From Brooklyn to Coney Island

The bus journey into the city was brutal! The internet wasn't working on the bus and then the bus arrived an hour and a half late!! i mean sure theres traffic and all but an hour and a half!! RIDICULOUS!! Sydne and her mum met me at the bus station and we headed back to theres stopping for dinner on the way. Friday night we watched some movies and took out Sydne's braids. It was so refreshing to be able to chill and gave me a chance to research a few things for my travels.

On Saturday I woke up at half seven (obviously still on camp time) but after a while ended up falling back asleep until 11am!! The bed I'm in now is every bit as comfortable as the one in Northampton! Once I eventually got up and ready me and Sydne got on the train to head into downtown Manhattan. On the train a kid broke out into a rap with a mic and little handheld boombox raising money for his career as a rapper, he was 13. In downtown we went to Chipotle, a Mexican restaurant that everyone raves about! It's kinds of like a Nando's equivalent but not nearly as good in my opinion (but I guess I'm biased). I then got back on the train, this time alone to head to Coney Island for some touristy stuff. Once again on the train I witnessed an impromptu performance, this one was in the form of dance but really they were bouncing, twisting and doing all kinds of other tricks using the bars on the train. It was pretty impressive.

Coney Island was awesome and much bigger then I expected. I walked along the Boardwalk and saw a bunch of impressive sand sculptures before getting a card with credits on to go on some of the rides. My first stop was of course The Cyclone which was opened in 1927 and is the most well known ride at the park. It was pretty amazing and also quite terrifying as it was quite a bumpy ride. I also went on Thunderbolt which is one of the newest rides at the park. It begins with a vertical climb up before being released to speed practically vertically down. This really was a thrill ride! I rode on some other rides to before meeting back up with Sydne and her friends and we hung out on the beach before heading back. By the time we got back it was quite late and by the time we actually got to going to bed it was even later and we were exhausted. Yet I made sure I had my alarm set for the morning so I could start on the tourist attractions of New York City.

Northampton, Massachusetts.

First stop on my travels of America is Massachusetts with a friend who is kind enough to put me up for the night. On the drive down we stopped at the Whippi dip which is actually only down the road from camp but we hadn't had lunch so thought we'd get a bite there and whilst there we bumped into a whole bunch of other counselors who had also just left or were stating for family camp but dropped by fir some ice cream. Further down the road we stopped at Hidden Springs Maple and I got to sample the four types of maple syrup (Something you have to do before you leave Vermont). I decided my favourite was Grade A medium but the Vermont fancy would be delicious on some ice cream or yogurt.

We got to Northampton at 7pm and I realised it was the first time I had been in an actual house for 2 months!! The spare room was amazing! It was a double bed with really soft blankets! We did some laundry and ordered some Thai take out and also picked up a slice of chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert and ate that whilst watching a TV show called Firefly. It was actually a really cool show basically about space cowboys (Dad, Alfie, Patrick I think you would enjoy it). After that we went to bed, it was late, I was tired and I wanted to sleep in the super awesome bed.

I was pretty excited about the bed.

In the morning I got a nice shower, did a second load of laundry and then went out for breakfast before I had to catch my bus. We had breakfast at a place called Sylvesters, it was really good. We both got hot chocolates, ISB's was a peanut butter one mine was called the twilight zone and had white chocolate in it. They were huge, delicious and sickly. Breakfast or rather brunch by the time we ate it was chocolate chip pancakes with real maple syrup. YUM. Too much to eat in one go though so I took the left overs for a snack for the journey to NYC.

Lessons I've learnt at camp.

So today was leaving day at Camp Aloha for the counselors. All the campers left yesterday and the counselors had a day of cleaning to do. But as I leave camp and am let lose into America for a month I can look back at my time at Aloha and remember the important lessons I learnt there...

1. Showering isn't important, every few days is plenty. Swimming in the lake counts as a shower. And shaving? Please, hairy legs is totally camp chic. In fact you can gain some respect by going a good amount without showering. The record at camp is a girl who went the entire summer (7 weeks) without showering! She did go swimming most days though.

