As soon as it got bright, I pumped up some music from my cellphone because I needed to listen to some kpop and to my songs. I folded all the dirty clothes to do the laundry because I did not have anything else to put on except for one shirt. Jim was the only one up. He teased me about folding my clothes before washing them. I mean, I know that you will eventually throw them in the washing machine, but still I wanted to have them in order to bring them around without seeming like a runaway.
Jim offered me a ride to town for internet. He needed to use it for the airbnb bookings, while I had to check some things for when I will be in Toronto. Actually I used internet to watch the news first, especially since the Eagles played their first preseason game against the Titans, I was curious about what happened. We lost and Sudfeld got hurt. I was a little bit frustrated because I would like my team to win every single game like I do when I play Madden.
We spent the morning cleaning. I felt a little bit useless because I always do the windows only, so I tried to be more proactive but Alyssa ended up doing the majority of the job again. As usual I did the blankets, the windows and mopped the floor. We asked Jim to go to Algonquin park tomorrow, so we wanted to work super hard today. Asher helped out mopping though. It was funny because we would find lots of toys around and he would be super happy to play with them. At one point I went out from the cabin to hit the carpets and found him peeing on the grass right in front of the cabin. It was funny because I did not expected it.
On our way to lunch, Verena told me that she felt bad when I told her that I feel like she does not belong here. I told her that Jim and Alyssa were not her kind of people since she told me that she likes to party and drink, which is like the opposite of what the Slee family usually does. I did not mean to be mean to her. We were talking about that and she admitted that she felt bad not because of what I said, but because it was probably the truth. She actually started to like it here. Both the place and the people, especially after chatting with Jim the night before. Probably she felt a little bit judged because I seemed a little bit too harsh, judging bad the party people. I apologized but I hope we can talk about this again, because I feel like it is wrong to make people feel bad about themselves.
After lunch we cleaned another cabin, but took less time since Asher and Jim helped us out. By 2pm we were done and we headed out. Anne wanted to go to Thompson’s Rapids, but we took a little detour to the Screaming Faces (I do not know if it is the right name). The place was a little bit spooky, especially at night I imagine. However, the people from Burk’s Falls would go there to enjoy rave parties with deejays and side dancers included.
We went down a new path into the woods and we found a little bee heaven that looked really wild, almost like bears’ territory. Maybe without the “almost”. Fran went down alone in the flowers, so I felt like I should have followed her. I did while filming everything and it was so funny because we kept doing the bullfrog cry to communicate with each other until she just slipped a noisy fart while convincing me to go into the tall grass to take a picture. Everyone laughed so bad and she just could not laugh without farting, which made the situation even funnier. I have the video, so I am not lying!
She later tried to convince me to go into the fields of flowers to take a picture. However, the deeper I went into the field the more she started to say “oh, look at these bees!”. There were like millions of bees hanging around me, so I got super tense and could not take a proper picture.
We moved on and took some pictures, but we headed to the car because it was getting pretty late and Anne wanted to go to the rapids before going back to the camp.
We drove through Burk’s Falls and reached Thompson’s Rapids. Jim started a fire because he wanted me to have some “S’more”. It is a slang for “some more”, because it is what the people use to say when they have one and start asking for more. It is basically an Oro Ciock with roasted marshmallows. So you have two biscuits with melted chocolate and roasted marshmallows in between. It was a good treat, but it was so hard to fit it in my mouth. But since Asher did it easily, I accepted the challenge. They say it is something that Canadian people always have when they camp.
Everyone got into the water after that, while I practiced my Canadian inner self by trying to sound like Jim when he says “Shut up!” or “Get lost!” or “Hey?”. They use the last one to say “do you agree with me?”. It is so funny to hear a foreigner using your own slang and way of talking, so I put a lot of energy into learning how to sound Canadian. Well, countryside Canadian.
I washed my tie-dye t-shirt in the water because it needs to be washed in cold water. This way it will not lose the colors. Luckily, it was not that cold so I could stay topless. Everyone laughed when I said “torso naked” instead of “topless”. Sometimes I make my life harder than it should be. All by myself. I mean, “topless” is a word we use in Italy too. By the way, since Laila did not want to go into the water except for her legs, Asher told me to splash her. My t-shirt was so soaked that I just threw it at her and she got so wet that she had no other choice but to swim in the river.
We all chilled a little bit on the rocks to dry ourselves. I took the guitar since Anne wanted to listen to me singing. I sang “Selfish girls” and “Thinking out loud”. She absolutely loved it. When she left for the bathroom I sang my own songs. Since we were all chilling, I went with “Incontrarti di nuovo” and “Perché sei tu”. They are really nice and soulful songs that fitted the mood. Alyssa loved it so much that it made me want to add them to the album I am working on. But as I promised to myself, no love songs until I am a well known musician!
