I’m writing this post thinking how amazingly fast my summer has passed. It’s really hard to believe that just over 2 and a half months ago I was studying abroad and just 5 weeks ago, I was in a cabin in the middle of Minnesota.
Just five weeks ago, I had my hands wrapped around the shoulders of some of the most amazing and interesting co-workers I could have ever come across. All of us stood in a circle, our arms supporting the backs of one another as we swayed to the song “Bonsoir les loups”, a song that we had sung every night to our campers before they would go to sleep. This night, however, it would be the very last time that we would sing it all together, all in one place, remembering what would have been some of the best summer memories we could have ever asked for. I looked around the room, savoring the moment, my dear colleagues who had become my friends, the atmosphere, the environment, and the lovely place I had the opportunity to call my home. I promised walking into the little wood cabin that looked over one of our amazing lakes that I would not get emotional. But, after we all read our letters to the next year’s staff, and reminisced and thanked each other, it was so hard not to feel so overcome. It had been one of the craziest experiences of my entire life.
Five weeks before, I could not have imagined ever having felt that way. I had been extremely nervous, both to meet my fellow counselors, but also to be surrounded so completely by nature. But, soon after we all started training, eating foods from all over the world, listening to languages we had never thought possible to comprehend, or at least get the gist of, something changed. Yes, I was still incredibly nervous, but also so completely amazed by a group of wonderful people and a program so interested and invested in the global world. I knew I was lucky to have been selected for such a job.
When we got to the site, I must confess, I was overwhelmed. I was scared. There were spiders all over the cabins, a dark and curvy walk to the bathroom, and guess what, nature everywhere. Now, before I had told myself that I could live in nature, I could handle it. Well, I wasn’t so sure. But, life brings so many unexpected changes and challenges. I survived after running into a real, wild snake (okay it was rather small) with a handful of kids in my charge telling them that it was just a worm (but I think I was saying that to myself more than to them). I shooed away many spiders from children’s cries and took in hand far too many caterpillars that I would have rather liked on the trees than crawling on my skin. I bathed in the clear, cold lake after a warm jaunt in the sauna. I saw the true strength of bald eagles as they flew right overhead, soaring to their nest, as I walked to dinner. I saw the sun rise over a foggy lake in the middle of the woods on a 5 am bathroom run. I watched the sun set around a campfire as we sang some of the most chillingly, beautiful songs I have ever heard. And, my most favorite of all was laying on the pier after all the campers left with my fellow monos looking up at the black sky and the bright stars above, finding constellations and wishing on shooting stars.
We counted our blessings and shared our challenges every day during cabin counsel, the only time we were allowed to speak English. Not every day was easy, but hearing what the campers had to say was also a huge encouragement. On the Fourth of July, Claire, Jade and I snuck the girls out to watch the fireworks over the lake. In my memory, I will imagine that there were the most beautiful fireworks to have ever been seen, even though there were none in sight as we were so secluded.
We laughed. We cried. We sang. We danced. We ate. We ate so much and then we danced and sang about what we ate (hence the title). We carried our bananes (fanny packs) with pride. We walked. We smelled. We sprayed bug spray. We applied sun screen. We froze at night and sweat during the day. We sauna-ed. We played. We learned. I learned. I learned a lot. I wish I could go back in time and experience it over again, just for a second, but even then, it would not be the same. So, instead, I look back. I look back at the pictures, I hum the songs that we sang and listen to the ones we danced to. No amount of words could describe my experience and even these words seem to be lacking. There are so many moments that I can’t fully express, so many emotions, so many laughs and so many somethings that I can’t put my finger on. So, I pinch myself and ask myself if it all really happened.
On Monday, I start another year of school, but I have so many yesterdays to smile back on. Thanks for stopping by my corner of sweetness which has become rather nostalgic today.
Émilie
Sweet Like Speculoos 
Loved it! 😘😘 >
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