At camp, I witnessed the morale of the staff burning out due to the children’s disobedience. This second camp was for me more of a means of connecting with the staff. I’ve gotten pretty close to them and we even keep in contact. The camp cop, the second time around, was much more amiable than the first. The first cop was lazy and stayed out late every night, drinking with the locals and sleeping during the day. He was for the most part detached from the kids and the other staff. The second cop was much better and we connected more. One of the first things he told me was that he liked Bob Marley. How could you not like a guy that likes Bob Marley?
Here is a quick anecdote. For the first time in my life I stepped in poop with my bare feet. Of course it would happen during Peace Corps service. But it was due more to a lack of awareness than anything else. We were at the river, swimming. I had to pee, so I found a spot in the reeds that branched off of a narrow pathway. I had been drinking with the other counselors, but I had only a few. It shouldn’t have affected my ability to see. However I felt a warm smudge under my left foot as I set myself to urinate. It gushed between my toes as I peed. I was hoping it was just a melted Lion Bar. I had to check after I was done relieving myself to make sure it was just a chocolate bar. So I wafted at it and I sensed that it was not chocolate, nor was it from a canine. It was human. I quickly ran to the closest part of the river, far from where people were swimming, and cleansed myself to the best of my ability. I walked across the hot sand slowly in hopes that it would kill any remaining bacteria. Then I went in the river and dragged my foot in the sand to exfoliate any possible remnants. I know it was fresh poop because I went to the same spot earlier in the day to pee and it wasn’t there before.
One of the peculiarities I noticed during camp was an Indian day that the kids had. They’d dress up as Native Americans: face and body paint, feathers, exotic headdresses, etc. And all along I thought to myself, “only in Ukraine”. This would not at all fly in the states. Better yet, shouldn't. Of course the kids would howl and make Indian sounds. I couldn't help but be reminded of the short-lived ABC series Cavemen, based off of the Geico cavemen commercials. It ended up not lasting 1 season but I thought the show was genius and touched on the very important issue of racial relations through the lighthearted paradigm of cavemen humor. I may be the only person in the world that liked that show. Anyway, here is a clip I think is pretty relevant to what I experienced:
And some pictures from the Indian day:
I didn’t participate but I did help with the body painting. Somehow during camp I’ve become like a makeshift artist. After that Indian day celebration, kids would come up to me and ask me to paint them. So I did. Who knew? I’m a dormant tattoo artist. Check out my work:
I even drew one of the girls during an art session. As you can see they framed it:
Here are some other pictures from the camp:
What TV sitcom character does this guy remind you of?
This is Bogdan. When he's not asking me random questions, you can find him modeling on a random sand pile at camp.
My favorite girl from second camp:
My favorite boy from camp:
The kids getting ready to play a game:
Camp counselors:
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