Note: This is post 2 of 10 in my Fat Camp Follies series. Click here for post 1: Why Fat Camp?
OMG, I was going to Cali! Woot! This was back in the day of Tupac's “California Love“, and man was I excited. (“Welcome everybody to the wild wild west!”) My mom and I shopped for all things fat camp related. There are certainly things that you must have:
- baby powder for chaffing
- lots of bike shorts
- lots of oversized t-shirts
- lots of sports bras
- lots of socks
- lots of underwear
- 2 pairs of athletic shoes
- lots of headbands/hair ties/barrettes
- quarters for laundry (gasp! didn't realize I'd have to do my own laundry)
- detergent for laundry (I made lots of ziploc baggies of powdered detergent)
- lots of deodorant
- at least 1 “skinny outfit” – you know, the outfit in which you measure your hawt-ness?
- dorm sheets and such- mine had fun cloud patterns
- swim goggles
- water shoes
- beach towels
- regular towels
- makeup (cuz there's boyzzz!)
- clothes for the dances (with the boyzzz!)
We had to pre-ship some stuff, because seriously, I couldn't cram all that stuff in my luggage. Thankfully it was when luggage was still free to check, so I could get a couple huge bags on the plane plus my carry-on. I tell everyone at school about my CALI adventure. Of course I left out the fat camp part.
Boarded the plane and after 4 hours, landed in San Diego. Was greeted by a nice lady holding a sign with my name. Sweet! We get my luggage, and meet another lady who had another arrival with her. We all piled in the 15-passenger van (which thankfully didn't say “FAT CAMP” on it) and drove to LaJolla. We passed the ocean and boats and palm trees, Oh My!!!
Pull into the parking lot of the campus and there were so.many.kids! Walked up to the basketball court where the sign-in was located. Figured out where I'd be living, got a key, got a shirt, and then headed to my room.
Oh kiddos, I wasn't in Kentucky anymore! Back in the horizon there in that picture, that is not sky kids, that is OCEAN! EEE!
The dorms were awesome as far as I was concerned. They were like suites with a living room, balcony, 4 bedrooms and a bathroom with 2 stalls and 2 showers. Met lots of people whose names I couldn't remember. All I could think was “um, these people aren't all fat! Am I the fattest?” Turns out no, I wasn't the fattest, nor the skinniest. Perfectly in the middle. Where else in my life had I felt “average?!?” For realz.
My counselor was a pretty olive skinned brunette from the midwest who played lacrosse or some other tough sport, and she was full of energy. Each counselor was assigned like 7-8 kids of similar age. There were probably 10 different teen girl counselors, so there were quite a few of us hormonal girls for them to take care of! Counselors there worked for college credit and also for pay. They were usually athletic and outgoing, and they all seemed ridiculously attractive (the girls and the guys. phew the guys. *fans self*) They came from all over the country and majored in things like nutrition and exercise physiology.
Girls dorms were on 1 side of the lawn while the boys were on the other side. The lawn was the mingling pot of hormones and the place where crushes were formed, and kids were crushed (that is, if they found out Bobby Joe didn't like Sally, he liked Tracy). There was a concrete stage area in the front of the lawn, where performances and such happened.
The first night, the whole camp gathered in the lawn (they had elementary school kids up to age 18 in this part of the camp- women between 19-60 were in a different section) and it was very kum-ba-ya. We're all in this together. It will be tough being away from home, but we'll get through it. There was singing, there was comedy, and there was this commitment ceremony type thing where we lit candles and made wishes to ourselves.
Looking back now, how nice would that be to have a gaggle of like-minded peers together to feel like you're in this world together fighting the same things? I think that's why I'm loving blogging- I can find those people who can stand out from the crowd and commit to fighting the same fight I've waged for years. And I love it.
Now that the scene is set, stay tuned for some juicy stories. Next time: Mayjah Boy Crushing. 😀
