We have completed one session of camp and it was a great success. I think it was the hottest on record with more biting bugs than I have seen in my lifetime!!!!! We have used most of the insect repellent, for what use I have no idea, I think the bugs like the repellent better than bare skin. However, great fun was had by all, and Natasha purchased a plastic swimming pool and we all took turns sitting in it. The little campers especially loved it. We came back to the VERY hot city today, visited the orphange, which I think made a great impact on your kids, had pizza and then went to Natasha’s theater to watch an award winning Russian documentary about Camp Siberia. Old, but interesting – made in 2002. It gave the kids a chance to see how far we have come with the facilities at camp and the program, however, the love and camper-counselor interaction was absolutly there from the beginning. Robbie Spenser and Michelle Strickland were stars and I hope that we will have a CD made from it so you can all see the beginnings of our project. Tomorrow, we are on the way to our Riverboat trip, truly a highlight of camp, but after all this HOT weather, it is supposed to rain and hail tomorrow and be cold. So what can you do, just make it work, and that is the story of this year – so many unexpected surprises, but somehow we make it through them.
The kids send you all their love and are creating magic here in Siberia,
Janie
Last year's group with a statue of Lenin in downtown Novosibirsk
