Can you tell I am excited about finding this site. This is the second blog in a day.

I recall some really special people that I met while I worked at camp. One that I think about alot recently, given the current world situation, was a young christian lady from the middle east. I believe she was Palestinian, but I am not sure. I recall being surprised that she was Christian and the nationality that she was, mistakenly assuming that Islam was the state religion for the country. I have to admit that I cannot remember her name, although I believe it starts with an "S." She was a quiet girl, but one evening Michelle Eversen and I were talking to her. She told us how nice it was to spend a summer in such a peaceful place, without being overly concerned for your own personal safety. That really made me consider how lucky we all were and are to be where we were and are. And then I thought, "That is exactly what this place is for!"

I also think about the visiting reverend from Liberia, I believe. I believe his name was John Harmon. I spent an afternoon talking with him as he accompanied our campsite in out afternoon activity about different concepts of time in America and in Africa. I found that we had done alot of the same reading. Later that afternoon, John spent free swim canoeing around the waterfront. I asked him why he did not get in the water since it was so hot. Besides the obvious concern over his personal health and cleanliness, he said he really enjoyed canoeing. It was something that he did a great deal as a child with his mother. I took more notice the rest of the summer of how much he smiled as he paddled around during free swim. Again, I could not help but think, "That is really what this place is here for."

Finally, I remember in the fourth session of my last summer working at camp for the whole summer I was so nervous because Charlie, in his infinite wisdom, had assigned a Japanese exchange camper to my site who had no working knowledge of English. Again, the name is lost to me, most likely because it was very unfamiliar to me. I managed to communicate for the first afternoon by pointing and making motions. I started feeling bad for him that we had to go on that way, so I began asking what things were in Japanese to try to make him feel like he did not have to do all the work. I could not recall a single word that he taught me, but it taught me alot about real communication and how much you can learn about people without talking to them. This boy was good at Kendo, sword fighting, in Japan and after he showed me a video on his video camera of him completely whipping some other poor Japanese kid's butt, I quickly had him show the rest of the campers. This prevented any bullying by the bigger kids, for our Japanese guest was rather slight at first glance. This also gave him some street cred and by dinner he had been taught several new words, not all of them were appropriate for mixed company, without me having to teach them to him personally. The community was beginning to work its magic. By the end of the session he was arm in arm with his campsite in the friendship circle singing the Chanco Song. It was never perfect, but I imagine he may still know it wherever he is now.

I made many friends at camp that I kept for many years, but when I remember all those summers, the people that I met for only a summer or even a session that went off into the world without returning really had profound effects on me and my understanding of why it was important to be at Chanco. Although I try to be, I am not the most open minded person in some reguards. I always appreciate it when people help me get out of my comfort zone and help me to understand things more clearly.