Bahh! I’m back in Tallinn. All eyes are on you, friends. Well actually your eyes should be on me.
So much has happened since I left for summer camp in Lithuania almost 2 months ago – all good things too.
First of all, camp was magical: Being able to play sports every day with 200 kids who speak 3 languages was probably one of the coolest things I’ve done all year.
You want to know something though? When I appointed myself as Sports Director, the staff said it might be “weird” for the kids because I’m a girl. I smirked and simply stated, “just wait.”
They didn’t have to wait. In less than a few hours on the first day of camp, I had kids coming to the courts after breakfast, before lunch, after lunch, during ‘rest time’, and even begging me to come to the lake and bring a ball or two with me. I’m not questioning whether they wanted me or the balls – you shouldn’t either.
“Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn”, they would scream… “futbol?”
“Davai!” or “Let’s go!”, I would say – probably more excited than them.
“Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn”, they would scream, “I love you!”
“I love you too!”, I would say – without an ounce of hesitation.
“Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnn”, they would scream, “say “One Direction!””
“One Direction!” I would scream – they loved my American accent.
I perfected the words “adin bolshoe kruk” or “one big circle” and “dati myatch” or “give me the ball” in no time; some of the kids reminded me of my very own campers I had a while back, and some reminded me of my closest friends I had growing up.
At the end of the session during the closing ceremony, the camp director called out my name – I sprinted to the stage, but froze for a few seconds when I heard, “Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen!” 200 kids chanting my name. I took a mental video, completely overwhelmed by the love from these special kiddos.
It’s hard sometimes to see the impact you make, and this was my gift – probably the best gift I could ask for. And now after 2 sessions of camp, I have 400 new Facebook friends and continued positive, fluffy feelings about my year as a JSC Fellow in the Baltics.
Camp reminded me why I went for 15 years in the first place – it’s the ultimate therapy, the best getaway there is. You become completely consumed with being in the moment – not worrying about a single thing back home or 15 miles up the road, your role is to entertain kids (coolest job ever), sing really loudly, dance your feet off, and write cool blog posts like this one:
http://jdcentwine.org/blog/946
Beyond that, the kids were so inspiring: Their youth, their energy, their unjaded perception of the world and their inherent trust in people, their lack of inhibition. When they want something, they go for it. We should all be so brave throughout our entire lifetime.
This is me VERY happy to share Estonia with my new American friends.
Immediately following camp, I staffed a week-long trip through the Baltics with 21 teens from 7 countries. 10 of which came from America, 2 from Bulgaria, 2 from Poland, 2 from Estonia, 3 from Latvia, and 2 from Lithuania. You could say my job there was to keep ALL of the kids connected – continually drawing the kids from Europe to the kids from America together, pushing each one to have a real conversation with someone different. Burning bridges, debunking stereotypes. What did I learn? Oh, good question: I learned that Americans are really loud. And Europeans are… just really cool. Sometimes too cool.
We saw reviving Jewish life in each capital city, meeting with dedicated teen leaders and community lay leaders; we saw memorials near mass graves where 70,000 Jews fell victim; we talked about Jewish identity, community responsibility and philanthropic ideologies. We tried to wrap our heads around the atrocities that happened in these areas during the holocaust, we cried, we lit candles, we sang prayers and read people’s stories. We hugged, we laughed, we talked about life and our favorite things. This was the BEST final tour through a region of the world I have called ‘home’ for the past year. To spend a week with Americans and Europeans in the Baltics was that “collision of 2 worlds”, and could not have come at a better time – exactly one week until I depart for the land of red, white, and blue.
I am also ecstatic to share that I’ll be continuing my journey with JDC Entwine in New York. I found out while I was on the trip, and this was my face upon receiving the email:
This face also needs to find an apartment in NYC – so if you have any information! I’m all ears – like really all ears, I’ll stop talking now.
Not.
1 week left in this INCREDIBLE year-long LIFE changing experience. I have made some of the best friends I could ever ask for in 3 countries, and I cannot wait to take that home with me – the friendships, the conversations, the laughs, and a few (cough) goodbye tears. I’ll be an emotional mess this week, but don’t let that fool you: I am so excited for my new job, in a new city, starting a new chapter that was 100% influenced by the beautiful chapter I’ve written here.
WARNING: This won’t be the final post, so don’t cry. Be on the lookout for the final words of Jenstonia once I land in New York and begin a new blog. Yes, that’s right, new blog! *blog name suggestions wanted*!
NewYorkStonia maybe? Think about it…think about it.
To the Baltics,
Jenstonia – Am I really leaving in a week?
:: jenstonia :: 