Saturday, July 19, 2008

1st session= done!

so the first session of camp is officially over! the girls cried most of last night... you would have thought they were never going to see each other again. when in all actuality more than 90% will come back next year. but i tried to console them, and after awhile their tears subsided.
i got to wake up bright and early to wake up a girl who needed to catch an early flight back home to Maryland. and by early, i mean 515am. yeah. it was pretty special.
i was sad to see my girls leave... after only a few short weeks i grew to really love some of them. but i am anxious to meet the 80+ girls arriving on monday.

Now i am resting in Cape Elizabeth, ME at my cousin's house. So far, so good. I am a little tired from the day. SO i will use my time here to relax and rest up! :)

Write again soon.

Love,
MaryAlice

Saturday, July 5, 2008

sizzling summer

----camping trip----
went on an overnight camping trip this past wednesday and thursday with ten girls ages 9-10. I had fogotten, but soon remembered how clingy this age of girls are. They constantly wanted to be holding my hand, sitting on my lap, or playing with you. Oh, and they constantly need to be entertained. If i heard one more time someone say "I'm bored!" i am pretty sure my head would have spun off.
....but now that i have that out of my system... it really was a great trip. (now looking at my previous paragraph i realize it sounds a bit harsh:) honestly the girls were great. There was one girl especially that melted my heart. She is 10, from Canada, and is already fluent in english, french, and spanish!!! amazing. She was a really good kid, and always obeyed what Lauren (the other facilitator) and i asked.

----4th of July----
was crazy, to say the least. i woke up at 7am to counselors on horseback yelling "the british are coming, the british are coming!" then the entire camp was dividied into 2 group(British and American) and did series of competitions all day long- balloon toss, tug of war, swimming, canoeing, noodle pulls, shaving cream slip-n-slide. etc. The girls had such a great time. Then after dinner we had a bonfire on the beach next to the lake, sang songs, roasted marshmellows and lit sparklers.
I was exhausted by the end of the night.

----today----
taught 3 classes of canoeing. all were a pretty big success. it get challenging sometimes because there are classes whhere i can have a 7yr old and three 14, who are all on completely different ability levels. But I often have an assistant, which is really nice.


nothing else new or exciting.

write again soon.

Love,
MaryAlice