SO! Everything is wonderful here at Camp. Since you dropped your precious children off we have had an excellent time! Laughter, good food, swimming, lazy afternoons, classes, forming friends, hanging out with old. Mostly laughing and playing and having a great time.
Here is a review of what has happened so far:
On Monday night each tipi went up on stage and performed a community skit where every member of Camp declared their name nice and loud. This is a long held tradition at Camp and helps break the ice for campers who might be nervous to get up on stage. This night helps to show that the stage is not that scary to perform on and that our community is welcoming and sweet. Even if kids are not that interested in performing, knowing that you can stand in front of a group of people and present yourself is such an important skill! The brilliance of Wavy and Jah weaving the Show Show and the Life Show together!
Tuesday morning was our camp orientation where all of camp learns the triangle of safety and practices safely falling (you should ask them to show you when they get home! It's a great skill to have for life!). They were oriented to all the skills Camp has to offer and the boundaries of this beautiful land. Afternoon free time is always filled with activities around Camp that campers can choose or they just hang out with their friends, playing chess or Magic the Gathering or ping pong or go to the lake.
Wavy is back from his trip and made his debut in Camp with our magic teacher JJ Crashbang by performing "How to Be a Good Audience". I am going to see if someone video'd that performance so we can post it, it's EPIC!
The Tornado of Staff Talent-t-t-t-t-t-t happened Tuesday night. At the Staff Tornado Wavy told the crowd "If you can see it, you can be it!" All of the teachers performed the skills that they will be teaching. Osayande taught the audience about West African drums- the dundun and kenkeni and performed an arrangement. The stilt teachers brought in some old school stilt walkers for a Tornado of Stilts and the jugglers wowed us with ball juggling, clubs, poi and contact juggling. There was tightrope, Hip Hop and an Aerials Extravaganza! Your kids got to see something from every Teacher and we have some amazing, talented people here. We are so fortunate this session!
Classes began on Wednesday after a breakfast of homemade biscuits and gravy. Our philosophy is to provide structure where every camper has free choice and provide support for all of them to make those choices. Another important life skill! Showtime happened right before afternoon announcements, which inspires campers to try new classes after seeing their peers on stage. Lunch was Macabooya and fruit salad and we sang a version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" for grace with "Macabooya" taking its place. Always a big sing along for that one!
We had burritos for dinner with homemade guacamole and many fixings. Evening program was Fire Circle. As we gather around the fire campers and staff are invited to offer songs, poems, stories, dances, hula hoop, etc. We have quiet moments of looking into the fire and listening to the night and rounds of applause, laughter as well as oooo's and ahhhh's. Half of the tipis visited the labyrinth and were guided through by Wavy and Jahanara. The second half of the tipis will go next week. It was a beautiful, cool, Northern California evening full of magical moments.
Tonight is the Tornado of Talent-t-t-t-t-t! Yes! You too can be suuuucked up in the Tornado of Talent-t-t-t!!! Your campers will bring their many talents from home or will join with their new friends and make up their own act. We will have photos and a recap of the night in the next post!
Thank you so much dear parents for letting your kids come for these two weeks! This time truly is magical. We so enjoy their stories, getting to know their hearts and who they are. We all learn so much about ourselves and this world through living in community for these two weeks. And have SO MUCH FUN!
Toward the Fun!
Yatiel, Timmy and the amazing Camp Staff!
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