2. Snacks will improve any event. Rolls do not count as snacks, but if you are disappointed so severely one week the next it will be made up with pizza! Also snacks should really be spelt with an x on the end.

3. Camp counsellors are the best at creating organised mayhem. The kids may think it's anarchy camp but actually it's incredibly organised and controlled deviations from the every day schedule.

4. Rest hour is the most important time of day. Do not mess with my rest hour!

5. Its OK to sing out of tune about anything you choose in the dining hall...Or in the Hale. Or in the unit. Or anywhere really.

6. Mosquitos WILL find the most inconvenient place to bite you.

7. Flashlights are one of the most important pieces of equipment! Walking up the hill in pitch black at 1am with no light is hard as well as terrifying!

8. Avoid rolling down your tent flaps at all costs. Keep your bed dry by moving it to the middle of the tent, lying a poncho over it or hanging towels from the sides of your tent. They are all much easier and require significantly less effort then rolling up tent flaps the next morning!

9. It doesn't matter a smidge what you're wearing at any given time. Whether that's silly face paint, pyjamas at all staff meetings or even a towel at an evening jinx meeting! However I did just go into town to pick up a take out in cow print pyjamas bottoms and its not quite widely accepted outside of camp..

A camp Aloha birthday.

Today I celebrated my 20th birthday. It was weird not celebrating it at home with my family and it makes me miss them more then ever! However all was not lost. The day was still a lot of fun. We had lazy breakfast on the field then I had to go to the art barn for an hour which was stressful but I'll gloss over that. Then there was usual Sunday service and much except everyone sang happy birthday to me at lunch. During rest hour I opened the couple of birthday cards I'd received in the post and a book from my dad. 

Tent family time was the highlight of my day though! Alexis (the clubbers attached to my tent) spent her rest hour making a birthday cake for me and all my campers made me a card. We then hiked to this place called "And hatters" which is a kinda creepy old shack in the woods and they surprised me with the cake. They'd even brought icing so we could decorate it and candles so I could make a birthday wish!

After tent family time we hiked up to Winships where the whole camp had dinner and we exchanged puzzle pieces. Puzzle pieces is an awesome tradition here! Every year on the last week of camp you get the name of someone in your unit and a piece of wood. You then decorate that piece of wood for the person you got then you exchange then all and all the pieces in your unit fit together like a puzzle. It's stressful for an art barn counsellors as everyone's rushing to make them in a week but it was amazing seeing them all finished and come together!

The view from Winships as we made our puzzle.

The beginning of the end...

Camp is drawing to a close. This means they're are great events and special things happening that you kind of don't really want to happen coz that means saying goodbye comes closer.

On Wednesday night the whole camp went over to Lanakila to have a Kickball tornament. This was loads of fun! It was organised by unit and each unit had a team colour. Crossroads was red. We did really well winning our first game then having an intense championship game which ended in a draw. The team spirit was amazing though and by the end of the night my voice was sore!

The next day something amazing happened! The art barn counsellors were let out! The art barn is one of the only departments that don't really get trips, not even to go down the road to join with Lanakila for an activity period, but on Thursday we organised an art trip to a craft fair that we all wanted to on so we paid for ourselves and closed the art barn for the day. It was great fun. The drive there was long, it was supposed to be an hour and a half drove but the directions took us to the wrong place and suddenly the travel time doubled! I didn't mind though, I got a good sleep in.

We arrived back from the art trip at 5pm and we got changed quick to go to the counsellor picnic which is when every counsellor on camp leaves for the evening and we go for a picnic together (this picnic is actually a hearty steak meal). Back at camp the kids are in charge with only 2 adults supervising! The picnic was great and a couple of counsellors wrote a funny song about a few anecdotes of the summer. Then when we get back the kids have put together a show for us which we see the next night which is a compilation of songs about the different departments at camp.

