My Camping Trip

                               
                                                  My group with our origami doves
 
                                  So, on Friday night I got back from camp and......it was, well, to be honest, a pretty bad experience.
              The drive up wasn't so bad- it was long, but not too long, and I had a good book to read and I enjoyed that. And I did use some of my Drivers Ed knowledge and asked the woman driving us if I could text for her(since texting and driving is a VERY bad idea).
      However, when we got there and signed in, gave any medications we had to the nurse, I had sort of a bad feeling(a small one, but I ignored it since that usually happens to me when I go somewhere I haven't been before(unless it's something really fun). Though I did find out that they would prepare me special gluten free food and give me a special plate with my name on it which was cool :).

       So, we went over to our councilors(we were in the second older group; the other was for those doing a leadership thing). My two councilors were pretty cool- the girl liked a lot of things I did and the guy was from France :); it was interesting to talk to him, learn some things about France, and even get to teach him some English words :) . However, I knew things were going to go really wrong when I tried to explain that I don't like to play games because my OCD makes me hate losing(I was very polite and said what my Mom had told me to say) and the woman councilor just looked away like she was mad or something. The first night was alright and I did like the food but most of the girls in my cabin(except the two girls from my church and my sister) were really weird and very exclusive. :P(I'll go more into that a little bit later).
Every night we would make a schedule for the next day where we got to pick some of the things we got to do, though of course some of it was pre-planned, like Bible Study everyday and our Rock Climbing trip and our canoeing trip. (I can't go day by day for this post since the days all kind of bled together and I have some broad topics, though I could do it if I wanted to).

We did some pretty fun stuff throughout the week, like All Camp, which was where all of the kids from the entire camp got together and we did fun activities. I especially liked the relays we did since no one got out and I don't mind playing those kinds of games(I just hate games where you get out; I just don't see how they are fun). I also liked the second(or third) day's activity(though sadly I can't remember what it was :P).
I also liked the archery(mainly because the guy there was pretty nice- the bows and arrows were really cheap and crappy; the guy there even said so). Biking was also really fun, though I almost crashed while going over a bridge too fast, though I did manage to not ram into the bridge post since I swerved out of the way(I did pretty well for not having rode a bike since I was around 12).
       Rock climbing was also fun(at first) and I did pretty well I guess for having never done it before(I could get pretty high and I got to the top of a couple of walls). It's a lot harder than it looks(though it was easier when I started using my leg muscles more). Also, after the initial first day of swimming, the other times we went were pretty nice and I really liked the life guard guy(he liked Star Wars!!! :D And he liked the entire saga which was pretty awesome! :D). In fact, all the guy councilors were really great and were nice to me, which I liked :).

        Now onto why I really did NOT like my week at camp. >:(.
 First of all, were the group of girls I shared living quarters in(I like the girls from my church, so they don't count when I'm talking about the girls, and nor does my sister). The boys next door who were a part of my group where annoying, except for one of them, but I wasn't around them as much, so I don't have much to say about them except they were exclusive just like the girls(we shared a building/cabin with the guys but there was a wall between us). However, since I was in the same room with the other girls I had to deal with their annoyingness a lot. :P And I did try to be the nice(the entire time in fact), but the girls, first of all, just really didn't like me and were mean, very crazy, and of course, extremely innapropriate. Not only are we at a CHURCH camp, but they were several years younger than me(I am seventeen, one of the girls from my church was sixteen), ranging from thirteen to fifteen. And even though I knew that kids nowadays were way more obsessed and talkative about S#x then I remember them being when I was that age, it just was really disgusting to hear. I mean, really, do I need to hear you girls giggling about certain things that are private affairs and not to be talked about in such a childish way; seriously, when I was those girls age, I was playing Robin Hood and Star Wars with my friends, reading, writing, doing plays, and that sort of thing. Luckily, I did know what they were talking about but my sister got quite an education and not the sort of thing you are supposed to learn from church camp; to be honest, I don't know whether I want to laugh or be disgusted at how immature they were acting(they sounded like what people say teenage boys act like).  Not only were they talking about s#x a whole lot, they also kept calling each other sluts and whores(perpetuating rape culture much?) and then they also said something about 'white girls' and how all white girls are racist and that there are two different kinds of white girls; the whole thing being so ludicrous even I didn't understand what the hell they were talking about. (though, I did know something they didn't, so YAY me! Though I don't think they listened).
        And on top of that, they were also very exclusive and treated my sister and I badly and would leave us out and treat me like a whiny little five year old and my sister like a wall flower. It was so annoying since THEY could act weird but if I did something that they found odd, then I would get weird looks. I mean, sure, I did whine a little, but that was only after I started getting frustrated with people not respecting me(which I'll get to really soon). And one of the girls didn't have normal decency and wouldn't answer questions at times :P.
       They also hurt my feelings several times. The worst, for me, was at the end when, on the last day, we went around writing nice messages on these notes for each other and one of the girls(the one who was the main one to treat me like an inferior and a child) wrote 'I don't know what to say :P'. I know I shouldn't have let it get to me but I just got this depressing, sinking feeling. I am so glad I don't have to see them ever again.
   I am so glad to be back online among my fellow introverts, geeks, and the like :D. (I guess camp is just not for introverts).


