Not "The Rookie" anymore

We are nearly through our first week at camp, and I cannot believe how easily the time goes by when you're cooped up inside because of torrential downpours. Oh, wait. Actually, although I find it ironic that we flew away from one of the rainiest Junes in Portland history to equally soggy Romania while Portland appears to be enjoying brilliant sunshine, the week has gone by remarkably fast. The kids are just as sweet as I remember them, and despite our improvised indoor games, they appear to be unaffected by the weather. We DID actually get a break with a snip of sun today, and we leapt at the opportunity to walk up the road to the nearest store for icecream.

One of the few surprises I found this year (since everything was a surprise last year) was that our beloved little old staff kitchen and accompanying laundry room are nothing more than swatches of tile on a blank patio. My gas burners with "small flame" and "big flame"! My hand-lit oven with the stick propped between the knob and table to keep the gas on! Gone! All gone to make way for a new, regulation industrial laundry facility. Bah. On the other hand, our lovely cooks are now making my GF meals, which just involves a little translation. So instead of spending meal times in the back kitchen, wrestling raw chicken with a dull knife (hello salmonilla?), I spend meals eating with the kids and running back and forth for more paine (bread), chai (pink tea with lemon slices), and pate. Yes, pate. And at dinner tonight I witnessed the repeated Licking of the Knife. :)

Everything is familiar now, and it is nice not to need to ask where everything is. I know what to expect (or not to expect) of craft/game/skit prep, and I know what the phrase "Romanian Time" means--add 30 minutes to every projected start time. As I indicated via the title of this entry, I'm not The Rookie anymore. I've been replaced. And that poor man got his room toilet papered today. Unfortunately I've been sworn to secrecy, so don't even ask for the names of the TP-ers.