Week One at Camp Fiver

So, it's been a while since I last posted, but I did find a really nice summer job and a summer camp called Camp Fiver. It is a 2 week long camp (in four sessions) for kids from New York City. I found out in late May that they were looking to hire life guards for the summer and I was the last one hired. So my team (consisting of 11 guards) had training on Thursday June 24th. I learned that day that I would enjoy my summer much more than I thought I would. Everyone I met was friendly and we had a great time re-certifying and learning the ropes of the camp. The camp has both a lake in and a pool.
So this week I got to work Monday (6/28.) I started my guarding the morning free swim. This was pretty easy. Then on to some swim lessons. This first group was relatively well behaved, but the second group was rather disrespectful. In the afternoon, we had some thunder and had to close the pool down for the last hour. The rest of the week was pretty much the same. I started learning the kids names and getting used to my responsibilities. All in all it was a great week. Not only did I teach the kids some new tricks in the water, but I learned many myself.
The most difficult part of this week was Friday afternoon. After swimming across the lake, and when I say this, I mean pond, I assisted with tip over day at the lake. The kids barely knew how to paddle a canoe and were expected to be able to tip the canoe so they could go on a 14-mile canoe trip by the Monday after. This was incredibly difficult and I ended up having to get in the freezing lake water several times. The first time was to help a group of three girls flip the canoe back over. They were extremely disrespectful and I ended up in the lake, sans life jacket or guard buoy, and lifting a canoe filled with water in water that was well over my head. Not smart. This left me exhausted and while getting back in the guard boat, I received like 7 bruises. The second time I got in the water, I ended up having to console some girls who were afraid of the water and tipping. Why they are sending these kids on a trip, I don't know, but it was a rough afternoon at the lake.
Well there is the run down of my first week! Everyday, every way.