The Camp - Journal Entry #4
Slideshow of All Camp Photos

Tuesday, August 1

The kids here are very friendly – although definitely teenagers. They range in age from 12-17. I get the feeling they also don’t know what to say to me – and I to them. The main hindrance to my travels here will undoubtedly be my shyness and inability to start up conversations with strangers. Worse – how do you start up a conversation with someone who may or may not understand a word you are saying? I hope things get better once I am in Izhevsk – I need to become more independent and not rely on others so much. Being at this camp makes that hard though since I am so clueless as to what’s going on.

We had a “business class” this morning where I was asked to speak about my home. It’s hard to describe in short easily understandable sentences a place that almost literally has everything – variety of people, geography, imports/exports, weather, religion, etc., etc. I couldn’t even say for sure how many people live in the Bay Area – with so many cities butted right up against each other, it’s a very unique place. I guess I’m feeling a little homesick – it’s especially frustrating/difficult to talk about my favorite things – movies, music, baseball – because those mean nothing here. And no internet to keep me informed on the Giants. And even in the city they only have dial-up.

I’m starting to wonder how I’ll make it through the next 5 weeks and if I will really learn anything at all. Will people want to get to know me – will there be anyone who actually wants to speak to me? These are the same problems I have at home and they are so frustrating. It’d be nice to meet some people my own age as well – but working in this school/camp with these kids, I’m not sure how that will happen. I am happy to be here though and interested to learn more but feel trapped by this language/age/interests barrier. Like now, for example, I feel guilty that I’m in my room (shared with 2 girls, Natasha and Dinara, right) writing instead of out there trying to talk to people. We’re waiting for lunch and here I am. And what will I do after lunch?

Well it’s now after lunch and actually almost dinner time. I spent the afternoon following Dinara, Natasha and their friend Losha around. I helped them collect pinecones for their activity tomorrow, played pseudo volleyball and then helped paint the pinecones orange. I am very curious to see what these pinecones are going to be used for. Of course, being me, my immediate thought on collecting and painting these pinecones was how it was negatively affecting the local environment. Typical me – and if my companions would have understood me, I probably would have explained why. Upon returning to our room we started playing a game similar to 13-1 (with Losha/Alex – who I finally realized is Tatiana/Tanya’s son and Natasha/Natalia). Dinara hung out watching partly and thumbing through my Russian dictionary and phrasebook. She definitely seems to be becoming more comfortable with me and has warmed up considerably – she is much friendlier than she first let on. I’m glad I was put in a room with Dinara and Natasha – they are the two girls who I would have sought out in any case.

Wednesday, August 2

Some generalities and observations: Russians eat really fast – maybe it’s just because we’re at “camp” but it seems like meal time is rushed through as quickly as possible. Meals are smaller too (no big surprise) and snacks are eaten very frequently – that could be the fact that I’m around teenagers too. They also don’t drink water very much – the fact that I have water bottles is an oddity – “Is that a special kind of water?” My backpack was also completely new to them as well – and even merited a photograph of me carrying it on our “field trip” today. We went to a pond/lake about a couple miles away I’d guess (5 km?). A fire was built, we played volleyball (pseudo – just in a ring) and a couple of the girls played guitar and sang. Basically just hanging out.

I’ve found some of the girls have similar interests – I talked to many more of them today on the field trip – about music, movies, books, life and expenses in the US, and tried to learn some new Russian words – to which I was told I was very good. I forgot to mention the first question I was asked (by Mikhail during a group meeting) on my first night here was if I could pronounce “bl” as in Bbl. I tried and received a round of applause. I think my Russian would sound good if only I knew more.

Oh – the pinecones were used tonight in a game called Gold Rush – they were the gold nuggets which were hidden around down in the forest. Upon collecting them, they could be exchanged for “money” at the “bank” which could then be used to purchase goods at the store – where I was stationed with Natasha (right). It would have been more fun to see the actual game – the collecting part, but it was amusing to watch the kids agonize over what sweets they would spend their money on.

Thursday, August 3

Another observation – which may be just the fact that I’m with teenagers also – Russians need little to no sleep. I was sleeping all the time it seems in comparison – it also may be that I’m getting over the 12 hour difference from home – like right now it’s about 2 AM at home and I’m sure everyone there is asleep.