I've already had a shower. Of the over 50 women in our bunkhouse, only one other person is up. Lights were out at 11 p.m. the night before, but I couldn't sleep. It was a hot, restless night in a sleeping bag on a bunk, a shelf really. I was on the bottom near the floor, my friend above me, and another bunk above her. I could have been home in my own comfortable bed next to my husband! But here I am at a women's retreat, a science camp, to learn fun ways to teach science to our kids. I'm a science teacher. This will be good. But I miss my family.
We arrived last night at a beautiful campsite in Amish country. We checked in at the community center, a nice airy room with many long tables set up laden with fun stuff like science project kits, books, workbooks, colored pencils and huge tubs of chocolate. They know what women like. We chose our t-shirts and claimed our bunks and then had a buffet dinner with the over 100 other women (two bunkhouses full) who also came to the retreat. There was a lot of food, wheat overload, so I couldn't eat much. So I had some cheese and my gluten-free crackers from home. Then we hiked down to the center for our first session.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate would be provided 24/7! Okay, this isn't so bad. We had fun meeting some of the other women, some who had driven over 5 hours from several other states to be here. We are all homeschooling mothers and teachers and we want to learn. I met women of all races with many different accents, young moms and old. This night we sketched with our pencils, filling in anatomical drawings. It was not so much to learn the information, but to learn how to present. I often have my biology students sketch and color, so I guess I'm doing something right. We found out all the interesting items on the tables are not for sale but are prizes! Moms like prizes. Unfortunately I didn't win anything until the end when they said anyone who did not get a prize could go up and get one. I got a blood testing kit for Liana. She has been wanting one. The grand prize was a life size skeleton! I would have loved that! But to win it we had to decorate a plastic frog dissection apron. When I saw the artistic skills of some of the women, I gave up trying.
We sat and talked a long time after the session, hoping to get sleepy enough to crash once we got back to the bunkhouse. That didn't happen. I don't know how I'll make it through the day.
And the next day...
Breakfast, heavily processed, wheat everything. Lunch the same. But at $25 for the whole weekend, I shouldn't complain about the food or the accommodations. We enjoy getting to know some of the women. I sit next to a woman from Washington, D.C., a tall, elegant woman with long dreadlocks and a colorful scarf. She just took her high school-aged son out of school. He sounds brilliant and she wants to expose him to some of the many opportunities available to him in our capitol city. Another woman told me her history of immigrating from South Africa as a young woman. Two Chinese women from Connecticut with heavy accents were fascinated by my family and I loved hearing their stories. A strong, beautiful woman from rural West Virginia added another dimension to our conversation.These people made the event worthwhile. So many women from such varied backgrounds but all of us with a common goal--to educate our children as we see fit, education specifically tailored around our families' values and our individual children's needs. All these women are striving for excellence and want the best for their children.
Science all day! 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with just a short lunch break. We did blood testing and extracted DNA from our cheek cells. I am full of ideas on how to make science more exciting for my girls and also for my students. But my friend and I can't imagine another night in the bunkhouse. So we bail out early and miss the dissection planned for Sunday morning. (A pregnant sheep uterus. It would have been fascinating.)
I am so happy to see my family again! But now we are preparing for our next grand adventure. More on that after it happens.
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