Road Rulz - NYC (Day 3)

Monday was our first day of day camp! We enjoyed some cereal for breakfast and walked briskly to the subway station. I had learned a few things about the day camp via email, but I really was not sure about what to expect at all. I knew that the kids were in elementary school and that there was about 45 of them, but I had no idea what the NYC kids or the program would be like. The first day was mostly a day of observing for us. We helped out during bible study and games and participated in a super fun water fight at a local park. (I hadn't even thought about nobody in New York having backyards - so everyone was at the park and it was super hot so all the kids were running through different sprinkler things at most of the local parks. The kids were so entertained by their water bottle squirt guns.)

It was kind of odd to be thrown into a camp that had already been going on for a week and that was not in my Camp Shalom comfort bubble. Things in the city were so much different than at home - not only the camp rules etc, but also the kids. They were all super high energy, but more patient and tough than the kids I had worked with at home. I enjoyed comparing Iowa kids to NYC kids through-out the week. Another neat thing about NYC is that they provide lunch to all kids under 18 at the public elementary schools - so we always walked to one for lunch - they were always hectic meals, but I thought it was such a neat thing that the city provided to the kids.

I also got to see our high school campers become leaders. On the first day I was in a group with the only boy camper of our group (who had not said much for the first few days of the trip and who had told us that he didn't really want to be here). We were working with the oldest group of day camp kids during bible study and they were making a skit to tell the Creation story - the skit was starting to look a lot like the skit from the opening music/story time and so he suggested that the kids made a rap! It was amazing to see him start to break out of his shell and begin to work with the kids. This was the first of many great things that happened during day camp!

After camp, we traveled 'home' to have a little nap (which became a tradition-day camp made us all exhausted) and make dinner. That night we traveled to Washington Square Park. In the park, we enjoyed a magician/comedian and some people watching. We also watched some chess players. It was a relaxing place in the middle of a busy city! Eventually, we traveled home to get some much needed rest.