Chapter 7: And the Award Goes To...

Any person that can change briefs for a living and never sweat it even when they’re filled with poop!

Week three of camp was outrageous! By Wednesday I was exhausted and ready to fall over, my legs feel like rubber chicken legs (I should have nicer calves by the end of the summer) and my brain has officially shut down until Sunday afternoon. All because we had so many personal cares to attend to this week and a huge cabin (10 campers) that it really feels like I was never off duty.

I’ve spent some time questioning things recently and I’ve found it extremely difficult to keep cool when frustrated lately. Typically if someone says something stupid or gets an attitude I can blow it off but lately I’ve been dishing it right back. I finally decided that the reason for this is simply that I can’t escape the behaviors like I could before; I’m living with the people that I work with every single day from Sunday – Friday. There is no going home and getting away, no venting to your spouse/friend/parent/etc, there is nothing to make it temporarily better and to allow a person time to cool off and forget about it. Instead, we all sleep in the same room and literally spend 24 hours a day together for 6 days (minus 6 hours for time off). It’s a bit much but now that I’ve decided that that’s the problem, I’m going to spend some time devising a way to fix it because I can’t go through the next five weeks getting so easily frustrated and not having a way to release the frustration.

Despite the incredible number of personal cares, I really enjoyed my campers – all 10 of them. We had several non-verbal campers which pose a slight challenge but you learn quickly how to communicate with them and it always helps that they understood what was said to them. Still, it was a little difficult adjusting to caring for a person who can’t tell you with words how she feels and/or what she likes/dislikes etc; it makes you appreciate simple conversations more than you ever did before.

Week three wore me out and left my body slightly deformed but I’m still eager to see what’s in store for week four. I am going to Camp Eden Wood this Sunday, a sister camp about an hour and a half from here. I am really excited to see it and to work there for a week; maybe the change of scenery and pace will make me feel better when I come back to Camp Friendship (Eden Wood is smaller and has less cabins). I’m just excited to get out and see what other parts of Minnesota are like and meet some new campers.

Until next time,
Courtney Chivon