the weeks gone by, part 2...

Photo captions for session 2:
dissecting owl pellets (petrified owl vomit with mouse bones in it - yay fun) with my day camp group

hammy and one of my kids about to walk into the meadow

the moon and trees - a view from the lake at campfire

This post was half written a while ago, so it will seem a little bit disjointed.

Camp week 2: day camp with kartoshka and hammy, short session

I have been placed in day camp this week, which means I only have the kids from 8am to 3:30pm, and then I get the rest of the evening off!! It will be a good break. This week I am living in hidden forest, which Is this fantastic set of units in the middle of the forest – like a scene from the village actually!! I half expect either little people like hobbits or elves to emerge from the units and the mossy tree stumps, or people walking around wearing red hoods.

A group of girls are going to see Pirates tonight at midnight (damn time difference), for the first showing. They
are dressing up too. I went canoeing today and the two of my girls in my canoe
thought i was nuts because i was speaking in pirate the whole time: "arrr these
black waters of doom be cursed, they be..." And i wore a pirate hat all day with
a feather in the top, which one of the girls gave to me when we went to paint
rocks by the river today.

I will go with some others on saturday to see pirates, hopefully. i just didn't
fancy working on two hours sleep. Because camp can tire you out so much (day
camp is easier though, because i get so much time off.)

This afternoon after work (not that you can really call it that - if you have
good kids then its just like being on a non-religious retreat,) i sat in hidden
forest and drew my area - a tree stump and mossy trees looking like soomething
out of LOTR, and a fire circle and open cabins looking like somethign out of
The Village. Its a bit scary out there by yourself. Especially night noises.
Last night i lay there looking up at the trees above my head, some 30 metres
up, lsitening to the river and the birds. I got a slight wave of homesickness -
just remembering the old world and how far away it seems. a logn long long way
away. it still feels surreal here - like i am floating, and the days meld into
one long mindwarp. i
feel like i am just exhibiting my shell, going along with everyhing, with a
strange sense of detachment. i feel like i have left myself back at home home.
even when i am by myself i can't really get it back. i can't sit and think, its
like my brain has gone soggy. i guess once i start studying again...

then again there are certain people who bring it out a little bit. like when i
talk with clover, she talks about ordinary things but in a completely new
perspective that makes me appreciate them, like when we went kayaking and
floated under a big tree. and she said "this is my favourite place..." and
she's said a lot of deep stuff that has made me stop and think about it, like i
used to in the 'old world.' i can't remember it now though.

Oh, i found out that our lake is 100 feet deep, which is like 33 metres (spelt
right), and i am scared of it because you can't see the bottom let alone your
feet if you float.

i am teachign the kids to moonwalk. i am always spining and dancing around here
- thats another thing that i do here and not in australia - i attempt to
dance.

i am working with a girl called "hamy" who dressed in a corset all day, and a
girl called "kartoshka" who is american, but chose that name because it means
"potato" in russian, and she carries the stereo around with her with her cool
russian pop cd in it, and plays it to the eight year olds while we paint rocks
and roast marshmallows.

Thats about it for this week.

love, mii xx