Camp troubles, reflections, and improvements

I am finishing up my second week working at Ajax Adventure camp in Aspen valley, Colorado. The first two weeks have been a great learning experience in terms of preparedness and reactions to issues we have faced as a staff. I have been put in charge of running the kitchen, preparing three meals a day for about 60 people a session (every week there is a new group of kids). This job has been a little stressful without much knowledge of running a kitchen. However it has allowed me to be creative with meals, learning how to efficiently make tasty and the right amount of food for a big group of people.  Apart from that I have run some activities such as Paintball, drove vans for pickups and drop offs in town, and made sure the boys in our bunk were having a good time.

The camp started off on a bad note after one of our vans flipped down the mountain. Luckily nobody was hurt but it opened our eyes to the many dangerous possibilities of running a camp in the high mountains. A couple days later we were surprised when a camper was bit by a spider and had to be rushed to the hospital. Luckily the rest of the first week went smooth and all of the campers went home with smiles on their faces. However, both of these incidences allowed us for reflection on the lack of organization we thought we had going into the first week. Many meetings have followed these incidences into the second week to make sure we are improving our organization and safety from everything from night duty to driving off the mountain in poor weather. Communication has become probably the most emphasized skill we are working on. As all the staff has been together for almost a month now there exists drama which is inevitable in a large group of people who have never met before and forced to work together day in and day out. Although some people may not be favorable to work with, we are stuck with them all day so it has become apparent that being extremely flexible and easy going is crucial in order to resolve and prevent unneeded drama.