I went back with Anne and Fran. They took me to Tim Horton’s for a treat because Anne loved my singing. It was cool because she has been into music since forever, so it made a little bit proud of myself. I really wanted the Vegan burger, but in the end I settled for the cheapest vegan thing, the potato wedges. When we went out we noticed a group of girls eating along the wall and giving stares to a group of guys eating on a truck. I guess in small cities it works like this. There are not many places where you can actually meet someone.
We got back for supper and fortunately I had some potato wedges because the dinner consisted in salad and some leftovers like corn. Man, we have been having corn for so many days. I do not complain about since I really like it, but as they said “variety is the beauty of life”. Or something like that.
Before eating I played a little bit with Asher. We play everyday and it feels like we are best buddies. This time we took the water guns and chased the geese. I mean, since Mariusz left there has been an invasion of geese. And the problem is that they poop a lot. Like an incredible amount. In normal circumstances I would never chase geese in a field full of their poop. The chances to step on goose poop are too high. But for my buddy Asher? Of course I will do it! So we chased them and squirted them with the water guns. At one point I got scared because one goose flew over Asher. I do not know why but I was a little afraid that it would attack him because geese are vicious. It did not, so we kept chasing them for a while.
The geese did not leave, aware that we would not really harm them. So we headed back to the activity building. Usually Asher would have to go to bed at that time, but Jim was preparing a treat. So as I had dinner, he used frozen bananas, peanut butter, raisins and cocoa powder to make a vegan chocolate ice cream. He called it “Nice cream” because it was not harmful for people’s health or for the environment. Unlike the vegan sausages (which were not tasty at all), this gelato was really good. Jim used it as a chance to repeat how good vegan food can be. He always does that.
The night could have gone downhill from there, but we started a conversation that lasted forever. I do not remember how or why, but Laila at one point said that there is no right or wrong. We tried to reason with her, because we all thought that there is a distinction for right and wrong, but she just kept refusing any reason. I got so mad about it. I think that in a world where there is no right or wrong, there is also a lack of accountability. How can you say that killing someone for fun is not wrong? Jim and I thought that she was just lost in the semantics, thinking of that distinction as if it was the same as legal or illegal.
Fran interrupted everything to make us go and greet the new arrivals. Laila did not come because of her foot which was hurting. Annika did not come too because she was feeling a little sick. So me, Fran and Verena went to greet the new guests. Luckily, the three guys from cabin six came down to the office, so they saved us a long walk. Then we went to cabin nine to find a really big family. I think there were five kids, the oldest being ten years old. It was so cool because the girls looked like the main character from the Pixar movie “Brave”, while the ten years old guy looked like a younger version of Tom Holland. We talked a little bit and while Fran explained everything to the parents, I played with the kids. We just made strange faces through the window, but they absolutely loved it. Kids are wonderful, they do not need anything extravagant or complex to have fun.
After that we greeted the family in cabin one. They were regulars at the camp, so Fran already knew them. Jim joined too after Asher fell asleep. The older guy was fourteen, but he had a frame like an eighteen years old guy. He was a swimmer, but I think he was huge because his name was Wade. C’mon, you got to be cool if your name was Wade, hey? The other two girls were incredible too. The youngest one was full of energy and made her own song and choreography for their school festival. How cool is that? And the oldest girl (who was eleven) was sewing her own dress and teddy bears. I think it is cool when kids can express their-selves like that.
After a never ending talk, we said goodbye. Jim invited us again to the cabin to watch a movie and headed back to his place. Me and Verena took a bath in the lake first because of the long day. Swimming and bathing in the lake is really really good. Healthy for your body and for your hair. It was not that cold, but I remember that I was shaking so much because I felt like freezing.
We went back to the activity building and got the projector. I made the tea for the girls while they chose the DVDs to bring to Jim. Sometimes Laila gets emotional for no reason and just hugs me. Actually, in that moment she realized that I would be leaving soon so she hugged me even if I annoyed her all day and was a little bit upset for the right & wrong conversation. It was getting late so we went to Jim’s cabin.
In the end we could not decide on a movie because we started talking. This time we did not about Jim and Alyssa’s trips but about the differences between our countries. It was interesting to learn that private school teachers earn less than public school teachers in Canada. Moreover, they also have less advantages.
I found out that I am always a little bit myself. There is this side of myself that I do not like which always crave for attention and the spotlight. One of my good friends actually told me about that and it made me think a lot. Even when everyone was talking I would make jokes from time to time or try to say my experience. The problem is that conversations have a flow and sometimes I do not follow it, rather I would stop it to say something about me. That is not the natural way conversations progress. I need to work on that and tonight was a good reminder.
I went back to my trailer with no fear of the dark now that I know we got motion sensors for the lights. Double check that no mice were inside the trailer and then bam! Sleeping time.
Godyl Go! 