            Not only were the kids annoying, but so, sadly, were the grown ups. While I did like my female councilor, she did get on my nerves the entire week too. First off, she was VERY naggy, bossy, and pushy which I really, really don't like(I had enough of bossy people when I was younger) and she also, at first, seemed to blame me from having OCD(though she was young, inexperienced, and probably just a few years older than I, so I can understand that).  Also, I felt like I was being disrespected a whole lot, what with them forcing me to play games, hold hands, and do things I really didn't want to do at all. And of course, I ended up getting a hold of corn while I was there and that just made things worse :P. 
         And of course, I had to have two big upsets while I was there. I won't go into the first one all that much, but it did deal with  having to do a swim test and I had a panic attack(And I really don't know why, but I do have some theories) but I did do the test and the life guard guy was very nice to be and handled everything in a subtle way I noticed the other guys doing around me, which I really appreciated :).
The second problem was a very bad meltdown I had on the second day. It started out during this singing thing we were doing outside and they were doing a song that involved physical contact(this song called Shake Another Hand where you have to shake hands, bump hips, pinch people's cheeks, etc), so I just backed away from the group so I didn't have to be involved in it(besides, I felt alone in the crowd and I wanted to have some space). And the woman who was kind of in charge(there were a few) tried to get me back over there(in a rough-like way) and I know I shouldn't have snapped but I'd already been angry and tired and sick of being bossed around and treated like a weird little kid, that I did(though I just said "but I don't want to be touched" so I don't see why she got as angry as she did). Then she got all high and mighty and really mean and wouldn't let me talk or explain myself since I was a kid and since my brain wasn't working properly and I was raised to not be rude, I didn't say anything(though I did glare at her and I shook my fist at her later); I was so angry, I went over to my pastor and she ended up talking to the woman and she DID listen and told the other councilors(and it got better after that) and I will give her that, but she still should have listened to me and I'm still mad at her XP. 

On the last day, a pastor who is connected to the camp somehow, came by to give us a sermon before everyone pretty much left, and talked about how he hoped that we connected to God, made friends(eye roll), and learned something during our week at camp. 

So, what did I learn at camp? (I already knew some of this, but I'm going to say it). 

Teens, especially younger teens(and even tweens) are a whole lot more peervy than they were when I was that age. 

I've come to appreciate my friends even more than I already did. 

Kids lose their innocence earlier and earlier and it's really sad(and I'm no traditionalist, so that's saying something that it bothers me).

People rarely respect a child of a teen when they say they have a problem or even say they don't want to do something.

OCD isn't treated like the disorder it is; if you have autism or down syndrome, they will accommodate you, but not if you have OCD(unless an adult explains it to them). Not that OCD is worse or equal to those two disorders, but there are people out there who have it REALLY bad, so they need to realize it's a bad thing and hard to handle at times.

It's an extrovert biased world out there. 

If you act different from the norm in any way, then people will treat you like an inferior or, even worse, an insolent child. Even if you are the oldest. 

Even if two people are smart in different topics, people will always assume the person could at math is smarter than the other person(had that happen; they said one girl was the smartest and that I was the second smartest so I said, something like "how do you know that we're not both equally smart, just in different areas?"). 

It's okay to talk about s#x in the rest room when small children can hear you, but heaven forbid you say 'no' to playing games. 

No means no, unless it is something people conceive as inconvenient, like not wanting to play games or hold hands. 

Teens find goofy graces, chanting 'arts and crafts' over and over, singing annoying songs, dancing, and saying hip or weird things like 'devos'(instead of devotionals) or 'cuppies' instead of just cup are cool :P I mean, the cuppies word was cute at first, but then it got a little awkward hearing grown men and women say it so much. 

Everyone loves "Jesus Loves Me" except for me :P. (the reason I don't like it is because of the 'we are weak' line and I have a problem with the whole weak thing). 

There are people more obsessed with height than me. 

Introverts or people who are shy or different aren't welcome at things like camp

People will give you a weird look if you are bored and play with a flash light and say 'brains, brains!' because the light beam resembles a brain, but it's okay to climb onto a public bathroom sink and try to stick a wooden stick into your belly button(and then start talking about you know what again). 

I am a bit naive, but that's something I'm okay with.

Kids and teens love to giggle about the forbidden information they know, but they won't answer questions about what something is(well, some will, but usually they are the more mature ones). 

Now I know what twerking is(a dance move). 

And lastly, that I don't want to go to camp again- at least, not that camp anyway(the one I went to for Confirmation was really fun! :D).

So, what do you think? Would you want to come here to this 'wonderful camp'? ;).

And I have to say, thank you all so very much for being my friends :) :D.

Adios Amigos! :D And May the Force be with you! :D