After lunch on Thursday, Myron cheered me by inviting me to his trailer, where he showed me some pictures of the staff and camp from when my aunt Lisa worked here--a fact of which I was not aware before then. He also showed me a staff list from that time--wow, a staff of 90 and definitely much larger camps than we have now. I wish I could see what it was like then. Feeling refreshed by this conversation, I braved the PUC phone system once again--and won! I actually reached human beings, not answering machines, who were able to help me solve my problems. Megan and I continued our wall decorations with a gigantic continuing story that will, once finished, reach from the ceiling to the floor.
Hearing that the equestrian staff needed music for the rodeo, I actually hauled my laptop to the top of the hill and they used my music. It is very emotionally satisfying to hear Garth Brook's "Standing Outside the Fire" played on loudspeakers. It was also very therapeutic to play darts and actually hit the mark once or twice. The rodeo itself lacked some of the verve it needed, but the play afterwards was better than ever, and my friend Ashley and I reveled in it. She also stole my hat, which I repaid by walking her home.
On Friday, I fasted--and hands down, it was the hardest fast I've ever done. 36-hour famine nothing, this was a challenge. The kitchen is definitely the worst place to work while you're fasting, especially when our chef, James, goes off and makes cheesecake, my favorite. I distracted myself by trying a farther target at archery--my goal is to actually get a bull's-eye on it before the end of the summer. Also, I went down to crafts and made my beloved father a mug while talking with some of the medical staff, who were very pleasant people. As I did so, a scratch on the bridge of my nose started bleeding like crazy. One of the nurses helped me patch it up--but then, right before the Friday night play, it started bleeding again. They put a Snoopy bandaid on it, which I removed before going on stage. The fasting paid off--the campers were deeply moved by the play, and my nose did not bleed during the play, despite my fears. I felt so weak afterwards, though, I was scared I wouldn't make it down the hill. When I made it to my room, I put on my warmest pajamas and slept like a rock.
I never ate a bowl of oatmeal mixed with peanut butter so gratefully as I did the next morning. It had been 38 hours on nothing but water, and not easy. My cheer returned with the food, and I worked happily on lunch and dinner, enjoying a concert by a number of the staff in between. And, after dinner, I got to taste that cheesecake that had so sorely tempted me the previous night--a true delight, well worth the wait! Campfire afterwards was as crazy as ever, rounded off with a celebration of the birthday of one of our office staff, Tiffany. What was crazy about this party was that we decorated the bus with streamers, balloons, and various props from camp plays, and surprised her there. There was body-surfing and chair crawling, and we were off to cowboy camp, where we built a nice, big bonfire. With this crackling merrily, we played a nice, long game of Psychology which lasted until around midnight. I retired around 1:00 AM, very happy.
When I woke up the next morning, I noticed an unfamiliar bag next to my bed, laden with a movie, fresh reading material, a bag of Peppermint Patties, and no less than three varieties of licorice. Apparently, my parents stopped here around 1:30 AM without waking me, and left that there for me; how sweet of them. The vacuum cleaner blew up on me again this week, but at least it was early on so that I did not struggle with that same possessed vacuum cleaner all morning. Dinner gave me the first glance at our new campers--a few of them look older than me, which is a fairly dramatic change from the last few weeks. For campfire, they did the pirate play, which made me nervous because my ring got lost on its way to the person who wears it. After some searching, however, it was found, to my profound relief.
Well, the end of the summer is in sight--already we have our days off schedule for August, leading up to the end of work. For those interested parties, I am off on August 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 16, and August 19 is my last day of work, up to debate based on what arrangements need to be made for me to return home. I'd be happy to see any of you in the meantime, and I wish you all well.
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