Favorite Place


Have you ever felt like there was no place better than home? Well, wait till you hear about Camp Interlaken. The night before camp my family and I always go to a restaurant called Samurai. It has amazing food and there is a big grocery store right next to it, so after dinner we go there and get candy for the bus ride up to camp. The next morning we have to wake up really early because the buses leave at eight. It takes a long time to get ready in the morning. When we get to the bus stop we have to go in a little room to find out what bus to go on and to sign in to tell the people that we are here. The bus ride up to camp is about four to five hours long. While we are on the bus, we stop at a park to have lunch and to hang out for about an hour or so. When the time is up we have to get back on the bus and keep driving to camp. Each grade level is on the same bus, so we know everyone on the bus and you know who you can talk to. When we get to camp, everybody is yelling and they have huge smiles on their faces. All of the counselors are standing on the Floval, which is an oval cement area where we raise flags in the morning, and they are cheering and holding a sign that says a grade and a cabin on it.
Once every bus is there and everybody knows what cabin they are in, everyone goes to their cabin to see where they will be living for the next two weeks or up to a month. After that, all of the kids in the cabins go down to the pool and take the swim test to see which level they will be put in for the summer. If someone is a good swimmer, that person has a chance of passing out and not having to take swimming lessons at all. When everybody in the cabin has taken the swim test, the cabins have to go to the Hadar, where we eat every meal. The counselors give the campers cookies and milk. We have to write a letter to our parents letting them know how camp is going. While we write our letters, our counselors pass out a list of activities that we may want to do for the first two weeks. One of the best things about camp is that there is always an evening program planned for the night. On the first and last nights, we have a campfire.
Another great thing about Camp Interlaken is that it is a boys and girls camp, so each girl cabin has at least one brother cabin or maybe two. It is really fun being a boys and girls camp because we are all like one big family. Sometimes we laugh and other times we fighgt, but we always have a great time together. Since this is a Jewish camp, every Friday night we have Shabbat. On Shabbat, you’re supposed to sing a couple of prayers and eat and drink wine and bread. At Camp Interlaken our Shabbats are way different. We still have all of our day activities, but they are all shortened so that we have time to clean and to get ready. After our chugs, which are our daily activities, all of camp has a picnic lunch outside by the lake. When everybody is done eating, we have song session and each cabin gets assigned an area in camp where we have to clean up. The staff comes around and checks the place off before we can leave. Once each cabin group gets checked off, they have to go back to their cabins and clean them. While they are doing that, the campers get chocolate bars to eat. When the whole cabin is clean, everybody has to start taking showers and getting dressed. The girls wear dresses or skirts and the guys wear nice pants and a button down shirt. After everybody is ready, there is a Shabbat walk. Everybody gets into a big line, we walk around camp, and we end up in a big circle. Once the whole camp is in the circle, we sing a Shabbat prayer and go to services. At the end of services, all of the counselors have to go into the chadar and set tables for the cabins. While that is going on, the campers are being told a Shabbat story.
When it is time for dinner, the person telling the story calls each grade level one at a time to go into the chadar so that we can eat dinner. For dinner, we usually have soup, then chicken, and some kind of dessert. After dinner we have a song session that leads up to Israeli dancing. Israeli dancing is probably one of my favorite parts of camp because everybody is so energized and we dance like crazy. There are all different kinds of dances, so we never get bored. Once all the fun is over we get into a friendship circle and say goodnight. On the second to last day for the two weekers we have a huge game called Maccabia. Maccabia is where the whole camp is split into four teams. There is always a new theme for Maccabia each year. For Maccabia, you have to eat with your team and spend most of the day with your team. To win Maccabia, you have to win different kinds of games and races. My least favorite game is silent lunch because you cannot talk or else your team loses points. At the end of Maccabia there is always a huge race and which ever color gets to the finish line pretty much wins Maccabia. It’s worth like 500 points. There is also an activity in the Maccabia games called the Big Sweep. That is when every team has a different location in camp and whatever team cleans their place the best gets 500 points too. When the last day of camp comes it is the worst. Everyone is sad that camp is over and it’s so hard to say goodbye. All the cabins have to get up, eat breakfast, then for about an hour cry and hug everyone, so we can say bye. A lot of people don’t all live in Wisconsin, so it’s really hard to say goodbye. Camp Interlaken may not be my home, but it will always feel like it.