Wish Me Luck

Hey y'all! Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

Today I got paid for laying around and suntanning. It was beautiful. After a yummy breakfast of Cocoa Krispies and coffee, Bird (another counselor - wickedly British - who physically reminds me of my friend Jen Quade) and I (my official camp name is KoKo - kind of porn star, but I like it) caught some rays in the "backyard," which is really just a patch of grass where the raquetball nets are. It was hot, so we couldn't stay out there for long, but we browned ourselves for a little while and chatted...well, mostly SHE just chatted to me. There was only one sentence in particular that she said and I really took it to heart (imagine this in a heavy British accent), "I like small bikini bottoms. I'm of the opinion that the bigger the bottoms, the bigger the white ass." Huh. Guess I never thought about that before.

About 40 minutes later, we went in for a hearty lunch consisting of tomato egg salad with ham and "Laughing Cow" cheese sandwiches and apricot yogurt. Following this, Bird, Kahuna (another counselor - a very cool Chicagoan - who reminds me of my friend Chris Matt), and I went down to the "swimming hole" for a dip. Funny thing is, I really wouldn't call it a swimming hole...this label is quite misleading. Rather, I'd call it a...bubbling brook. Seriously, I am not kidding, this "pool" is actually a little stream with water (in most places) up to my ankles. If you're short (and lucky), the deepest part may come up to the middle of your thighs. The most amusing thing about this whole experience was that the previous group of counselors had designated one part of the brook as the "swimming pool" and another part as the "whirl pool." It was hilarious! I had the pleasure of sampling both parts, though I literally couldn't dip my head under the water in the "whirl pool." Oh, the other important thing to note: the water was friggin freezing. I'm not kidding. ICE FRIGGIN COLD. Then, to make the situation even funnier (hardly possible) and a bit worse for me, the "luxurious beach" they told me about was really just a large bed of rocks (huge rocks, might I add) on the other side of the "swimming hole." So while lying down on this beautiful beach, I developed these giant red welts all over my body from the damn rocks! The last detail: I'm sickeningly dark for only two days in the sun.

I finally walked back to camp to chill out for a while before our meeting at 5pm. I was hungry, so I ate the Twix I bought at the camp General Store (mmmmmmm) earlier and did a crossword.

We had our meeting in the White House (there are American names for all the places in camp - the White House is where the staff meetings are held, the Hard Rock Cafe is the cafeteria, Times Square is a big activity room, and Congress is where we hold the BOOMS) and picked all of our places for the week. This has actually been my first real taste of the program; up to this point, it's been just like a vacation! I am on the Activities staff for the week which means I plan and initiate the American activities (versus the ESL staff who actually teach the English classes); they told me it would be much easier for me to start here and, once I know how things work, I can move to ESL.

We had a separate Activities meeting soon after in which we organized all the activities for the week. The spring sessions are different from the summer sessions in that kids are only at camp for one week, not two. In this way, spring is much more impersonal and much less intense. The kids arrive tomorrow at 1pm and leave on Friday at 4pm. It will be a good transistion week for me.

I have to vent, though...I was getting so damn frustrated with the guy on our team because he is such a know-it-all! Here's a quick background: yesterday, when I went into town to get a phone card, the director (Raku - it's Japanese for "easy") picked up 3 more people for our camp because some were leaving and it is essential to have at least 8 counselors on site. One was Raku's sister and the 2 others were coming in from Thèbe. Now, you see, each director runs their site a little differently, even though most of the skits and names and such are the same. The two counselors from Thèbe COULD NOT deal with the way it was here...I think I heard about A FRIGGIN MILLION stories about "the way they do it at Thèbe." Ahhh! I was seriously about to scream. So, I was getting annoyed, but now I'm over it and ready to start my first day tomorrow! I get to be a cowgirl mouse in the opening skit! (This job is really crazy and creative; it will be PERFECT for me!)

A few interesting facts:

1. Thebe's drinking water is actually the water that France bottles and sells! That's what I like to hear! I will be drinking gallons and peeing nonstop while at that site.

2. The male mosquitos here are monstrous! (And gross!)

3. I swear too much here. It's sass. (So, in advance, please excuse me for any *f* bombs I may drop in future posts.)

4. We had a pasta tuna salad (I really dislike tuna, but I ate it because I was so hungry) and carrots with carbonara meat in a weird yellow sauce for dinner. The food here leaves much to be desired...and I'm told it's the best food of all the camps! (Tour de Buis is known for its "great" food, Azé is known for its gorgeous facilities, and Thèbe is known for its beautiful mountains and landscape.)

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Ciao for now my dear friends and family!

KoKo

PS - Susanne! Thank you for your kind message and name suggestion. Unfortunately, I received it too late - I had already picked my name for the summer. I'm glad that Manu and Chantal are off safetly. I miss you already TOO! Here is my address at Thebe for the summer:

Kelly Nielsen
American Village
Centre International de Loisirs
Thèbe
65370 LOURES-BAROUSSE

PS - Mom, I'll email you as soon as I get a chance! Love you!