camp. 7.13.05

camp was awesome. rewarding. almost inspiring. this time, you could feel the african heroes theme. the kids liked it even though we made some hasty rain-date plans on friday; all the locations we were supposed to have at the college seemed to be taken over by the other camp groups. i understand we have to share the space... but i did think we had those assigned to us.

small potatoes. we had workshops on history and stress reduction and identity and storytelling/ african songs. and they all seemed to work- a fairly rapt audience, and good commentary. i think. i don't know because i was running around all weekend making sure the next thing on the schedule would happen like it should.

in fact, that was the strangest thing about the camp weekend. unlike putting on WILD back in the wu days, i never had a chance to stop and look out among the crowd and grab my nuts and say, "yeah, i did that." nonetheless, camp was tight.
i had the arroz rice-a-home and dirty jersey sammy and my sibling aqua dulce in the house to help things out.

the last day left a little to be desired, though. the kids' portion of the talent show climaxed with a half funny, half gripping retelling of the amistad story, where some slavejacked sierra leoneans took over the ship, landed on american shores, and found allies to help them legally fight for freedom. if you happen to be in connecticut you should check out the amistad exhibit in new haven and look for a fellow named donald who will tell you great tales. after the talent show the gift and thanks ceremony took forever. and ever. i missed my gift, chasing after little ones.

on the same subject, i was cleaning out the last of our stuff- later than we should have- and i knew i was late. i did not, however, expect the bus to pick up and leave my ass. i was running behind a yellow school bus, cussin' with all the creativity a weekend of interrupted sleep and harnessing adolescent energy will leave.

there were some people still on campus; i caught a ride with one and caught up to my bag, already put on the bus by someone else. though i might have lost my gift, which was a badass candle holder.

p.s. i forgot to mention about jury duty. my ass got tagged. today. hopefully, not much more; i am fixin' to see shakespeare in the park's production of "as you like it." i might even skip out on something thurs or fri to see it.

p.p.s. i can't seem to stop saying ass.