CJL - Grateful

We're halfway through fourth session, and it's going swimmingly! I absolutely love being with the CITs; however, it's a significant adjustment compared to my experience as a UL with the munchkins in Romany. With the little ones, we have to do so much for them, but the CITs are self-sufficient. My counterpart and I told them that we are "available but not always present." So far, they've really proved themselves to be responsible and reliable!

As I made my way up the dark path to the office just a few minutes ago, I could hear the Oakledge girls singing to the right and another unit hollering and having fun on the playing field over toward the left. It is truly those sounds of joy and fun that make camp what it is. Those unexplainable moments that stick with me and make me so so grateful that the Lord led me to this place when I was just eight years old!

CJL - 3rd Session Recap

We are officially halfway through! Three sessions/four weeks behind us and two sessions/four weeks to go. 

A quick recap of this past session: coyotes running around at night freaking people out; a nasty stomach bug that infected all four units and overloaded the infirmary; CIT interns being amazing; me teaching tennis, archery, and water fun; and the usual fun and craziness that is a one-week session. 

Beginning tomorrow, I am one of the CIT program directors, and I am so excited because it's a position I've coveted for quite some time. More to come... 

CJL - Rolling Along

Things are continuing to roll along here at camp. We've got two sessions behind us and three more to go. Third session begins tomorrow, and it's just one week long. And then two more two week sessions, and we'll be done.

Last week we had a great deal of excitement. The septic system in Romany (the unit for the youngest campers) required replacing, and there was a copperhead in the cook's house. I was in the office with a bunch of my fellow staff members when the snake incident happened. As soon as we heard about it, we grabbed sharp tools and ran to address the situation. I think that incident is a perfect example of life here at CJL: a completely absurd situation that makes us laugh for days and brings us together. Not to mention how badass we are, taking out a copperhead with some shovels and an axe!

No doubt the next five weeks will hold more excitement, fun, and challenges. I will try to be good about updating this thing.

And for a tiny preview of what awaits after camp: August 1st-11th my parents and I are going to Seattle and Vancouver. And then I'll return to Greenville, SC!

Exley. Out.

CJL- Banquet

Olympus was in charge of Banquet for first session. And as the program director, I was in charge. Banquet is the final dinner of a session during which we set up the dining hall differently, eat food that's a bit fancier, and commemorate the closing of the session.

Along with help from my friend, Laney, I decided on "Kentucky Derby" as the theme. So here are some photos of our decorations...

CJL - Intro

So I'm spending this summer at my beloved Camp Juliette Low. I began attending CJL when I was seven years old. I first went with a friend, but after that year, she stopped going. But I loved it so much that I continued to spend weeks there in the summers.

CJL was founded by Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts and an all-around fascinating, wonderful woman. Some points of interest about "Daisy," as she was known: At her wedding, a grain of rice became lodged in her ear, and when it was removed, she had lost most of her hearing in that ear, leaving her mostly deaf on that side. She began recruiting girls for the new scouting movement in and around Savannah and registered the first group of Girl Guides in 1912. CJL was founded in 1922 as a camp to train Girl Scout leaders, and while it is no longer affiliated with GSA, it remains true to her mission of training girls to lead, learn various skills, and grow.

Juliette Low Lodge

One thing I truly love about CJL is that not much has changed since its inception. Some tents now have light bulbs, but we still sleep in the outdoors. And the JL Lodge is the original structure and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Since I've been on staff, I have come to appreciate the way in which CJL fosters so many skills in our campers. By living in tents with other girls, separate from counselors, they learn to handle their own affairs. Girls learn numerous camp craft skills such as wood chopping, fire building, lashing, and so many others. And the campers learn that they can have fun without iPods, TV, and computers!

Some of my fellow staff members

My tent this summer

Bathroom. Fancy, right?

Numb

Recently I connected with a few girls in Greenville who are interested in making an effort towards fighting human trafficking/CSE in and around the upstate. Two girls, in particular, have started an organization called HTAC (Human Trafficking Awareness Coalition); the work that they plan to do is good, but in talking with them and considering how much exposure I have to the reality, statistics, and true stories of this issue, I realize how numb I have become to it. The accounts of girls duped into entering the commercial sex industry and the stories of their exploitation do not move me.

Perhaps my reaction (or lack thereof) is due to having heard these stories so many times. Or maybe it's just not what fires me up. I really hate when people say stuff like "Well, that's just not where my heart is." That's such a pathetic excuse. Just because something isn't particularly compelling for you doesn't mean you are exempt from caring. I think that type of rhetoric is all-to-common in modern Christian circles and is a way for people to feel that it's ok not to care or contribute. And because of that, I don't want to use that same lame excuse for myself. 

I am drawn to Latin America because I speak Spanish, but I do not want to ignore the rest of the world simply because I have a pension for Latin American current events. I do not care much about the environment (even though I recycle and wish that my car wasn't such a gas guzzler), but I don't think that means that I shouldn't care or shouldn't make a concerted effort towards being a better steward of the planet. 

Jesus has instructed us to plead for widows and care for orphans, but he doesn't qualify those commands by adding "if that's where your heart is." He just says to do it. Of course, I believe that having an "attraction" towards a certain issue or region is a gift from the Lord and part of His equipping us to serve Him and His people. But having a specific interest is not grounds for ignoring other places and subjects. And if something is important and dear to the Lord, shouldn't it be important to us as well?

To simplify all of this rambling, I will say that I guess I just don't want to be a hypocrite.

The Wanderer

Since Christmas I have been on-the-go. The majority of my weekends have been spent away from Greenville, and I have logged some serious miles on my car and in air travel. I catch flack from my Greenville friends about my frequent absences, and I understand their point; however, I really enjoy traveling and being a modern-day vagabond.

This past weekend I put about a thousand miles on my car: Greenville to Milledgeville, GA for my cousin's graduation; Milledgeville to Murrells Inlet for my nephew's baptism; and back to Greenville. On the way back from Murrells Inlet, I drove through parts of South Carolina that I had never seen before, and it was really cool. While driving through a giant pine forest, I passed a large clearing and realized that it was a giant federal prison. And soon after, I found myself driving alongside Shaw Air Force Base. Maybe all of the traveling I have done (not just in the past few months) has opened my eyes; or maybe it's that because my eyes have been opened that I so enjoy traveling. Whatever the case, freedom of movement is a gift and one that I value.

Our friends' dock in the Inlet

Murrells Inlet

The Inlet at night, with the crazy full moon

My "nephew"- big brother of the one baptized