becca and i arrived in austin having no idea where we were supposed to be. we found some lunch before we headed down to baggage claim. there was a group of young adults gathering a ways from where we distantly nibbled on our lunch and we were trying to decide whether or not that was our camp group. after awhile, we got up enough courage to ask if they were with cbs...which, of course, they were. we met lots of people, including amy, who becca and i became good friends with right away.
arriving at camp felt a little awkward...people were running around in spiderman and superman outfits and shooting off water guns...i honestly had no idea what was going on. this is me having no idea what is going on:
while they were pulling everyone out of their cars and snapping these shots, the greeters (people in the first pic) stole random things out of the cars to return later as the leadership and full time staff was introduced. to be honest, everyone's enthusiasm was a bit intimidating...but i got over that pretty quick.
anyway, that kicked off work week. for most people, that meant doing little projects around camp to get it ready for the kids to come. for me and other people who were aspiring to be working on the waterfront, that meant lifeguard training! it was a lot of work...and pretty intense, but we got to know our fellow trainees really well and a lot of inside jokes out of it. after days of watching cheesey videos, treading water, tweeting imaginary whistles, perfecting our stride jumps, rescuing active victims and submurged victims, performing spinal rescues and being trained in first aid and cpr, we finally became "professional lifeguards". thats right...i'm a lifeguard; i can help.
with that, work week ended and a whole new experience began...orientation. it was basically a week of camp with a bunch of college students...which is awesome. aside from the endless meetings and talks about how you can and can't interact with children to avoid law suits (which pretty much made you convinced you would be thrown in jail by the end of first term), we did everything the campers got to do. we went retro bowling, had two dances, played tons of games, and participated in team competition. there are four teams at camp: the texas rangers and lonestars (brother and sister teams) and the rough riders and silver spurs. we all had to be initiated and all that jazz...but its supposed to be secret...so yea. anyway, the last day of team competition i hyperextended my knee. in other words, it hurt really really bad (and still does really). that was the day of the big ultimate frisbee game against camp champions down the road. needless to say, i was disappointed that i couldn't get in the most intense game of my life (if you read my blog, you know how much i love ultimate).
after orientation week, it was finally time to get our cabin assignments, co-counselors, and camper names! i became co's with an awesome girl from south carolina named laura. God couldn't have placed a better person in my life to work with over the next 5 weeks. to my surprise, we were going to be with the senior campers (the oldest campers at camp), who are 15, going into their sophomore year. we were in the cabin furthest from the front of camp....which meant a 10+ minute walk to every meal. 
thats laura and me before a rodeo roundup dance. anyway, our first batch of girls had all been in the same cabin last year, so they were pretty close. it was a really hard term, but it taught me a lot and made me really rely on God. it would take to long to go into details on here...but if you feel like chatting, i'll tell you all about it. below is a pic of all my girls from first term except for one...and the one on the far left wasn't in my cabin.
it was weird trying to think of what it would be like to have a whole new cabin for three weeks! laura and i had no idea what to expect and went in planning to apply everything God had taught us from first term. the ironic thing is, the girls second term were completely different and we had to go about things in a totally different way. i got really close to all the girls...most of the senior campers actually. a whole extra week really allowed us to get to know the girls. we even got to take a charter bus to the beach for three days! that trip was really crucial in developing relationships as well. 
above are my girls from second term. again, theres so much i could write about my experiences, but thats more for a conversation. i really felt like the Lord was using me to work in these girls lives and that somehow i've made an impact on them, which is so rewarding. i definitely would love to go back again next year. i've made so many good friends and miss them so much! i'll be back in august to visit all of my counselor buddies, which will be good. i've got tons more pictures to post...and hopefully people will send me some via e-mail so i can post those as well!
i-i-i want you to know, i need you
and i-i-i want you to know, its true
theres no no no no way i'd make it without you,
its so good to know -what?-
i've got a friend like you and you and you and you and you and you and you!
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