with four international staff members to Boston. We managed to get a very interesting tour of Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox stadium and a look around Harvard University. Boston was a pleasant city, without any particular character that I have felt in New York, Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro for example. However, it was certainly nice to visit and get a few days away from the insanity that is camp. On the Sunday, we headed up to Cape Cod, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, with several quaint beaches. It was a very relaxing afternoon for the group and we had a great time swimming and sunbathing.
Other highlights have been the "Staff Olympics", which involved a tournament on one Saturday for all the staff. There was a lot of competitiveness because it gave us a chance to compete properly, away from the campers, against whom we have to go easy. This weekend just gone, the majority of the staff all headed towards Boston for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. It is a sport that I have come to really enjoy and I have discovered that it is actually a very physically demanding past time. Unfortunately, the team was unable to win a game, but we had a fantastic time. Another highlight of recent weeks would have to be the trip with our campers to Mountain Creek Water Park. Some of the rides there were just remarkable; the heights and speeds you could reach were staggering and the variety of attractions on offer was superb. It was a place that I could easily have spent a week at; even the queues were pretty small because the sky was slightly overcast.
In short, being at camp continues to be everything and more than what I was hoping for or expecting. I have met some fantastic people and have really discovered that working with children could be a very plausible career for me. And now, with just over two weeks until I return home, I find myself becoming nostalgic for this place, fully aware that I will be back to life in England in an instant. Of course, I am excited for returning home, but camp is a place that I am certainly not bored or tired of just yet.
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