Day 10: I’m Proud to Announce: Mr. and Miss MBM 2010

The next day began the last project. Poor Ekta and Harrison. The students were all completely dead by the time the project started after breakfast. The project was self-management, which requires a lot of self-reflection and goal setting. I felt pretty bad for them trying to give a presentation, where they want the students to close their eyes and meditate and reflect. It was a hard balance to get them to reflect without falling asleep in their chairs. To make it even worse, the rope center was planned for the afternoon. This was a chance for the students to get out of camp and to head to the forest for harnessed zip-lining, rope climbing, and other activities. Ekta and Harrison had the lovely task of educating them on the project after they returned from the ropes course.
During the first part, the students were really tired. After lunch, everyone wanted to sleep, but of course at camp MBM that is nearly impossible to do all the time. The other facis and I decided to have a water fight in honor of the cancelled one a few days earlier. We filled up balloons with water, and since they were regular balloons, they were giant bags of destruction! We filled up two for each person, and made a few extra. We found the students waiting outside and began to attack. The students knew we were up to something, so they were prepared with water bottles, but they had no water. Our preliminary attack was poorly planned, so the element of surprise was totally defeated. By the time we went back for ammunition, they were ready for us. It became an epic battle between facis and students. They with water bottles, us with balloons. The main flaw we had was that our water balloons were way to thick, and didn’t pop on the students, but instead on contact with the ground. It was terrible! We were getting drenched in every direction, until we ran out of ammunition and began to use our own bottles. Then the war got even better. Martin found a bucket lying around, and filled the entire thing up with water. It then became a war between boys and girls. Everyone had a blast. By the time it ended, it was time to go to the ropes center.
Me, Tete, Ana and Ekta stayed behind for this rope center and plan on going to the next camp. Each faci can only go once, so we are saving ours for the second camp. The rest went to the ropes center and for once I had an entire afternoon with absolutely nothing to do. I took a nap outside, enjoyed the weather (although it was way too hot!) and worked on preparing my final night activity with Ekta. When the students returned, they were even more exhausted than they were during the morning. The ropes course took every last drop of energy out of them. The second part of the last project bombed completely. Everything Ekta and Harrison said during their education went in one ear and out the other. It was my fault for scheduling their session after such an intense day, but there was no other time for me to put the education and it had to be done. I felt really bad.
After the project, the students got ready for Mr. and Miss MBM. This night activity was my idea (after Ekta propsed a “fashion show”) because I had done something like this when I was in high school. The basic idea was that each team chose one representative, who competed for the title of Mr/Miss MBM. This meant they had five rounds: swimwear, sleepwear, sportswear, talent and question. This was such a great event. The guys that competed were completely hysterical and they surprised me so much with their creativity. The girls were even better! One girl, Lenka, normally quiet and shy, was forced to compete because the other girls on her team refused to participate, was my favorite girl.
When the competition was over, and before we announced the winner, Ekta and I decided to give out our own special awards to each student. We had Johnny—“Mr. Congeniality” and Denisa “Miss Dancing Queen”. Oskar—“Mr. Zesty” and Miša—“Miss Genuine”. I could go on about why each student received such nicknames, but really, I would be going on forever. Each student has touched all of us in such a great way, that I can’t even describe to you all the little moments that make us smile when we think back to our time at camp.
We were proud to crown Johnny and Martina Mr and Miss MBM 2010 and Ekta and I put their toilet-paper sash on them. It was a GREAT event. Everyone was entertained, surprised and had a great time.  After it was over, the students weren’t ready to go to bed, even though the day was completely exhausting. It was our second to last night, so we just played music for the, danced a little bit and when people started going to bed, we played a game of mafia until the others were tired.
After reflecting back on this experience, this was when I realized that camp was ending, and the last day was next. Our little family had grown so much in such a short time. They knew each other’s personalities, they were working together as a team, and they were enjoying their experiences together. There were many strong friendships that were being formed, not only within the students but between us and them. It was a really great night, just hanging out, as a family away from family, and it’s something I’ll never forget.