Blue Lake! :D

I am back. Simply put, I am back from Blue Lake. I got home yesterday evening at about 5 pm, for anyone who wanted to know. I had a most enjoyable time, and would do it all over again, if I had the chance. I very much hope that I can do it again next year.

My days began with the alarm going off at 6 am. We were to get up directly and prepare for the day (including brushing teeth, fixing your hair, showering (only if you were of the first three in the bathroom), putting on makeup, ect.). At 6:30, everyone was to be out at the unit’s campfire. Let me back up to explain this. I was in a cabin with 10 other girls that were supervised by a counselor. This made up one cabin. There were 6 cabins in a unit and probably around 10 girls units. So that explains the whole unit-thing. Whoever was the first cabin out at the campfire, they got breakfast first as well as 6 points to go toward the cabin-cup award. Whoever was second got breakfast second as well as 5 points for the cabin cup award. And so it went on down the line. Anyhoo…we would all trudge down to breakfast (about 7-10 minutes away) where there would be more announcements on the day. Then we would go to breakfast (normally something like waffles, pancakes, bagels, donuts, eggs, hash browns, or omelets). Directly after breakfast we would all head off to the morning’s classes. For me, it was sectionals all the way back at Karr (near my unit). Sectionals were about 45 minutes long and then there was technique afterwards with the same teacher for another 45 minutes. Technique turned out to be extra fun sometimes because we would just sit around and talk (sometimes about famous violists or viola music). I really enjoyed my teacher for these different classes. After technique, we had an hour to do stuff (spent in either cleaning your area in the cabin, or showering). Then, we walk all the way back up to Main Camp to Marek South to have AM rehearsals for an hour and a half. After that, it was lunch time…whoever got to our “meeting place” (just a place by a tree) got lunch first and 6 points…and you know the rest of the drill. Lunch was normally pretty good. After lunch, it was minor time in which you go off to your minor if you have one. I didn’t so I would either hang out at Main Camp and get an ice cream, or go back to the cabin and clean, eat, shower, practice, or nap. Then I would go back down to Marek South for PM rehearsal for another hour and a half. After that, it was rec time where you just hang out with your friends. My cabin girls were….A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Let’s just leave it at that. Then it was dinner time, which tended to be gross, so I just skipped on over to the salad bar. Then we would all go back to our units and have unit activities before going off to a concert of some kind in the evening. We’d get back late, wash up and prepare for bed. By Michigan law, we had to be in bed by 10 pm and up no earlier than 6 am. Most of the days sort of mesh together, so I really can’t tell you what I did every day. Thursday, however, was different. In the evening, we had a pizza party with our sister unit and our brother unit. Then, we went over to Stewart Shell and watched a concert put on by the faculty and then there was the camp dance. It was SO AMAZING. Then, we did our dance that we learned for Michal Jackson’s “Thriller” and then it was time to go to bed. The dance was cut short because of tornado warnings.

I am so grateful for everyone there that I met. The girls in my cabin were Olivia, Miranda, Izzy, Lauren, Frannie, Erica, Megan, Sophie, Mary and Niki. They were…wow, so very cool. I met a lot of other girls in my unit and around camp also and anticipate on keeping in contact with them all!! My counselor was Kristin, and my U.D. was Charis, and my U.C. was Amanda. I miss them all so much and wish I was back there!

Thank you to all of you who took time to write to me! It was *VERY* much appreciated and I always loved it when mail time came around.

I also got an invite to audition for the International Orchestra for next year. I auditioned and applied, but haven’t heard yet whether I made it or not. I probably won’t go anyways, as it costs $5,000, but it was worth the audition practice!

Some of you were worried about whether there would be a huge Christian influence there. Thank you for being concerned! I was so afraid as I prepared to leave that the girls there would laugh at me for being Christian and homeschooled. I did, however, find a girl there who was my age and was homeschooled *and* Christian. I also believe that most of the other girls in the cabin were Christian. They didn’t laugh at me…they accepted me. I didn’t attend the chapel service for a number of reasons, the main one being that I got to sleep in an extra hour. I am very glad I brought my Bible and I did spend a lot of time praying while I was there and it was a real time to “get away” from life and spend some quality time with God.

Thank you all for reading!