forgotmyhead

I helped build a school with 25 other amazing youths from Canada and the United States.

It was the most amazing experience of my life.

I can’t wait to go back! Not in the near future, but I will return one day.

Well, I’m leaving for Kenya on the 1st of July (mom’s birthday! eep) and coming back on the 26th. I’m really excited, but I still need to fundraise.

I haven’t been on 43Places for a while.

I’ve made up my mind; next summer I’m going. I don’t care how much in debt I’ll be, or how much I have to work, I’m going.

I know my mom thinks that this will pass and I’ll fall back into my old habits (spending money like water, buying lunch at school because I don’t have time in the morning to make it, etc.) but I’m so determined not to.

Antissa on Wikipedia

E.S. Posthumus has this album called “Unearthed” and it’s really neat because all of the songs are named after ancient or ruined cities, and this is one of them (spelt Lepcis Magna, but whatev.). Eventually I’d like to visit all of them, or rather where they used to be.

Well, I wanted to go to Mt. Albert because of a guy that I met and yeah. Everyone knows that story (I’m a teenager, this happens). But anyway, he’s a jerk and I don’t have any reason to go there anymore! Goodbye, Mt. Albert.

I came home today, after the best week in a long time. I so desperately want to be there right now, but I know if Arts Camp was any longer than a week, it wouldn’t be quite as special.

I can’t fully describe what Arts Camp is, it’s something that needs to be experienced to be understood. One C.I.T re-read a poem that he wrote last year, and I think he had the right idea.

“Arts Camp is a notion of acceptance.”

That’s exactly what it is, and it’s not the place that makes it amazing, it’s the people. It’s the supporting environment. It’s the meal time crazy-ness of standing on benches, and skipping around the room, and shouting and banging. It’s being able to stand up and perform and know that not one person will “boo” you. It’s being able to develop a huge amount of trust between a group of people in such a short amount of time.

Arts Camp is so many things, but most of all it was Frank (he started Arts Camp and has been director for the past 19 years). Except, this year was Frank’s last year, and there were a lot of tears to go with it, but there are no hard feelings. There is nothing bitter, because it was his turn to sit in the inner circle and pass on the flame of Arts Camp, and I know camp will go on. Next year, we will rock the house and I can’t wait.

Oh my goodness, 18 days and counting.

I’m excited to meet my counsellor tomorrow.
I’m excited for C.I.T dress up day.
I’m excited for counsellor dress up day.
I’m excited for the 80s lunch time dance.
I’m excited for campfire.
I’m excited for workshops.
I’m excited for my campers.
I’m excited for meal time madness.
I’m excited for talent/no talent night.
I’m excited for night time activities.
I’m excited for seeing friends I haven’t seen in forever.
I’m excited for meeting new people.
I’m excited for warm fuzzies.

Arts camp was the highlight of my year last year. I plan for it to be the same feeling this year. Such a supportive, amazing, wonderful environment. This time around, Kate isn’t coming, but Nadia and Becky are. Grade 12s from last year won’t be there, but lots of new kids will. It’ll be different, but different in the very best way possible.

I can’t wait.

I just got home from my 3-day trip in NYC with the art dept. at my school. It was breathtaking, I had a blast. We went to a couple museums, did a guided tour (which was actually, crap. I’m not one for tours, especially when you’re on a bus the whole time), did some shopping and saw a sub-par performance of Phantom of the Opera. It doesn’t sound especially exciting, but in all honesty, it was a fun trip.

Oh! And we saw David Blaine. He’s attempting to live in a giant water-filled bubble for a week, and at the end, he’s going to try to hold his breath for 9 minutes (and break the world record) while struggling out of chains. He has a little magnetic writing board which he uses to communicate with people, it was really cool. A girl in my group had a clear retainer just like him, and then my friend showed him hers, which has teeth attached to it. He wrote her a message, it was exciting!

Yesss, I got my confirmation letter, and my C.I.T confirmation letter. I get to be a C.I.T!! I’m so excited.

Now I get to see the mystery that is campfire.