Hello From Camp

I've been silent for a while because life has been really busy. And it's good.

Last week I met some of the barn staff and rode 24 horses in two days. Good thing I had a break two days to go visit my nephew because it made me quite sore!  We also cleaned out one of the mini farms and loaded chickens, two stubborn pigs and several other little friends into a trailer. You don't want to know how many girls it took to catch the pigs :/

This week the horsemanship training began at camp Sunday afternoon and has kept all of us trainees busy from morning til evening. Then in the evening we get to write lesson plans so really there's not much of a break but I love it.

Sometimes meeting new people is really intimidating to me which may seem contrary to how you view a very social person. However even tho I like being around people I do not like the initial introduction. It's so awkward and I'm awkward so it's all just really awkward. This whole camp experience has given me many opportunities to practice and I've found that it's definitely fun to make new friends BUT personal time is so very important.

The past two nights I've sat out by myself on the platform of a slide (quick escape if I were to be pursued by night critters) by myself and those moments in creation with stars, God, the Bible, and my journal have made these past few days worth every moment. And there have been many other things I enjoy.

Some countries represented by counsellors are Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Ireland. Lots of great accents :) The foreigners are some of my favorite people and having five brazilians in horsemanship training has been so much fun.

About horsemanship training: we start around 9 after a breakfast at the dining hall (mmm gotta love camp food!!!) and do activities from playing games to teach our campers to riding horses and even teaching lessons to each other. There are about sixteen in the group give or take a few and six of us are equine counsellors. The others are regular counsellors who will be certified in horsemanship so even tho they won't be spending as much time in the barn they still will use the skills. Some of them had never been on a horse before but have so bravely risen to the challenge and it's been a fun mix of skill levels. We're always learning no matter how much we know and this week has been a perfect example of that.

Right now I'm chilling in the fellowship room of one of the lodges with some fellow counsellors. It's where we get wifi and comfy couches. Right now I'm soaking up the calm before the storm. Campers arrive June 8th which means that all next week will be spent on all-staff training.  Never before has training been so fun so it's been quite an adventure.

I better sign off for now read up on my manual and all the packets I've been given to be an effective equine staff!!!

Oh, and by the way, today marks my twentieth year on this planet so I have officially lived my last day as a teenager. Yikes! Any advice for the twenties?

Just Horsin' Around

For the first time in a very long time, when people ask what I am doing, I feel like I have a decent reply: I'm working at Camp Tecumseh.  Don't get me wrong, living in California and nannying Calvin were good ways to spend my days.  It's just that whether or not you realize it, there's this expectation out there that we need to have a good answer that the world can understand.  I've struggled with this since I quit college two and a half years ago and quite honestly I don't know when I'll finally feel like I have a good reply.  Maybe when I'm a multimillionaire with three houses and a  boat.  Then people will see I've done something worthwhile.

Just kidding.  I hope I never have three houses and a boat.   Or three houses.  Or a boat.  Unless it's a canoe or kayak. 

Lately I've come to better grips with that feeling of 'I'm not going to give them the reply they're looking for' so it's more a thing of the past.  But then there are days like today when I get off work early and have a free afternoon that I remember most nineteen-year-olds out there have real jobs or go to college.  Good for them.  Someday that might be me.  For now, I'm going to make the most of these days and cherish each and every one of them like dark chocolate 'cause oooohhh, that's my favorite! 

It is a true story that I'm working at Camp Tecumseh.  Although when you have a lot of fun at your job is that considered work???  I quite literally spend my days horsing around. 

At the start it wasn't the most, eh, thrilling job out there.  My first day was spent in a tack room polishing the leather on 32 saddles!  Thankfully some of them were mostly synthetic so I didn't have much polishing to do on those but it was still veeeerrrryyyy monotonous.  The next day I polished more leather.  Then one day I scrubbed dirty, hairy horse blankets and another day I raked sticks from around the arena.  Okay, you get the picture.  There are certain jobs that take some imagination to fit in the fun department. 

But then there are those jobs that really are just plain enjoyable.  I get to chase around horses (in the mud!) and wave my arms like a maniac then follow them in the barn and pet their silky faces.  Sometimes when we're not watching them close enough they partner up and let each other out of their stalls which makes for an interesting welcome when I walk in the barn.  Oh, just a horse wandering around like no big deal.  In addition to time in the barn I've gotten acquainted with the animals at the mini farm which includes: a sheep, a goat, an alpaca, a donkey, a calf, rabbits, a duck, and chickens.  And today I got to dirty up my hands while we planted the garden.

