Emma’s Summer 2017

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Hello readers of this blog! Emma speaking. I have just returned to civilization after spending two months in my favorite place in the world, otherwise known as Camp Gilboa. While I was gone, our country turned even more to shit, they finally cleaned up the left turn from Richmond to Key, and my dad replaced me with a life-size cutout of Bernie Sanders.

I’m having a really hard time fitting my entire camp experience into a blogpost. It’s really something that is best shared when spoken out loud in bursts of “oh, and this one time.” I’ll try my best, though.

So camp is split into two sessions: first session and second session. I spent first session working with kids going into 8th grade, and I spent second session working in the kitchen. The two experiences were about as different as you can get. As one would expect when working with middle schoolers, they were a handful. They drove me crazy every day with their conniving grins and inability to listen for more than 10 seconds. But I love them anyway. Our educational arc for the session was centered around the idea of finding personal freedom through the support of the collective, so we spent a lot of time establishing the kvutza (age group) as a safe space and making sure it was an environment in which every member could learn and grow. We didn’t really end up sticking to our arc that much, but I think the kids could feel that we cared about them and their process which was good.

About to head out on our hike!

During first session Asher and I taught archery which was lots of fun! It’s a really long walk up a hill to get to the archery range, so eventually we started driving which made it a lot nicer. I’ve never felt cooler than when I’m driving around camp with my windows down listening to music. I was really nervous about teaching archery, but once I got the hang of it and developed a sort of script, it became super easy! One thing that was frustrating was that because of the #patriarchy and because Asher is a #coolboy, the kids thought he was an archery god (even though I’m damn near better than him. Also we both suck).

Another cool thing I did during first session was a chug (elective) called Cool Things Out of Nature. The idea was, as it sounds, to make cool things out of nature. One of our more memorable activities was an attempt at making dye out of flowers. After spending many days collecting and crushing flowers, boiling them, and soaking the kids’ socks, Yahli and I realized that it just really wasn’t going to work. We snuck in some red food coloring and it seemed to do the trick. We also forgot to give them their socks, though. Oops. We also attempted to make recorders out of carrots which was only a success if you measure success by amount of fun.

Second session it is! I worked in the kitchen second session which was a blast!!! I was nervous going into it because I have historically... umm… not excelled in the cooking area, but I held my own and worked hard and it all went relatively smoothly. I did drop many things. Second session wasn’t as mentally exhausting, but it was definitely challenging. It was really special to be a part of the labor that goes into making camp run, and we spent a lot of time discussing the value of labor and talking about why labor roles at camp are valued less than jobs working with kids. I learned that I really like making rice, so that’s fun!

1st session/2nd session kitchen staff watching the sunrise together on the last day with kids

Oh, somewhere in the middle there I went to Long Beach for a dragon boat race! It was exhausting and kind of weird to be in the real world but I was really happy to see everyone :) We were really out of shape so we didn’t do that well, but it was cool how we improved throughout the day. That was my last race ever as a Rough Rider which I don’t think I’ve fully processed yet. Sad :(

On one of my days off I went to Joshua Tree with Eliza and Natasha and others! We got there at 10 PM but we were on the wrong side of the camp so we spent many, many hours driving around until we finally found a group camp site that was reservation-only but there was no one to be found. By that time it was 1 AM so we were desperate. We then attempted to put up the tent but it was missing many parts. At some point we got it to stand up well enough to last the night :) It was crazy. The next day we explored the park a bit and then went to a mineral pool place which in my opinion was a rip-off hotel pool. We made a dope music video that I will try to attach if it ever gets to me.

It worked well enough

I drove home on Saturday the 19th and surprised my mom! Since then I’ve been sleeping a lot, taking many failed trips to the Israeli Consulate, and trying to squeeze in as much time with friends that I won’t see for 9 months.

Overall it was an exhausting summer, but it was also extremely rewarding and filled with love and friends and good laughs and growth and good music.