i'm still alive

hello everyone!

well....in case ya'll have been wondering, i am safe and sound on catalina island. the fire was on the opposite end from where i'm at. it's kind of strange though that people back in illinois knew more about it than i did...because we had no way of watching the news or anything. although we did see and smell smoke. so the only way it really effected us here in emerald bay is that we haven't had electricity or internet for the past week. it just got turned back on a couple hours ago, and i must say that it was super nice to be able to check my email. i feel connected to the outside world once again!

so camp has been going well. we've had some fantastic kids...i got charged by a buffalo...sharayah is back on the island...i had to do some first aid on my boss this afternoon when he walked up to me with his hands covered in blood (he ended up having to go to avalon to get stitches)...i decided to train for another half marathon...and tonight was burrito night in the dining hall, which is my fav meal here on the island! it's the simple things in life:) oh, and as you can see by the photo, i'm working on my tan lines!

more later....

love,

brooke.

my humble abode

so this is where i live now. not quite the awesome cabin in the mountains....but yurt life is great! just saying the word "yurt" is fun. basically, it's a glorified tent. when i moved all my stuff over last weekend, i brought a few more things to make it a bit more like home...so it's really comfortable.

we just sent a bunch of kids off yesterday. so i'm enjoying my first weekend on the island. the camp is filled with boy scout or ymca groups on the weekends, so this place is still hopping.

last night a bunch of us walked over to parsons...which is one of the beaches on the other side of the island, just a mile or two away. we got there just in time to watch the sunset....it was beautiful! the waves were all kinds of crazy, so it was fantastic just to sit and watch them. i don't think i could ever get tired of that.

we're going into town this morning...which means that we're driving into two harbors, a town of about a hundred people. since i'm one of the older staff members here, i am now one of the drivers. which means i get to cart everyone around on the weekends. msa has two vehicles...a really old suburban and an even older 15 passenger van. i'm kinda scared that one of these times they are going to break down on me. but, it'll be an adventure. just to give you an idea of the condition of these vehicles...in the suburban (also known as hercules), only one of the windows rolls down. not a terrific thing for living on an island in the summertime. last weekend, one of the guys i work with, ian, rode in the backseat with the door open. there were some close calls though, seeing that he was sitting on the outside seat...and the road follows a cliff the whole way. yikes!

sharayah, my friend who has been in the hospital, is out!! she was actually released last sunday. her and her mom are coming out to the island today just for the day....so her mom can check things out here and see what it's like on catalina. then hopefully she'll be back to work in another week. the doctors still don't know what happened. she has some follow up appointments next week, so maybe that will reveal something.

alright. enjoy the weekend. i know i will...it's been a hectic week, i'm just still getting used to how things run here on the island. but i love it!

until later,

brooke