Hey party people!

So I've been at Camp Max Straus for a week now, and it feels like it's been such a long time since my last blog, so much has happened...

Everyone at the camp is so cool. There is a great group of people I get to call my coworkers this summer. There are staff members from all over the United States, and several countries around the world are also represented, including Great Britain, Australia, and Ethiopia! All have been such nice people from the minute I pulled into the driveway, and I'm so excited to be working with them.

We spent the week going over policy and procedure, doing team building and learning activities, getting certified for CPR & first aid, and just hanging out. The food is SO good! (I'm fairly certain that the kitchen staff won't be able to serve such quality food once the kids get here; It's just too good. And there will be about 120 young mouths to feed in addition to the 30 staff who have been here for the past week.)

Speaking of the kids, we get our first batch of them at 1pm tomorrow!! We found out yesterday what age group we'll be working with and who our co-counselors will be. I found out I'll be working with the campers of the Arapaho cabin (all of the cabins are named after Native American tribes.), which is 8/9-year-olds. I'm so stoked. That's just the age group I wanted. And my co-counselor is an awesome guy who is a Camp Max Straus veteran, so it looks like we're ready to go.

The kids will get a chance to go to all of the following workshops: Drama, Arts & Crafts, Archery, High Ropes, Swimming, Sports, Dance/Music, Horseback Riding, Cooking, Ranch (that's hanging out with farm animals), and Nature Education. By the way, we all got a chance to
sample all of these workshops. Be jealous :-P

There will be 7 sessions this summer. That's five one-week sessions, and two two-week sessions for the kids who were extra good last year. There is also a hiking program called Witherby, in which kids ages 13 to 17 can spend the week hiking in the Sierras with experienced staff. It's pretty cool, and the people running it are pretty cool. Just thought I'd mention it.

Anything else?..... Can't think of anything else right now. I'm actually still getting ready for tomorrow, so I should get back to that, but I will def' write about all of my adventures this summer. Sorry no pictures this time too. You actually won't be getting ANY pictures of the kids, as per camp policy, and you may or may not get pictures of my new friends. Policy stuff again.

Anyway, pray for me. I'm sure I'll be needing it this week. Thanks for reading! Until next time...

Jolly Young Saint,
Nick