Camp 1--Arrival Day

The first day of camp was crazy. All of us were nervous and excited to begin what has been an intense few weeks of preparation. When the students arrived, we had a welcome ceremony and some “getting to know each other” games. I quickly realized that we were ahead of schedule by at least 30 minutes, and had to change the schedule accordingly. The students were really outgoing and all of us were relieved to see them speaking out and not being too shy. It was perfect. We were still faced with the difficult task of making 20 teenagers feel comfortable with each other so we spent some group time together with them. Tete and I were partners for this camp and we were TEAM RED! (Whoo!) We had a great group which consisted of five students. John, also known as “Big John” was a tall lanky guy who always had a smile on his face and was always laughing, falling down, getting injured and being the funny guy. He was definitely the center of attention for a handful of stories, which hopefully I’ll get to tell you in the next few weeks. Marta was a quiet girl, but very smart and witty. She was educated and well rounded. She was our best actress whenever our team had to perform skits. She moved from being the shy one, to taking a great leadership role in our group, and that made me very happy. Then there was Zuzka, or Susie. Every day she reminded me of my cousin. Quiet and shy, she was thin and small but was never afraid to smile. She was by far the quietest of our group, but surprised me time and time again with her ideas and ability to perform under pressure. She’s one of my favorites and I’ll never forget how much of a leader she is, even when she isn’t in the position of leader. Jana, or Jane, was our creative powerhouse of our group. She was always thinking of new ideas and was definitely one of the most energetic ones of the group. Although she had some issues with the team, I really enjoyed her input and positive attitude. She reminded me of a teenager from the movies—high dreams, tough life, but still trying to stay positive through all the challenges thrown at her. She was never afraid to act the way she wanted, whatever anyone thought of it. And last was Marika. Marika was a blonde-haired blue-eyed girl who kept a notebook of all the English words she didn’t know. She was constantly asking questions about our cultures and lives and would always start the conversation by sharing her opinion or ideas. She was funny and lively and a real sweetheart.
If you haven’t noticed, the Red Team was diverse in personality and interests, but one thing was certain. We were the smartest group. Not saying that the other teams weren’t smart, because they definitely had so many ideas that even I was amazed by some of the projects, but we were definitely logical and methodical and usually did better in intellectual challenges than physical challenges. Red Team brainstormed in English, when most groups did in Czech, and they all spoke English very well. Some teams had students who really struggled to speak English, but for the most part, everyone on Red Team could present in English without having to read a pre-made speech. Physically, we weren’t the best team, but still gave the other teams a challenge. Overall, I’m going to miss the Red Team very much, but I must not forget that I have another camp ahead of me, and I’m sure I’ll love those students as much as these ones.
Stay tuned for more, I’ll be scheduling posts almost every day for the next two weeks!