Compared to the rest of the week, Day 10, Saturday, second to last day of camp, was uneventful. Same routine as the other days but I think we all are getting excited by camp coming to a close and the prospects of us heading home soon, by way of the Red Sea and many hours in the air.
We had a little down time in the morning (a little means 45 minutes), which we filled with deep, meaningful debate about nut and Cheetos preferences. Seems a few us like cashews, while others prefer almonds. If toasted all the better. Peanuts didn’t make the Top 5, but to my complete and utter shock walnuts made the list. Really? Pee cans also made the list. Can’t recall what the other nut was, though I’m pretty sure it might have been Lindsey. Ha! Only kidding, my friend. We also spent some time on Cheetos. Original? Puffed? Puffed balls? Too close to call. Brennen seems to enjoy a good beef stick. Leslie packed them for me. They are foot long Slim Jim beef jerky. I ate one and regretted it. Gave the other one to Brennen. I’m watching him eat it now. Gnawing on that thing like a dog on a pig’s ear.
After our majors in the morning, which were followed by the aforementioned debate, we moved onto our afternoon assignments. Pool time with high ropes and zip line. Did that for an hour then off to lunch, which I missed because I was fighting with internet to load yesterday’s photos on the blog. Slow connection makes picture upload time consuming. I’d put up more photos if we had more bandwidth. Enough whining from me. Back to the day. After lunch we have 45 minutes more free time, then back to our assignments… chair ball, air football, dodge ball, capture the flag, boys soccer (not girls, Title IX hasn’t hit Egypt yet), and high ropes and zip line.
I had my first experience working the zip line, which is at the top of the 50 foot tower, no walls or handrails. Just a platform, with a shade covering. We latch in when we get up there for safety. The job is helping campers up the climbing wall, then transferring their safety ropes from the wall to the zip line, then shoving them off the top of the tower. Brad B. has this job mastered. It’s his primary assignment all week. Nice breeze and shade up there. He’s no dummy!
Two hours of those activities then we meet to learn about our next assignment, which was X Period, which was essentially more of the same… air football, soccer, dodge ball, chair ball, volleyball. The difference? The afternoon sessions are cabin versus cabin. X Period is Alpha versus Omega. Remember the campers are divided into two teams, Alpha and Omega, and compete against each other all week, collecting points in hopes of one beating the other. We find out who wins Sunday night.
Quick dinner. It was another chicken medley sandwich (not sure what parts of the chicken), then we headed off to the tennis courts for a second X Period, which was Raz. Omega versus Alpha. They wear flags. Run around the tennis courts trying to get the other team’s flags, which knocks them out of the game. Objective is to get their three “handicapped” campers from the safe zone in the corner to the safe zone in the middle of the courts. The “handicapped” campers are blindfolded, so they are fake handicapped just for the game. It’s not a discrimination game against handicapped people, though it would be perceived that way in our politically correct sensitive America.
Finished that up at 11:00 p.m., then went up to our meeting room for a quick meeting about the next days events, and also to complete our evaluations for each camper in our sports major. This was first time we’ve done this. Parents have been asking for feedback and pointers on what they should do to work with their kids when they get home. Asked about technical skills, teamwork, and areas for improvement. If I had known this was part of the assignment I would have signed up for whatever sport had the smallest number of kids! Brad O. and I were the last ones up, past 1:00 a.m., finishing the evals. Hey Brad B, not complaining, but it’d be helpful to future coaches if those were passed out on Thursday instead of Saturday afternoon. I’m just saying. :)
Couple of quick stories from yesterday. The camp sports director, David, found a tiny puppy in a closed trash can. Yes, trash can. Someone threw the puppy in the garbage. No way it could have gotten in there by itself. He heard it whining and fished it out and the kids were playing with it. Cute puppy, but they don’t have any regulations in terms of shots so no telling what diseases the local dogs may be carrying. May want to send Nicole and Lindsey for shots when they get home, just to be safe.
One other story. Young lady in our baseball group named Darin gave me a hand written note to let me know that I’m the best coach ever. She gave Brad O a similar note, but his said "pretty good coach". She’s a cool kid. Took a photo of the note and posted it below in case you'd like to read it.
Thanks for reading! I’ll try to blog about the last day of camp before we leave here Monday morning, then I’m not sure what kind of internet access we’ll have while at the Red Sea on Monday night and Tuesday. If we can connect I’ll post an update with a few photos of us relaxing on the beach.
All for now! Enjoy the photos.
Aside from a couple of hours on the zip line
daily, this is what Brad is usually doing. Note
that he is in an air conditioned space. Uh-huh...
Jordon blowing off some steam by pretending
to hit Brad over the head. We all have that urge,
but this is as close as any of us got.
John with our New Jersey friend Gary.
This is Jordan. She's not a coach, but she has
done an excellent job recording this trip, both
in pictures and video. She produced a really
great video that captures the essence of what
we do here, which I know they'll premiere for
all of you at our mini reunion next month.
Sports director David with trash puppy. Isn't he
cute? And look at that precious rabbid puppy!
This is the leadership group of kids. All campers
last year, but too old this year. They created a
leadership development program for some to
come back for. Several of them were at our camp
as campers last summer... four in mine and Lindsey's
baseball group.
Nicole the referee at air football. Brennen in
background pretending he knows what he's
doing because he knows I'm taking a photo.
Brennen up close in action.
John the referee for boys air football. Someone
said he and I look a like???
Gary from New Jersey ref'ing air football.
John Michael as referee of chair ball. We all
hate chair ball.
Chris calling a soccer match at the stadium.
Rebecca on the volleyball courts.
Justin calling a game on the basketball court.
Brad O as referee of girls basketball.
Lindsey the referee at dodge ball.
Barry and Zach calling a dodge ball match.
Two kids getting their warrior paint on for chair
ball, which we all hate. I actually dislike capture
the flag more, but I'm alone on that one.
Victoria and Bailey getting ready to start a
soccer match between Alpha and Omega.
Ken drew short straw to ref the game from hell,
uh, I mean chair ball.
Marcos is our friend who joined our group this
week. He is a professional soccer player, lives
in Cairo. Good guy. This is his family preparing
to go down the zip line. All went, many screamed
in a variety of languages. All survived.
Brad buckles Lila from Cairo into
her harness on the zip line.
And off she goes!!
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