See, isn't that exciting???  I happen to enjoy {most} of it.

Now, before I make it sound like I work my tail off (yah, like you were thinking that), let me assure you that it's been a very relaxed schedule which I'm enjoying, like chocolate, remember?  My boss has children that she likes to welcome home from school so the latest I've worked til is four and there have been a number of days, like today, that she has an appointment or errand to run so I just work half  a day.  This week I've been cleaning FBi for a few hours each evening so that helps me feel a little more...responsible.  Then there are days that I sacrifice self and pocket book to go to Michigan to babysit my nephew--like next Wednesday!  I'm definitely looking forward to getting my hands on that little stinker!

I know it's just a phase and before I blink I just want to breathe it in and savor it like you know what.  And someday, someday when life is crazy busy and I wonder what really matters anyway I'll wish I could just go horse around.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Ixtlan 2015

Almost a week later I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip to Mexico.  I'd been rolling it around in my head, making a trip that is, for a little while.  Seeing as Grant and Hannah move back in a week, I knew that if I wanted to visit while they were down there it would have to be soon. Then I went to Haiti so I figured that would be my mission trip for the year.  Well, turns out that one evening back in early March while I was Skyping the Herrmanns we got talking about me making a visit which turned into finding cheap plane tickets which turned into me buying cheap plane tickets.  It being so spur of the moment I managed to plan a trip out of the country over my dentist and doctor appointments as well as the symphony Leah had so kindly bought tickets to for my birthday.  The first two were easily changed but I missed the symphony and hope to make it up to Leah someday!  Other than all that, it was a perfect week to go.

Overall, it was a really good trip.  There were definitely some emotional swings through the week.  Some of those fears that seized me the last time began rising up again and one particularly difficult day as I was wrestling with my selfishness and doubting God's good plan for my life I remembered why being there was so difficult.  But below are many reasons it was good to go back along with a few of the few pictures I took.

Spending time with the people down there was a blessing.  I am especially thankful for all the Herrmanns did for me a year ago and again during this week.  If I had a picture of Grant and Hannah it would likely be around the Settler's board where Hannah and I solved all of life's problems and occasionally remembered before Grant reminded us that it was our turn to play.  But I have no picture to show so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Ivory and I spent a lot of time together those ten weeks of 2014 and although I knew she wouldn't remember that, it was heartwarming that she warmed up so fast.  We read books, made cookies, colored, and went on walks.

 

Walks.  That's another thing I love about Ixtlan.  People walk everywhere.  Sometimes when Ivory and Titus needed to get out of the house we'd buckle them up in the double jogger and stroll around Ixtlan while they munched on crackers and banana.

 

 

The sights of Ixtlan haven't changed much but that's okay.  I take great delight in seeing scraggly trees growing by brightly colored houses, clothes drying on a barbed wire fence, or a group of older men sitting in the plaza wearing cowboy hats. 

 

 

 

 

The fresh produce is another wonderful thing about Ixtlan.  When you can run twenty yards up the street for tomatoes, sugar, or whatever's missing, life is simpler.  Some of the produce is in the market down the hill a little ways but within easy walking distance.  Just looking at the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables is fun not to mention the cheap cost.

 

 

 

And speaking of cheap, Hannah had a garage sale on Friday and Saturday.  It was fun to see her in her element, bartering with the Mexicans and getting rid of the things she didn't want to move to the States.  I made sugar cookies to sell because the school children really enjoy frosted sugar cookies and some of them walk right by the Herrmanns on their way home from school.  Turns out they were not the hot item--curtains are surprisingly in demand in Ixtlan.  Hannah had a woman ask if she was going to sell her living room curtains which were still hanging in the living room windows.  I'm not sure if the woman ever understood that the things outside of the house were for sale, not the things inside.  Oh well, it made for some interesting conversations!

 

It was good to be back at Jovenes, women's Bible study, and singing in Spanish.  On Sunday after the singing in the evening, Matt and Ruth went to visit a sister in a nearby town so Caleb and Abby stayed back at the church.  A group of us decided to walk down to the plaza for some garbanzos and corn.  Mmm, mmm.  Gotta love the street food!

 

There were other special moments throughout the week, but I won't bore you with all the details.  Overall, it was just good in a hard way to go back to the place that challenged me to grow and to reflect on God's faithfulness.