Day 7- 1st day of camp

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

I didn't get to run yet again because we had to be up early for camp. We had a quick breakfast and went over last minute details before the students started arriving. Dressed in their group colors, the students on our team were getting more and more excited by the moment. Students started arriving about 30 minutes early. We welcomed them at the door of the hotel as well as with a tunnel of Americans. If you were here, you would have heard the music from the street and been cheered on all the way into the meeting room after shaking about 26 different hands or giving about 26 people high fives. Once you came in, you would have sat down and talked to the people around you and maybe even thought about how weird the Americans were as they danced to the music! We loved every moment of the welcoming as we tried to get them to be at ease. The students we already knew came in and felt right at home though! Evan introduced the colors and their group leaders in the way a sports announcer would do. One of the requirements to get into the camp was for them to be able to speak pretty good English so the Kosovars could understand us for the most part. They laughed at Evan jokes and started to relax a little. Once we split into colors they were able to get to know some of our names and really feel a part of the camp. Morgan and I did a little more planning while the groups got to know each other since we aren't  specifically attached to a group.

Gonita!

These kids know how to dance

Scavenger Hunt:

When it was scavenger hunt time, all the leaders joined a group. I ran and walked from edge to edge of Suhareke with the brown team (Hannah and Sam). Here are some of the scavenger hunt from the day.

Jeremy was hiding around town and this group found him!

The bridge.

Crazy picture

American drinking Ayran

Fairly quickly I met a girl named Lila. She's my favorite Kosovar student right now! She speaks excellent English. As we went from place to place to get pictures, I chatted with her. We talked about movies, books, life, dreams, passions, school, future goals, math, America, and who knows what else. She has a beautiful singing voice, but said she doesn't think she would be a musician because getting famous goes to your head and you forget about your love for singing. Her vocabulary and understanding of life amazed me! Currently, she wants to be in politics and is passionate about helping the economy of the country. I got invited to lunch with her, little Fatos, and Hannah. We went to Edona for pizza. I think I've already lost track of how many times I've had pizza! The conversation was delightful. She invited us to the school but I said I'd go tomorrow. I think it would be fun though!

Other students went to eat with some of the students in their color groups while some went to the school to hang out while they were in a break. The first full day of camp went very smoothly and our team can't stop talking about the things they've already experienced. Everyone is in love with the culture here, especially the hospitality. They love the environment of how you can walk everywhere too. The rest of the day was filled with hanging out with Kosovars and our normal nightly routines like eating and manuscript study. Kyle, Parker, Katherine, Emily, Josh, Cameron, Ben, Jeremy, and I went to a dessert place across from Ben-af before dinner and the. Decided we still needed dinner so we went to Egzona/Pizza Express for a chicken burger. I got to be with Morgan's family group for our manuscript study.

For all the mothers reading, you may have children that want to live here forever. A big thanks from Ma (me), Pops (Jeremy), Gammy (Morgan), Gramps (Evan) goes to you mothers for letting us love on your children for a few weeks. We've learned a lot from them and hope they have learned a lot from being here. We've really enjoyed spending time with your children and can't wait to see what will continue to happen in their lives over the next 2 weeks and into the future.