One week=so much learned

So last week I was placed in a cabin of 8-11 year old kids as a cabin leader. “Ok” I thought “I’ve done this before” and this is true, I have been a cabin leader so many times it is hard to count… but it has been a while since I have last stepped into that role. Of the nine boys in my cabin, two spoke English as their second language, five did not have fathers one did not have a mother and one had tried to commit suicide a month ago, he turned ten the week of camp. Like many of the experiences that I will have here in New Zealand I cannot put this experience into words, but to say these kids need love.

Other than that I have had other experiences that have been incredible. I have been able to reconnect with the Burches, it has been great seeing how they have all grown. I have also gotten to spend some time with The Stubbs, the assistant directors family. After camp all the Burches, Stubbs, Stacie and I went to the only good Mexican restaurant in New Zealand. Six kids, five girls and one boy all under the age of eleven, wow, fun… I also experienced my first rugby game. The All Blacks beat Romania something like 80 to 5, this is a big deal because the rugby world cup is going on right now, and that means that nothing else is really happening in NZ right now.

I have also discovered that even though Americans and New Zealanders both speak English, we do not speak the same language. Jell-O is jelly, jelly is jam, supper is a snack eaten sometime after dinner, cookies and biscuits, and there are no fewer than six opportunities a day to eat during camp. There will be more to come, but needless to say things get confusing fast.