From 'M' to 'M' | Back in Po-Town

Despite all the icky showers, bugs, country music, gravy and biscuits for breakfast, I miss Camp HOPE. I have that very odd feeling, a feeling that one only has at the end of summer camp. We've packed, exchanged contacts, and left. And now, there's nothing left but a finale of memories, albeit good ones.

I've made so many new friends and grown closer to many new people, whom I miss them very much. But anyway, I'm back home now, trying to absorb the last few days. I have so much to do before I leave for Malaysia on Thursday. Much packing to do in lieu of another adventure.

Secret Pals and Kayaking Incident

Today is Thursday- one more day of Camp Hope left. I'm on our camp director's laptop which she let me use to write :) Everyone else is in the shower, probably attempting to scrub off a few hours worth of paint, dirt, dead gnats (whatever). They're all singing... Amazingly, we finished painting at our work site extra early today. It just started raining and we said bye to the home owner, jumped into the van, and returned to the campus. Soon, we're goinng to head off to Walmart, a super store where you can buy just about anything you want. A few days ago, my secret pal left me a nalgene bottle containing four neon fish from Walmart. I ran into the hall trying to catch him/her, "Okay, secret pal- I like them... but they're going to die!!" Sure enough, they all died today... poor Oscar, Camillo, Avery, and Dennis... :(

I just found out that my secret pal left me the return receipt today... off to Walmart!

We've all had secret pals this whole week. It's a lot of fun... everytime I hear a knock on the door, I open it really fast to try and see if it's my pal... too bad it's usually someone who gets frightened half to death by my weird antics. Now they all stay away from my door. I'm an outcast. Ha. Just kidding. (I hope.)

Anyway, I have to go shower really soon... I think the stalls are empty now. Here's a quick recap of what else happened this week: I've worked on 3 work sites in total... doing A LOT of paint work (very messy). Yesterday, we had a half day and went to the Rocky Gap State Park for lunch. It was iffy weather all day but I guess we all thought it would be okay. A bunch of friends and I decided to rent a few kayaks and row out onto the huge lake in the park. It was gorgeous out and we were singing and rowing and having an amazing time. I have a love for water... oceans, lakes, rivers, my bathtub. I was like, "Hey! Let's try to row the entire length of the lake." It's a huge lake, by the way... We were doing fine and getting a good work out. But all of a sudden, it started raining a little. Then, it POURED out of nowhere. We all went into panic mode and rowed like none other toward a random man-made beach. We all jumped out of the boat and dragged it on shore. The original beach that we came from was on the other side of the lake. My friend, Chris saw some of our Camp Hope people leaving. "They're leaving without us?!"

We had no other choice but drag the entire kayak all the way to the other side of the lake- looking like crazy people in the pouring rain. It was a scary experience with the lightning and everything... but definitely worth ittttttttttt. ometimes, I wish I wasnt so rash and an adventure addict. This time everything was okay though. No one got hit by lightening or drowned. All good.

So, tonight is the talent show. Tomorrow is the last work day... Be back in Poughkeepsie, New York soon! Not too soon though...

Spiders and Country Music

Hi from Frostburg State University in Maryland! I'm on a counselor's laptop right now... woohoo, a connection to civilization! Hopefully I can update a few more times this week, depending on how exhausted I get- I still have a little more energy left. So, I'm at Camp Hope at this moment, in the dorms. People outside are being noisy even though it's suppoed to be "quiet hour". Hmm I forget how hectic camp can be. This morning, I woke up at 5:45 and ran a few laps around the university track. Then, off to the Frostburg United Methodist Church for breakfast. After every meal, we give a round of applause to whoever is hosting us... they provide all the food for free so it's really nice of them. After breakfast, we were divided into teams and sent off to different home sites. My site is a approx 25 minutes from Frostburg... the house is really a mess. I think the family has medical or economic problems- there's junk everywhere in the yard. I spent the whole day painting the outside walls where I screamed my head off at everything that looked like a spider. THERE WERE SO MANY STUPID SPIDERS. But my friend, Ashley, and I developed a technique for killing them- we drown them in paint. Anyways... people here are pretty nice and all. THe other churches that came to help are from Maryland (wowwwww.. you drove all the way from New York?! Why??). I've been eating too much food. THe weather is reallyy warm. Oh yeah, and the radio stations only play... COUNTRY. >.< "Peace, y'all!" More updates to come.