One More - You Addicts Are Lucky Tonight

I was thinking...maybe I shouldn't go into so much detail so that I don't have millions of pages. If you're just starting to read this, scroll down because this is the FIFTH (!) post today.

Okay, so I was finally on the train to Lyon from Geneva yesterday, which was perfectly fine because I wrote in my journal the entire 2 hours. Since they didn't have second class left, I got first class for the same price. Sweet! Just as we were arriving, we stopped and apparently were having technical difficulties. I eventually found out from a really nice lady who was fluent in French that a train ahead of us was stalled and our train was trying to push it out of the way! Seriously. We were on the train for an extra hour and a half (luckily they reimbursed our 41 euro tickets) before getting off and, by that time, I missed my connecting train to Vienne which meant that I wouldn't be there at the correct time to be picked up. NOT GOOD. My packet said that I needed to be at the train station in Vienne between 9am and 6pm or they would not be responsible for picking us up. It was 4:30pm, so I had plenty of time to get there. Since we were late, I had to go to another station in Lyon to get to Vienne, then I took my last train (I only had to play Chariot once to cheer me up) and finally got to Vienne - AT 6:15pm!!!! I was pissed. I had been calling all damn day and I wasn't getting anyone at the camp number, but I tried calling anyway (the train station didn't have public phones, so I used one in the service center - FREE) and finally talked to someone! They had a taxi waiting for me! You can't even understand how glad I was to hear that!

So, I got to camp yesterday (hooray!!!) and they welcomed me with a Malibu and Coke. Lovely. (Bullshit you can't have alcohol on site.) I thought all the new people were coming for some kind of training this weekend, but I am the only new person here. We had a campfire and most were intoxicated by the end of the night. Everyone is very friendly, but most are leaving because next week is the last spring session. Summer session starts June 30 and mostly all new counselors are starting - some veterans, some amateurs. I went to bed around
3am last night and slept until 1pm today; I think the jet lag is starting. There are no kids here (they left yesterday), so this afternoon, we layed outside and listened to music and read. Then we ate dinner and I just got back from the bar (actually a 45 minute walk "just down the road"). After writing this, I'm going to a BOOM - a special little dance session that campers and counselors have.

Overall, the bugs are nasty (no, they are unusually TERRIBLE little beetles that fly annoyingly around your face and make you naseous because you feel like you're moving), the food is okay, the people are great so far, and most importantly, I am happy! They are way less strict here than I expected, everyone is very laissez-faire about everything. It's very chill. To give you an idea, almost everyone smokes cigarettes and has lived abroad for long periods of time - examples of some places are Holland, Spain, China, Japan, Thailand, and Scotland. These people are very well travelled. The director here lived in Japan for two years, Spain for one, and speaks Japanese as well as French, Spanish, and English.

The most pressing issue right now? I NEED A CAMP NAME! (What about the name Army?)

Ciao for now!

Je vous aime! (I love you all!)

Kelly

PS - I am happy to report that my mp3 player is working just fine! Also, everyone remember that I WILL NOT BE AT THE AZE SITE IN JULY! (Susanne, if you're reading this, I am very sorry and will be sending you an email!) I will be at Thebe for the entire summer! Make note of this! You can call at anytime during the day here (1am to 5pm Central Time)! Muwah!