Ruach Shoveva!

Camp has ended. And I am sad. Yes, I am indeed sad that camp is over, even though I complained at first. Well, things have changed.

Somehow, that "elitist group" sort of disbanded at the end of the first week, probably because we all got separated during the day and were forced to work with people who we weren't initially friends with.

All counselors had a difficult time controlling the students not because of our lack of ability but because the kids were just crazy this year. Even so, we continue to love them, and I miss those kids dearly. Our difficulty brought the counselors closer together, and I wouldn't have enjoyed camp much if it weren't for them. I became incredibly close with some of them, and I even made friends with a girl I with whom I wasn't getting along.

My experiences at camp flashed before my eyes at the Shabbat service where the campers and counselors performed for the families and congregation. As we all stood on stage and sang various camp songs, I laughed with some counselors as we forgot the words and I realized how close I had gotten to them. I've gotten to the point with some counselors that we can talk about every-day life, not just what happens at camp. Even though I knew all of them from previous years, it was like I made a bunch of new friends.

As we performed skits for the parents, I realized how much I'll miss the kids. It's been a struggle and a learning experience, and I'll miss those kids dearly. Before the service started, some kids actually asked to be closed in a closet, so Jesse did it with a smug look on his face. It was our dream to lock those kids in a closet! Not really. But it was pretty funny.

When (almost) all was said and done, the oldest counselor, my friend Sam, gave a short speech about the camp director who moved to Philadelphia, returned to camp a few weeks ago, and will not be returning to camp in the years to come. At that time, all the counselors were standing in front of the parents because we had just been thanked and applauded for our efforts. Sam began her speech to thank Ariel and she began to cry. It was difficult to witness because Sam is a role model to me and she's such a strong woman. As she broke down, Jesse tried to comfort her and the rest of us cried. We all love the camp director and we'll miss her. I'm afraid of what will happen to camp next year, but Sam might take over. Either way, it'll continue but it won't be the same. However, all the counselors have vowed to come back. We all made sure of that. We're a family that only gets together for 2 weeks during the summer, but we've gotten really close.

I had a sort of mental crisis throughout camp. The counselor who I grew closest to was Jesse, mostly because he and I were in a lot of the same groups together and wound up just spending a lot of time together. He's just a great, nice person and we get along well. I felt guilty because I was making such good friends with a boy that wasn't Jon. I like him (Jesse, not Jon) strictly as a friend, but I still felt a little weird. As I thought about it, I realized I feel that way when I hang out with other guy friends I met at Western. It's not a huge deal, but I always felt a little bad for being drawn to Jesse.

I just realized how amazing it is that we're all so close, because there is a huge range of ages in our little family. The youngest is 14 or 15 and the oldest is 21, yet we all treat each other with the same respect. At first, that wasn't the case, of course. The youngest girl is actually amazing with kids and she's quite grown up for her age. I respect her greatly because she's so eccentric and openly lesbian. I keep forgetting that she's 5 years younger than me.

Overall, I can't wait for camp next year, but I'm afraid of what the future holds. Even though the counselors will still be there, we'll have a new director or maybe several directors. Knowing that I'll return next year made me sure that I won't be spending a whole lot of time in Bellingham over the summer. I'll probably move home like I did this year so I can volunteer at the middle school, work at Fair Portia, and work at summer camp.

This was one boring blog. Oops...

--Elie