Camp Nawakwa, we hold you in our hearts...

I'm writing from a hotel in San Diego where I'm enjoying my personal days with a visit from my mom. She flew in Friday then came to get me from the mountains and we drove down to San Diego together for a little vacation. It's been a really nice break from work (for both of us) and we've gotten to see a lot of this beautiful city!

Downtown San Diego from the ferry to Coronado Island

Mom as we arrived on Coronado

Me in front of the botanical building in Balboa Park

Seals basking on a rock and the beautiful beaches of La Jolla

Other than taking vacations my life right now consists of working at Camp Nawakwa in the San Bernadino National Forest (in between Redlands, CA and Big Bear, CA outside of a tiny town called Angelus Oaks). It's a summer camp run by a non-profit called Campfire USA and they have camps for kids from the LA area ages 7-17, most of who have never been to camp, the mountains, or even been out in the woods. My team is starting by working with the maintenance staff at Camp Nawakwa to do things like paint, clear trails, and remove debris to get things ready for the camp season. We've been doing this for 3 weeks already and it's been a little tedious. I definitely enjoy some things, like painting cabins, more than tasks that seem pretty redundant. For example, the fact that we live on a mountain means there's no way we can remove all the rocks from camp, which is something our sponsor has had us doing a LOT of. Moving rocks and sticks isn't the most exciting or glamorous work but we're doing it because the camp is in a national forest and the forest service does inspections every year to make sure there are no safety or fire hazards. I understand that our work is important to keep the camp running but it doesn't really change the day-to-day monotony of it. All of this is why I am so so so excited for the second portion of our time at camp when we will be acting as full-time camp counselors! It's always been a sort of secret dream of mine to be a camp counselor and I feel like it will probably never happen in the real world but in Ameriworld anything is possible. We have 3 full days of training this weekend and then we'll start having campers in week long sessions. I'm really looking forward to being around kids and getting the share nature and the camp experience with them. The fact that we get fed and won't have to cook our own meals when camp is in session is just a fringe benefit.

This round has been a bit challenging so far for a variety of reasons other than the rock moving. First of all, we've been living in very cramped quarters. Since there was another group using camp in the off-season, we've had to spend our first 3 weeks living in a one-bedroom cabin until they move out of the other housing. We had the 3 boys in the bedroom and the 6 of us girls got cozy in the living room.

Our beds are literally inches from each other and there's not a lot of room for our belongings or even our bodies. We had some difficult housing at times in Oregon but we haven't had to deal with not having any personal space and it can be a little rough for everyone. The other group left this weekend and when I get back from my days off we'll be in the bigger house which should help a lot. It will be nice not to have one person's snoring, sleep talking, or getting up to go to the bathroom as the reason why the whole team didn't sleep well. Better times are definitely ahead, though. We'll all have more space and fewer sleep disturbances... that is until we're in cabins with campers and have to deal with homesickness and nightmares. I think we're also all starting to feel the AmeriCorps version of senior-itis. Everyone is getting their plans for life after the program in place and realizing that we'll be going back to the real world in less than 6 weeks. It's crazy the way this program becomes your whole life and it takes a lot to prepare for life after. We don't have regular internet access which makes it difficult to keep up with loved ones and world events let alone apply for school and/or jobs. Despite the challenges we have faced, my team has pretty much become my family and I know we'll get through whatever the rest of this project throws our way. Enough complaining, here's the good stuff!
Like beautiful views!

 Lizards!

 Pretty yellow flowers in the woods

 Rock climbing

 And a wonderful swimming pool

It's amazing how much I'm learning to love the outdoors and enjoy nature more than I ever have before. As the sign on the front of our cabin says, "Nature Knows Best"

So, about next year... er, this year. I'm officially going to University of Michigan in the fall to get my Masters in Social Work! I'm excited to have concrete plans and know that it's a great program where I'll learn a lot. I'll be living at home with my parents which will be a nice way to save money and be around my family but is definitely a change for me since I haven't been there for more than a few weeks since before college. I should be pretty busy with school, my field work, and hopefully a job (anyone have any leads?) and I know it will be nice to be able to go home after a long day to a place that actually feels like home. I'm really looking school and being able to learn about and practice the things I'm passionate about. My area of focus will be Interpersonal Practice with Children and Youth in Families and Society so I'm hoping to work directly with children and families while also doing outreach, advocacy, and education. It's kind of scary to think of myself as a grad student but as much as I don't want to think about the loans and pressure of being back in school I know I'm ready for the next step in my education.

That's what's going on around here. Lots of excitement! Lots of rocks! I'll post again once I experience a week of living the camp counselor dream.
Thanks for reading!