It's Saturday evening and I'm trying to study for the GREs. I'm exhausted despite the fact that I woke up at 2 in the afternoon. There's bags under the bags under my eyes. They're so dark it looks like mascara is running down from my bottom lashes but I haven't even brushed my teeth let alone put on make up. It's hot enough for the plastic cover on my living room table to be sticking to my legs but not hot enough to become dependent on the AC just yet. As an alternative, I keep the windows open and listen to the music stream in from the wedding hall across the road, the whirring wheels of boys on their bikes, crickets chirping, and the pak-pak-pak as neighbors walk by sleepily in their shap-shaps, plastic sandals. I'm exhausted, but I'm happy. This could quite possibly be the first time that I am completely happy with my life here. I'm happy with my work, with the friends I've made, and the life I am currently leading.
This past Tuesday was the start of Neftchala Summer Camp round Two. I couldn't be happier with the results. It was so much fun, and not just for the kids, but for me as well. Last year's was satisfying but I was a frustrated, stressed out mess. I couldn't even enjoy it. However, this time around, everything ran almost perfectly. The group of kids this year have just been so great. They help each other, play and work well with each other despite the age gaps, and are in general, much more respectful. It's gratifying to watch kids mature and grow after you've known them for some time. It's completely apparent year to year. There are some projects and events that take a while for you to recognize the effect and change you've made. This isn't one of them.
Now I want to share a few anecdotes from this week so that I can brag about my kids :)
Day 1:
In the original schedule, I had alloted 45 minutes to design and paint team flags. We ended spending close to three hours on it. This resulted in two beautifully painted and collaboratively decorated flags.
Day 2:
In a game of Elbow Tag, our youngest girl, Nargiz, kept on being picked by accident to be the person getting chased. She ran around squealing in both delight and fear of being tagged. The older boys recognized that she was getting tired and began looking after her and offering her help in the game.
Day 3, Excursion to the Absheron Peninsula:
The bus driver kept on getting lost on the way to all the sites. None of the kids complained. Not once.
When we arrived at Yanar Dag, the fiery mountain, Tehran, a 9th form boy, offered his hand to me as we climbed up the steps above the hill.
Elnur, a 10th form boy, bought his cousin, Ferid, lunch at McDonald's because he'd never eaten it before.
Ramazan, a 7th form boy, bought my counterpart and all us volunteers ice cream.
The kids were all accountable for each other every time we began to drive off. They all knew where the others were and that's how I knew, that they'd never leave a classmate behind.
They all said, Thank you, it was very, very nice, to me when we got home.
Day 4:
Everyone was exhausted after the 12 hour day before but they all were willing and excited to play games. It was a rough day for me. My Azerbaijani language wasn't coming out too well due to the fatigue. This resulted in a lot of confusion and some chaos. But despite my obvious frustration and my one freak out moment on them, they were still excited for Monday so we could start all over again.
I've worked a lot of camps in my short life. Inshallah this will be the last one. It'd be a great one to go out and retire my camp career on. I'm even looking forward to next week.
Goodnight friends. I'll be out of commission for the next 10 hours for beauty sleep. Again, Happy Summer.
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