I was a camp counselor (mind your my very first time ever!) for summer camp down in the beautiful ( escaping the hustle and bustle of the bay area) catalina island!. at first i wasn't liking much of my job but then as the week progressed, the kids grown on me with their behaviorial adaption. i felt as despite what every high school kids goes through, i was able to have fun!! damn, my own chaperone -sque nature. i need to losen up next time around! :)
so this was no ordinary camp, although it was a YMCA camp site. like i said, i've never been to a real camp with 300 kids before when i was little girl. so being a camp counselor brought back many memories of being in high school and the whole deal with 'fitting in' with the popular crowd, sex, boys, and finding one's own idenity. here's a picture of nicole, kara and me with our backs facing the ocean before sunset. here's another picture of our cabin #14. Can you see, we had no walls? luckily, i brought enough sheets to cover up some of the holes ( i need some privacy yo!) from the wind and the sand. It was grand waking up each morning and falling asleep each night listening to the crashing sound of waves. I even saw a shooting star for my very first time! how wonderful it was to migrate to another mindset and not think about growing up....
activities that was oh so fun! so...we went snorkeling ( my very first time and i swallowed salt water and i'm afraid of being all tangled in kelp! hehe), buffalo hiking to the airport ( we got stuck on top of another mountain looking down our camp site), theme lunches: power lunch, toga wearing, ( me looking like a babuska ), pirate dress up, wacky hairdo's, pajama - rama, etc, pier jumping, kayaking ( you need strong arm muscles), outrageously funny camp songs during camp fire each night ( improv acting and skits, dunking kyle and joe in the sand pit we made on button shell beach, embarassing moments standing on top of a chair to sing- a- song), tubing ( being whip lashed by ocean water), arts and crafts with lanyards, hemp and the discovery of shrinky dinks. what else did i miss?
this is no ordinary camp because it's partially a camp site for diabetes kids too. these girls all have type 1 diabetes. right now there are no cures for diabetes at all. it's about medical management and making sure the right levels of sugar and insulin consumption meet the needs for cells. we, the camp counselors needed to carry fanny packs ( see my blue fanny pack? heh) all day long so that whenever the campers needed to test for blood sugar we would have the supplies. the glucose meter would prick the tip of the finger for blood. sometimes if there is no blood, we would need to milk the finger to ooze the blood out. the strip catches the blood and it is read. normal blood sugar level in everyone should be from 80-120 dl. these girls needs to be tested before they eat or after they eat depending on how they are feeling. some signs and symptoms may be thirst, hunger, weakness in legs. luckily no one at camp had a seizure! okay i'm getting tired and i can ramble on and on about this. *hee*
