Take Off Eh!

Posted by: Turkadactyl | September 7, 2008

Take Off Eh!

Canada Awareness Week was a success. We said our farewells to our group from Ireland on Friday morning. We had a fabulous time. Thanks to the Canada facts book from my in-laws, The Shraptors, we bombarded the group with many facts about Canada. Some of the campers joined in with the fun and replied with Canada facts of their own. One of the special things for me was the innocence that this particular group brought with them.

This group brought with them hair dryers and straighteners. To put things in perspective we have a couple of rooms here that have electrical outlets- the office for our computer and the staff room, which is used primarily to recharge music players and cameras. When the website says we have limited electricity they were not prepared for how little we do have. That is what made this week special I think.

This group was definitely out of there comfort zone and because of that they went through a lot of personal growth. These are kids that are used to having a mobile signal 24/7, entertainment ready on hand, and beauty tools I am sure I have never heard of before. One of the pleasures I received when I took the Edmonton Vineyard Youth on backcountry hikes for their first time is watching the transformation of lives as they are thrust into an environment that they are not used to and watching them adapt to the change and grow in self-confidence. I was able to experience that same joy this week. Sixteen teenagers and three adults (One adult grew up without electricity until she was eight so she felt at home) had to learn to adapt to the change and they loved it out here. They were sad to leave and wished they could stay longer, although I am sure most were relieved to go back to a mobile signal.

It took a lot of effort but I was able to get a couple of the teens to air band with Adam and I. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird is a most righteous air band song.

Last Friday also marked the halfway point for our time at Camas. We are serving for a full season, which is fourteen weeks. There are now seven more to go. This week is an empty week. No group has been scheduled to stay here. I have enjoyed our groups but the quietness is much appreciated. This week also gives us a chance to catch up on some much needed maintenance tasks. Adam, Josef and I also plan to have some arts and crafts time. We have some diet coke/mentos rockets to fire alongside some cardboard creations. Stay tuned as I hope to have some exciting footage by the end of this week.

Mrs. Turkadactyl and I hiked to Trig Point last week. Trig Point is on the east side of Camas Bay. We had a wonderful time enjoying the view and taking some fun pictures. Here are some for you to enjoy.