I love this camp

Oh friends!  I'm finally back from camp!  As I write, I'm laying on the sofa in the living room with a cup of tea close at hand -- almost all of the workers and half the kids got sick with some kind of summer cold.  Tanya just made me drink that awful-but-effective homemade cough syrup (the recipe can be found here) and hopefully I should be right as rain in no time.

So camp.  I think the people that know me well are probably in a bit of shock because of how much I love camp, because it's really unlike me.  Growing up I hated camp and campy things, and now I'm going to make a job out of it!  But more on that later...

This camp was Logos.  There were two sessions of 90 kids each, and I worked at the session with the older kids.  The theme was "The Armor of God".  Every day the kids had small groups as a cabin, and at the evening meetings there was worship and a message about the topic of the day.  In between that the day was filled with sports and trips to the sea (or movies when it rained).  I jotted down a few highlights from camp, because there's just too much to tell it all!

Vitya and Kostya, all geared up to help carry bags

Our camp director Andree adding a little Soviet charm to the opening ceremonies of our camp

The campers lined up for the opening ceremonies

Morning exercises!  That's Serafima on the left and Andree's wife Natasha on the right

Every morning we sang the camp hymn and raised the flag, then said the Lord's Prayer together

The camp's brand new climbing wall!  It was a total hit.

-- We had "trouble kids" from day one.  There were a couple of dudes who had no idea about Logos camp (16-year-old boys are the same all over the world; the simply failed to read the info they were sent or go the the website).  They promptly informed their counselors that they were here to relax and didn't plan on participating in the program. I asked them to help a couple girls with their suitcases and they didn't even dignify that request with a response, to give you an example of their attitudes.  However, they had a chit-chat with our director Andree that night, and by the end of camp they were laughing and participating just as much as anyone else.

-- Girls from Moscow.  "In Moscow we have this, in Moscow we have that..." They were kind of pills.  Most Russians who don't live in Moscow have a fairly low opinion of Muscovites, and generally regard them as snooty.  I didn't put a lot of stock in that until I saw a couple girls at camp who upheld the stereotype.  They were snooty and kind of rude, and didn't want to participate in anything.  However, our father is bigger than Moscow, and just like the two hooligans who didn't want to participate, by about day 4 or 5 they were loving camp as much as anyone else.

-- For a couple of days we had a girl name Gulya with us.  She was from one of the towns that was flooded and she and her family lost everything.  They immigrated from Kazakhstan a couple of years ago and Gulya is wheelchair and crutches bound because of a horrible infection on her leg.  In the end, the camp didn't have the permits they needed to take care of someone in her position and she had to go home, but we were able to take her to the sea for the first time and give her a little happiness in a time of loss.

-- One of our counselors was telling us about her girls; they were going around in a circle saying a little something about themselves by way of introduction.  "I'm 16 and I have a cat".  "I'm almost 15 and I have a hamster."  "I'm 16 and I have a little boy".  This was a very different age group to work with because they are old enough to have adult problems and to have already seen a lot of life, and not necessarily the good side of it.

The best part of camp, for me, was seeing how many kids from English Camp were there.  There were probably about 15 kids from English Camp at this session, and they told me there were more at the first session for younger kids.  A lot of these kids, a few girls in particular, were really against the idea of faith, but they came to Logos knowing full well what it was because they loved their time at English Camp.  It was amazing to see what happened in their lives while they were there, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pop up in our director Andree's church here in Novorossyisk.

As for me, I had a long talk with Andree and his wife Natasha, and another camp leader named Serafima about what I could do at camp.  As it stands now, I'm going to be the coordinator of the English program starting in January.  I'm going to prepare the curriculum for English camps (one winter session, now TWO summer sessions!) and help organize teams from America.  Starting in January I'll be an employee of Mountain Springs camp (if the hiring process goes well, it's a little tricky to hire foreigners) and be able to stay for a year.  It'll be pretty full-time job, and I can't tell you how excited I am.  I'll give you all more details later when I'm not feeling I was hit by a train.

Well folks, that's the list from camp!  I'm happy to be home in Novorossyisk but I miss camp already!  Here's a few more photos.

My countryman Madi, who took photos.  Get it, girl!

I finally saw a wild hedgehog!! These kids thought I was out of my mind, because it would be like someone coming to Montana and freaking out about seeing a squirrel, but it made my day nonetheless.  Haters gonna hate.

Jousting on bikes with pool noodles?  Don't try to tell me camp isn't awesome!

One of my favorite people, Lyuba, with the sport director's kid Arsenie.  Lyuba was a counselor with me at English camp, and worked as a counselor at both sessions of Logos.  Arsenie was the cutest, and a well-behaved little kid to boot.

Two of my favorite Russians, Andree and Senya, getting ready to head to the beach in the trunk of a car the day after the kids left.  I was jammed in the back seat with four other people.  Russia.

Пока ребята, Russian Jane