The downside to working far away from home: weekends.  The house is always so empty on the weekends because everyone lives close by and goes home.  Right now I think it's just me and three of the boys, but I keep hearing exploding noises from upstairs so I'm guessing they're playing video games.  It's really nice having some chill alone time on Saturdays but it's been over six hours now and I'm ready to go out and be social.
But anyways, this week went by so quickly!
Our training is set up by morning training (9am-12) and afternoon training (1-4/5).  The morning is usually lessons about how to talk to middle schoolers, how to engage them, how to apply certain things to other things and so on.  The afternoon is hands-on activities.
So this week went a little like this.
Monday:
After worship we went on a little hike in the woods to the top of a hill where we had a little lecture type thing on how to apply Jesus' teachings to this summer.  Naturally, I took photos.

Then we got separated into our work projects.  Bikes needed cleaning, the waterfront shed needed organizing/boats inspected, and the ropes course needed new mulch around the elements.  We got separated by specialty so we could familiarize ourselves with the area, so I got ropes course.
And so we mulched.  Oddly, I really enjoyed it.  I shoveled mulch into a wheel barrow (sp?) and spread it around for four hours.  The next day I could barely move my arms, but it was fun.  I don't remember anything after that for Monday.

Tuesday:
We had a lesson in Conrad/outside on the quad about how to debrief activities and how to facilitate them in the morning.  Scott (our boss) made a tight rope on the quad and had some of the staff do a game with it and we had to facilitate it and draw out meanings and conclusions from the results.  That afternoon we were split into groups and sent on a scavenger hunt through the woods at the different ropes course elements.  Among my group were two sick boys and three very tired girls, so we walked briskly to each element while the other two groups sprinted.  We finished last, but way less sweaty and tired than the other two groups.  The point was to get the staff familiar with where the various elements are in the woods.  Then we got partnered up and picked an element to facilitate for the following day.

Wednesday:
In the morning we worked on FVC's in a classroom in Bennett (the gym) because it was raining.  I remember we were all such slugs all day, right after breakfast we were all sleeping on couches and when we got to the classroom for the morning lesson we were all falling asleep on the floor.  Everyone was just wiped out.  It was a long morning.  However they brought us granola bars to inspire us to focus and push through, which kind of cracked me up because who really thinks of granola bars as a good incentive?  And what cracked me up even more was that although we knew that it was just a granola bar, we all ran at them and were so excited.  Granola bars.  Not even chewy chocolate chip granola bars, but nature valley crunchy granola bars.
In the afternoon we did low ropes course elements facilitated by each other.  Mostly fun because I love the ropes course, however there is one element that freaks me out.  There's a twelve foot wall that you have to scale and get over by being lifted by others in your group.  I hate it.  Everyone touching you, being lifted off the ground, it just totally freaks me out.  All day I'm getting more and more nervous about it because I don't want to do it and when we get there I almost start crying because I'm so freaked out.  So I didn't do it and I hated it because I don't like being the center focus lately and I didn't like how I made myself look to everyone else by not doing it.
But my partner and I facilitated our element which was a lot of fun and we got a lot of good feedback.
That night we watched Narnia as a staff, but Melissa and I ended up getting candy and watching He's Just Not That Into You in our room and sleeping.  The best kind of night.

Thursday:
Melissa was a freak and got up early to go to the gym before breakfast (breakfast is at 7), which she ended up regretting because she was wiped out.  I don't even remember what we did for morning lesson but that afternoon we did facilitation again and then camped out on the ropes course.  This was kind of hysterical because after setting up our tents our boss said we had to make fire and cook dinner and immediately all the boys went into the woods and got firewood and all the girls started chopping vegetables.  And it was kind of precious.  The girls were joking about how the boys never looked so attractive as when they were gathering wood and making a fire.  But it was a lot of fun and aside from the massive mosquitoes, everything went well.

Claire and Kelsey pumped for camping!

Melissa not thrilled about camping.

Melissa, Rachel, and Sarah chopping veggies.

The boys making fire.

Friday:
We packed up and went on a fun little nature scavenger hunt and learned about plants and stuff for morning lesson.  And then we got lunch and went to waterfront orientation.  We went to the pond and learned about canoe strokes and how to manage and maintain the canoes.  And then, we practiced canoe rescues.
Ugh.  That part was not fun.  This meant that we had to partner up with another canoe and flip our canoes so we could be rescued.  To rescue, you have to pull the flipped canoe over your canoe to empty the water, then put it back in the water all while keeping your canoe from flipping.  And then you have to get the kids into the canoe without flipping it again.  So for the life of me I could not get back into that effing canoe.  Finally my friend grabbed my life jacket and pulled me in, and I now have a giant blue bruise on my leg.
It was a mess.  And then Melissa and I went kayaking.  After dinner, my friend Megan invited Melissa, Matt, and I out on her family's boat which was such a nice and relaxing end to a long and hectic week.

It was great.  Now I'm wiped out.  More later, happy Sunday!