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Smirkus Camp has a blog! Basically pictures and descriptions of what we do each day, intended for the parents but also cool if you want to get a good sense of what we do. It's at smirkuscitblog.blogspot.com so check it out if you're interested. :)

Feelin' hot hot hot

I haven't sweated this much since Kolkata! Oy vey. It's in the 90's already, and barely 9 in the morning. The kids are going to be really sluggish today, not to mention the staff. But today I'm lucky, because I have "all day" off, which means really that I don't have to be at the tents for morning or afternoon rotations, just everything in between (strengthening, afternoon activity, etc.). It's super nice, especially after a hard but extremely productive night of fabric training yesterday. Yay for sore biceps! I'm definitely workin' on my "sun's out, guns out" impressiveness... ;)
Oh yeah, it's a new session! On Sunday we got a new batch of kiddos, this time ages 8-16. I was fortunate enough to get a group of six of the sweetest 10-12 year old girls you could imagine, so it's a good time. I also got moved to the dorm that's down by the tents (counselors move practically every session), which means more walking but also more party! We're down there with two counselors, 13 awesome preteenage girls, and the coaches, so we pretty much rock out all the time. It's really nice.
So yesterday it was settled among some of my fellow counselors and myself that we are going to start a circus dance/theater/company in Seattle in a few years. Who's with me? :D

No really

Now the summer has started in earnest, and it's not half bad! Smirkling camp was just the hellish "let's get it out of the way" first part of the summer, and now that I have six darling little nine-year olds (including one who can't be taller than 3 feet but has been to India and Nepal and has a bigger vocabulary than I do), things are looking up. The days are starting to fall into their regular pattern. There's the groggy wake-up at 7, and hopefully getting everyone to the dining hall with shoes and pants and brushed teeth and all that by 7:30. Then the amazing counselor meeting at breakfast, which gives us a chance to wake up without being surrounded by children, bitch about and swoon over our kids, swap tips and concerns, then finally breathe, swear, and set out on the morning run, which is basically a quarter mile of encouraging the campers. Then warm-ups, morning rotations for the kids (acro, performance, aerials, and juggling), during which we help out however we can, be it consoling a homesick camper, spotting them on the tightwire, keeping them relatively calm in aerials while waiting for their turn... Then strengthening (love those push-ups!), lunch, rest time! Except not for us: for us it's making sure the campers are resting-time. Then back down to the tents for more rotations: counselors get one or two of these rotation times off per day, a good time for a nap or a movie, checking e-mail, taking a walk or a shower, basically the only "me-time" we get. Then afternoon activity (capture the flag, CATCH time (camper activity total craziness hour :), which is where counselors offer a selection of activities from which the kids choose, etc.), dressing up for dinner according to the theme of the night, anything from pirates (arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) to "infectious diseases" or "it came from under the bed." Those last two are lots of fun... And then evening activity (tag games, dutch auction, etc. etc.), getting ready for bed, and lights out at 9 (or 8:30 for this session, since they're 7-12 year olds). And after lights-out... time for the staff to play! Usually everyone ends up in either the tents or the kitchen, where we make milkshakes out of ice cream bars, pop popcorn, hang out on the counters swapping horror stories about our campers, and generally have a fine old time. And of course in the tents we train, though I'm often too exhausted to do much: but tonight there's a special aerials class, so I'll be down there and up in the air!!! And then midnight curfew, and up again at 7... as you can see, it's a busy life, full of questions and boo-boos and giggles and later in the summer lots of teen angst, without time for much of anything besides the kids. Sometimes I think, "Thank goodness this is my last year for awhile!": the routine can get to you, and after six years of the same thing, it's getting kind of old. But then a camper will run up and give me a hug and flash me a beautiful toothless grin, as much as if to say, "You're the reason I'm so happy," and I remember why I love this job. :)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

I have had campers for five hours. Only five hours. And already I feel like screaming. This is because they are seven years old. Enthusiastic, creative, needy, and really really adorable. And I only have two of them! This doesn't bode well. But on the bright side, this is by far the most draining session of the summer, and we're getting it out of the way while we still have energy. That's exciting at least. I think that I'm not using any exclamation points it's because I'm saving all my enthusiasm for parachute games and tag. Woo hoo! And now I'm going to take a nap. :)

Back in Vermont

So after that crazy whirlwind week of awesomeness, it's back home, because yes, this place, Circus Smirkus Camp at Sterling College, Craftsbury Common VT, 05827 (and yes that might have been a hint to send me stuff :) does feel like home: it's my eighth year coming to camp in some capacity, and will probably be the last for awhile. It's weird to say this as the summer is just beginning, but I think I'm ready to move on after this summer. But I'm also really excited, because we're going to have a great time: the staff is awesome as usual, and I feel really comfortable with all of them and with my job. So yay for Vermont and yay for circus! More updates to come, of course, but for now I'll leave you with a sense of the awesome place I've come to, and that is: the theme of our staff orientation is Alien Abduction. 'Nuff said. :)

On the road again...

And lovin' it! I'm back at Swat, seeing old friends, choreographing dances, going out to eat and see movies, staying up late and pretending to drink alcoholic beverages, and all that other good stuff that comes with the college life. It's a lot of fun, but frankly I know that I don't belong here right now (now being graduation time: it's too early!!!!), so it's kind of uncomfortable. Plus, I really can't wait for tomorrow... :)
The only truly epic and noteworthy event of yesterday (besides me going to Green Bottle briefly, which is basically a "one last chance at hooking up in college" event for the seniors, and frankly was kind of lame) was that I very nearly lost my suitcase on the way to Swat, this being achieved by leaving it on an R1 when I stepped out to board the R3... thanks to the nice lost and found people at Suburban station the crisis was averted, but needless to say I'm not going to be using the overhead rack on the train again anytime soon!!!
Anywho, I'm wicked excited (sorry Emma :) to see my guy, which is TOMORROW, did I mention? Yeah. Woo hoo! :D