Friday we woke up later than usual, like 7ish or 8 and headed over to the gym. I did a killer circuit workout surrounded by very muscular old people. I even did it Evanston Swim Team style, with machines and then exercises in between.
Then it was time for my little locker room fiasco, I had messed up putting in my locker combo, so I asked the front desk person to come up and unlock my locker. Turns out I was at the wrong locker, rough. Then when I was shaving I got a HUGE abrasion on my leg, this was far past a little shaving nick, so I was bleeding everywhere. I also had forgotten my tank top, so I decided to cut my sweaty tee shirt and turn it inside out. So I returned to the front desk to ask for scissors and several band aids. The woman just looked at me thinking something along the lines of, I don't even want to know.
But everything all worked out and we hit San Antonio at about 1030, found a Starbucks and were then asked about City Year because of our matching uniforms. I love giving my "elevator speech", even if I've already had to give it about a million times. It makes me feel proud knowing that I'm a part of this movement to change education for the better.
So we then arrived at the prestigious PGA golf course JW Marriot where we'd be spending the rest of our day. We were there for a couple hours just setting up the camp for the Nat'l Down Syndrome Conference children and then they provided us with lunch and some minor training. It was super relaxed and very chill (because of the lots of AC) compared to our week of training. I also had a stellar conversation with one of the TLs about nature and outdoor education and adventure therapy, I love talking about things I'm passionate about, and those topics definitely make me feel passionate.
Then it was time at about 3 for the camp to start. Two other corp members and I would be in charge of a group of 18-20 6-7 year olds, those with Down Syndrome, and siblings of those children. Our group was named the Sharks and we were so excited to teach them the baby shark song. The first child showed up and I immediately adjusted my expectations. The child had no interest in sitting and singing, he/she wanted to explore! And wanted to explore absolutely everything at a run! It took three of us to keep tabs on this one child, and that was just the beginning. Basically once all of the kids had arrived it was mass chaos, children were escaping, two children in my group could only speak in Spanish, so I tried to read them very basic children books in Espanol- such as Buenos Noches Gorilla. That was an interesting experience, me in broken Spanish reading buenos noches gorilla, buenos noches leon, buenos noches todos animales, as hundreds of childrens ran everywhere. Eventually when we stopped trying to keep them in our groups and just organized the children by activity, things ran A LITTLE more smoothly. But it was still a disaster, but I think the children had fun and the parents were able to attend their meetings without constant interruption, and I guess those were the goals of the camp, so SUCCESS!
By 7:00, when the camp was supposed to have ended we are all absolutely exhausted from running around and my pants were more spit and snot than khaki, but there were still most of the kids there. One of the people in charge called a corp member meeting, he apologized because we were supposed to easily be out of there by 7:30, but some parents had gotten confused or something, so he was asking for volunteers to stay later and help, but wanted us to feel no pressure to stay, senior corps and staff would be staying and could (probably) handle it. He ended his little speech with "Kids won this one guys, kids one point" and a silent break.
My roomies and I decided to stay and help clean up and we waited til all the kids had been picked up which was at about 8:45! The JW Marriot was beautiful but I was ready to go home. We got home at like 9ish and made a beautiful White Pizza, with pesto and lots of veggies, and by the time that was made, there was no way I was going out I was exhausted. Roomizz and I watched Sex Change Hospital, Dinner with Cannibals and then fell asleep during Whose Line is it Anyways on the living room floor. An exhausting day to end a tiring week, but very super fun.
Daily Hero: There was one kid who I had been with all day and he/she was very challenging. The kid did not speak English and loved to run everywhere chasing anyone looking for the next fun thing to do. Most parents when they picked up their child were in a rush and kind of just grabbed the kid and rushed off. This parent stopped me, help my hands in theirs and looked into my eyes and thanked me for watching their child, how much it meant to them. I was truly inspired and it made all of my hard work 110% worth it.
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