Saturday i had a tent family dinner with my campers and clubber (a clubbers is one of the oldest campers who are attached to a tent family to start learning how to be a counselor). The dinner was lots of fun, we made Mac and cheese, extra cheesy. Then for dessert we made banana boats, all over an open fire we had built (OK, Alexsis built it mostly). Then we headed over to Lanakila for a dance but I didn't dance until the final song coz there was something so much cooler happening outside! The dance was in the dining  they'd taken all the tables out and had decided to use them to make am Len arena! I'm this arena there were two teams and one big inflatable ball. One team was offense and was trying to hit the other team (defence) with the ball. Simple yet brilliant!!

I can't believe this will all be over on matter of days. It feels like it's been so long that I've been here!

Hanover

So my days off have come to an end and there's only a week left of camp. I spent most of my time off in Hanover and went to a lot of places there so thought I would write a brief review and recommendations in case anyone ever finds themselves passing through.

Lou's.
A must if you are in Hanover! Lou's is a typical American diner/bakery with lots of varieties of pie and unbelievable cake and cupcakes! The milkshake is more just melted ice cream and was a bit heavy for breakfast but the hot chocolate was delicous.

Market table.
This is a bit fancier a place for breakfast and therefore a bit more expensive but the service is excellent as is the food. The French toast was the best I've ever had (granted the only other place I've had it is at camp) but it was delicious. The selection for breakfast at least was a bit more limited but they had the quality making up for the lacking quantity.

Barnes and Noble.
This is a book shop in Hanover which is essentially set out like a maze with various little staircases leading up to little wings within the store. It's cool but does make finding people tough. The book shop itself is great. A good selection (and apparently this is one of their smaller shops!) And it's reasonably priced. I brought an awesome diary from here. The thing that really confused me though was why there was a little make up/ beauty stall and merchandise in the middle of a book store?? Don't worry though, it still had Starbucks too.

Molly's.
Molly's is a good restaurant with a range of foods from burgers to pizzas cooked in their wood fire oven. It's also great value for money including cocktails starting at only $3! The portion sizes are also very American! You will want dessert but will not have room after your first course no matter what that was!

The Nugget Theatre.
Such a cute little cinema! Really comfy and I saw some great films here. The staff were all really friendly and the prices were good. What more do you need from a cinema?

Morano Gelato.
Yum. Really great ice cream in various flavours are swapped around each day. There are classics as well  some more original ones. Plus, in true I can fashion the portions are generous. There's a TV screen to keep and eye on the game and seats inside and out.

Pine Restaurant.
Fancy alert. This place was nice but you've gotta treat yourself every now and again. The food was excellent! I had octopus for a starter and a burger for my main. A burger may not sound but it was hands do

Lemon Tree.
This is a really cute little shop that is great for gifts! It  some awesome jewellery including little silver laces in the shape of different states with a little heart cut out of it. It also has some clothing items, gadgets, toys and of course maple syrup!! This is great to pick up souvenirs or gifts or even for a nice browse.

Rainbow Chapel and Chandeleirs.

The end of camp traditions are beginning. I have very split feelings about this. On the one hand I'm really excited because its new and fun and why wouldn't I want to do cool fun things?! On the other hand it means camp really is starting to come to an end!! Its felt like 3 days since I got here but it's felt like forever at the same time!

Rainbow chapel is a special Sunday service that Lanikila and Aloha get together to be a part of as one community. Sunday morning Aloha walked the mile down the road to Lanikila then up to their special spot where they host Sunday service. There's songs performed by campers, counselors and siblings within counselor staff (of which there's a fair few). There was a talk given by a Lanikila counselor (with the help of a few campers) who spoke about the reality of Love and how it is really shown in the real world (and at camp). Finally we did more singing as a whole camp community. It was really nice and I enjoyed it and was quite the proud counselor as I watched one of my campers perform in the kanaka-pella (the choir).

220 people walking down the road in pairs is quite a sight.

Once Sunday service had finished we walked back to camp for lunch, extended rest hour then tent family time!! This week my tent family decided to get a bit creative! We had a box lying around and decided to make it into a chandelier (don't ask me how this decision was made) so we went to the art barn, sketched out designs and started cutting out. It's not quite finished yet but once it we're going to hang it from out tent celling and put our torches (sorry, flashlights) in there for a bit of classy mood lighting.