I know It has been a little while since I last updated you on my adventures but it has been a busy few week getting ready for camp. I have a little bit of time now to get you guys up to date on what has been happening and how camp is going. For the last few weeks before I flew I spent them mostly get things organised, buying a few new bits and pieces that I needed and generally just packing and getting all I need for camp. I’m not sure whether I told you guys but I got hired as a village leader at Camp Warwa in Alberta. It is a small camp situated about an hour outside of Edmonton. I was so excited to start not only this new role but also get to fly to a new province and meet lots of new people. That is probably one of the things that I love most about camp, meeting new people and getting to travel to new places. I was also very excited to start this new role as it would mean I would have a bit more responsibility at camp which is what I really want so I couldn’t wait.

I packed my suitcase and then unpacked and repacked a few times trying to fit everything in. It eventually closed after me sitting on it but it was still 3 kilos under weight which was a win. Then I set the alarm bright and early to catch my 9 am flight. I was flying to Calgary and then on to Edmonton so it was going to be a long travel day. I didn’t mind, I had my book and all the electronics charged to keep me entertained on the way. Arriving at Edmonton Airport I had to wait about 2 hours before I was getting picked up but I was excited to meet these new people and get started. I was greeted by a coordinator dressed in a banana costume which was interesting and certainly a great way to make you feel at ease. It turns out that the other girl who was being picked up was sitting across from me for about 30 mins. We were both doing the dance of glancing at each other trying to figure out if they were going to camp. It all was grand in the end and turns out we are roommates which is great

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When we were on the way home from the airport, we stopped to have dinner with the rest of the leadership team which was awesome. I was so hungry after the day of travels, only after having subway to keep me going so I was looking forward to food. It was also great to meet the people I would be working closely with in a non-camp setting. They were all lovely and we had a lovely meal getting to know each other a little bit better. Then we headed on to camp being met by some deer on the driveway in which was cool. The camp is on a lake which is amazing and I am so excited to get back on the water, I’ve already gone on one canoe paddle but I know there are going to be many more. I also set myself the goal of learning how to solo paddle by the end of the summer which is awesome. But I am getting side-tracked here, back to when I arrived at camp. It was a little bit of a shock at the size of camp when I first arrived which unsettled me a little but it passed after a few days once we got into training and I settled in.

Training was great. I got to learn more about the role that I am going to be playing at camp in the coming months and also got to get to know some more amazing people. The rest of the staff arrived about 2 days later so it meant that I had a whole new group of people to get to know. We also got to go through our first day as campers , getting to experience the activities first hand which was awesome. We got to do so many amazing things that I have fallen in love with because of camp such as rock climbing and archery. I also got to learn some new things such as how to build a shelter and forcing myself to do the zip line even though my legs were shaking on the top platform. It is something I love about camp, getting to learn new things and pushing myself to do things that scare me.

Something I didn’t expect was to be waking up to snow on many occasions. Apparently Alberta didn’t get the memo that it was May which usually means it is spring but no winter came back. I love the snow so it was great, and it also made camp look so picturesque but at the same time it was weird. The seasons are all over the place, now like 2 weeks later it is like 20 degrees, such a change. We are well into the swing of things here at camp with groups coming and going each day. It has been amazing and I am loving it so far and can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.

I’m happy to be back at camp

Emma

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