I spent a week in the kitchen. It wasn't horrible, or amazing, but I definitely learned how much effort cooking and cleaning in a kitchen truly requires. My previous work in the Gustavus cafeteria was hardly preparation for this experience. A week has passed, though, since then, and so as the cuts slowly fade from view on my fingers, so does my recollection of the experience. Essentially, kitchen work took me away from the "camp" experience to the inside of the camp--the behind the scenes work. It made me appreciate the amazing food up here all the more, and the kitchen staff that are doing it for a summer.
Last week I counseled--from Sunday to Friday. The seventh grade boys had a few things on their mind: girls, food, and camouflage. My four boys made a contest out of hugging girls--one boy got over 70 "points" just for one day--girls were worth 3 points and boys worth 1 point. Luckily we had only 5 total in our cabin--but food was always something they were excited to lap up--as if they hadn't had thirds the night before. Told you the food was good. Camouflage--a game that evidently all kids know besides me (wait, I'm an adult now...) involves one person counting to 30 and the others run away and hide (behind trees/brush/rocks) and the person opens their eyes and, without moving, looks for the others and calls them out. If they don't see anyone, they close their eyes and count to ten, while the others sprint toward them, hoping to be the first one to tag the person. I'd describe it, perhaps, as a mixture of the games "Hide and Seek" and "Kick the Can" so it's clearly an epic game.
Counseling was fun. The summer's nearly half over for me up on this mountain, and spending a week of it in the kitchen made my time outside with the kids all the more enjoyable. We saw moose, looked for the legendary "Ole," the squirrel who jumped into Stephen's cabin, Sorrow & Hope, in the top right corner. I wish I could do that--run up a tree and off a branch, all out diving into a little hole. Crazy thing.
Listening was a problem. One boy told me right away, "I never listen at home so I don't have to listen here."
He wasn't a bad kid, though. He just was used to getting treated as royalty, and he didn't really listen to his parents (or me, for the first two days). Eventually, everyone started listening after some persuasion ("You won't get to do high ropes if you don't listen during tie dye...").
This last week was a confirmation intensive week, and we relived the book of Exodus, which, if you haven't recently read, I recommend it. We had a Moses, Joseph, Aaron, Miriam, and I was the tribal leader of Issachar, which was the farming and ranching tribe. Fate? Maybe.
Regardless, it was awesome. We had kids doing ridiculous tasks--cleaning out the screws of the lodge's deck with Q-tips, cutting the meadow's grass with baby scissors, and more. We also wandered for awhile, after crossing the Red "C". It was a remarkable experience--one I was glad to finally experience. The kids actually got it. They understood what was going on, and that was the coolest thing about the experience. Well, other than the adapted version of Miley's famous song, now branded "Party in the Promised Land."
I should have been journaling throughout the week. I'd remember more, I'm sure. But this way I'll write the first things that come to mind. The things that I should remember.
Hasta luego mis amigos,
-AT
