Week Two

Good morning again! Sorry to post twice in one week but I’m trying to catch up a little. This post is a record on the past week, which was my first time in the field. I’ve written it like a schedule so you can get a feel for what a typical week is like for me. At the end I talk about my weekend and there are some fun pictures of my adventure. Today is Columbus Day which I guess is a day off for us. We don’t have kids until tomorrow. It’s nice to have a break but this also means my pay check is smaller. :) Anyways, here’s my week!

My First Week in the Field

Monday

It’s go time! I was a little nervous because now instead of babysitting and entertaining girls in a cabin now I had more students (about 12) and now I had to teach them something! Although, as the week went on I found this position was very comfortable for me. Teaching was normal for me. I surprised myself with my time management skills which most people here are struggling with. During my first class I had a peer evaluate me and she was impressed with the flow of my class and how well I watched the clock. (Thanks Amy Vandermeeden! )

The morning started out by working on out Project Areas. These are our jobs that we are in charge of to get camp ready, fix it up, and clean it up at the end of the week. My Project Area is Teacher Housing. This means I have to set up the linens and such so the teachers/chaperons have a nice place to stay. I was put on the job because I pay attention to detail. :)

Once the buses pulled in our job was to unload the luggage. We got it down to quite the system and it went pretty fast. It’s funny to see the bags where mom has obviously labeled it many times in lots of places.

Then it was time to prepare and teach after lunch. I got my field group which was a pretty good bunch of kids. They came from a Christian school in Pacadena, CA. They were quite chatty and instead of singing camp songs while we hiked they loved to sing Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift (yes even the boys were belting it out). I had no problem with it since thankfully I knew some of the songs so I could sing too. One of my students came up with a funny joke that some of you will get. “What do you do to Lady Gaga?” “Poke her face.” I thought it was hilarious! Hope you like that one Laura! :)

After we hiked a little ways from camp we sat down to teach Team Discovery. This class is meant as an intro class for the kids to start to observe the forest around them and to be welcomed to asking questions about the environment.

Jana search and rescue-

The funny thing about this class was that while I was teaching there was a lot of chatter going on my walkie, which I have to wear on my hip at all times, so I turned it down a little bit. But I must have turned it down so low that I didn’t her Jana, the medic, calling for me. She needed to give me an inhaler for one of my students but I couldn’t hear her calls. She even tried my cell phone but that was on silent too. Then she had to come out and try to find me. We are supposed to mark on a map where we are going to be for the day but I haven’t gotten it down quite yet because I wasn’t really on the path I said I would be. Oops. Lucky Jana did find me and everything was okay. I did get a little slap on the wrist form my boss at the end of the day but thankfully it wasn’t an emergency situation or anything.

Then finally it was Switch Over Time! I made it! I was done with my first day in the field!

Tuesday

This was an adventure day were I had to teach 4 classes. Orienteering, Climbing, Native Culture, and Adventure Course. Oofta! :) It was a lot to cover but the kids had a great time and loved climbing. In the morning after breakfast the field staff all has to make sandwiches for our students. This was a fun process. We probably made over 100 sandwiches at least! We pack them in stacks to save on baggies which is good, but turned into a lesson for my students. When it came time for us eat our sandwiches they were squished and not all that appetizing. They had over ordered and had a lot of food waste. They learn a lesson and the rest of the week they did a lot better.

Climbing is on of the classes that we had to get certified to teach so this day my director observed me. I was really nervous that I would forget something and I had heard that she was pretty tough. I was excited to find out that I passed! Woohoo!

When it came time to teach Native Culture I had to be a little flexible. I walkied to my support coordinator because where I was supposed to have my class the other school was having their Respect Speech. Oops! Now what? I have to use my head to juggle a few things around to wait until the space was open. It all worked out and the kids still had a good class.

Wednesday

This day I taught Furry Friends(mammals), Little world (insects), and Environmental Awareness. It was a good day. The students didn’t squish their sandwiches this time so lunch was a little better. They carried them like a baby instead of swinging them around. They named each bag, “Tuna baby” and PB baby.” :)

At the end of the day when we got back to camp I found out that my students had left one of our water buffaloes and a few props out in the field. I was a little frustrated because that meant I had to go back and get them. We have a camp mountain bike that I asked to use. My director said, “you have to be certified to use it” and then covered his eyes. :) hehe. I sped away quickly before it got too dark. I got to practice my mountain biking skills that I had learned from Carolyn in Utah. It was fun! Thanks Big-C!

Thursday

This day was pretty normal. I taught Plant Detectives, Earth Works (rocks), and Outdoor Survival Hike. The plants class was fun because I was able to point out a bunch of trees and I think the students learn a lot too. The rocks class was a little rough. I still have a lot to learn about rock myself. :)

Friday and the Weekend!

It’s funny how the mood completely changes on a Friday, even here. A lot of the staff was just glad to have survived the week because a lot of people have been getting sick. (Don’t worry Grandma, I’m taking my vitamins. :) ) It was a fun week but we were all very excited for the weekend!

If I talked to you on Friday you probably heard that I was going to go camping in Joshua Tree, but actually plans changed and formed into other things.

Friday night we hung out a Seven Oaks which is about the only bar up the mountain. It is only 10 minutes away. It’s a really cute lodge type bar with roaring fireplaces, pool tables, and a jukebox. I was super excited to see the Twins game on when we got there! I haven’t been able to see Minnesota sports since getting here. It was a great way to unwind with friends.

Saturday I ended up going into town to run a few arons with some girls and then meeting up with a couple guys to go rock climbing. Justin and Alan go rock climbing pretty much every weekend. They are really experienced and good. I’m glad that they were there to give us advice. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

This is Brittani. We convinced her to give it a try. She was a little scared if you can’t tell by her face. She did great and I think she is determined to go back and concur that climb.

This is Kelly with Alan belaying. She wasn’t even going to get on a harness. :) She did great!

This is me starting out. Justin is belaying me behind the bush. This climb that I did was rated about 5.9. It was tough but I did it!

This is a close up of me. Man, those rocks were cold!

This is me at the top. Honestly, the climb wasn’t the scary part. Repelling down is the scary part! I needed some coaching to not hold onto the rock.

Saturday I went to mass in Big Bear with Jessica and her family which came to visit from Colorado. Jessica and I were so proud because we finally made it to our first English mass since being out here. :) We’ve gone to 3 Spanish masses and 1 Latin. It was pretty funny. It was nice to finally understand everything the priest was saying. After the mass we had lunch and I waited for Brittani, Ange, and Kelly to come down the mountain. Ange and Kelly were going to bird watch while Brittani and I went for a run. We wanted to run around Big Bear Lake but found out that it’s 9 miles. Considering that I haven’t really run since I left Utah we thought that might be too much for start. It’s a goal that we both want to work towards. We ended up running for a good hour and had fun finding the different paths.

Today I’m going to get ready for the week and study a little more about my classes. I am working time and a half next week which means I’m in the cabin all week and split a field group. I’m splitting with my friend Drew so we are going to alternate teaching days. It should be a lot of work but also very fun! I’ll let you know how it goes! Miss you all! Thanks for all of the updates on what is happening in good old Minnesota!