Now a Few Words from the Girls...

Marissa

Day 1: Monday, 21st of June. First Day of Summer.

I am so excited! I guess you can say PEEC has that effect on you. This whole, being on the water for a week, is going to be really great, I can tell. So far, I've eaten, laughed and walked. I also have a few ideas for writing. Like dragonflies, humming birds, butterflies and shade under a tree. Perhaps a poem on hearing things in a forest and not being there? The ideas are flowing. This is going to be great :) ...

The shade of an oak tree,

overcome and protect me.

From the heat of the deadly sun's rays

or even from the pelting of a storms dismay.

I have you to lean on,

and also to hide behind.

But I just cant figure out why

those men took you away.

Your shade is no longer and your protection

is still needed.

Why did those men take you away?

Dominique

Women on the Water

We are going

on a new adventure.

Nervous at first, but fresh air relaxes us.

Eyes to explore the great outdoors.

Now we can enjoy the environment

and more.

Our minds are free

now let us see what can amaze us.

This is our time

hers, theirs, and yours.

Every woman can explore

what our earth has

and more.

The experience will be

remembered forever.

Manna-Symone

Unpredictable...

predictable?

The ways of the water are never certain. But yet, my desire to float and glide upon it's surface have never been higher.

Predictable?

unpredictable...

Could it be that becoming one with the water, one with the nature surrounding the water, one with the ways some people used to live frightens me.

Unpredictable...

predictable?

Yes we will be gazing up at stars, but we will also be unsheltered, no home to protect us.

Yes we will be in a boat of some kind, but on the water, water has a min of its own.

Our time spent and our time to be spent...

Unpredictable?

predictable.

Monique

My expectations for the trip in July is that I will learn how to survive camping and trying to do everyday things just because you need to. I expect to be able to open my mind even more to things people in the city take for granted. I also expect just to have a great experience and learn a lot. I want to remember this forever!

All The Prep was Worth It!

We took so many pictures, but because it took me some time to finally get blogger to accept them remotely, I didn't get a chance to really track the program like I wanted to. That is to be expected though when one is creating a program from scratch. I wanted to take pictures along the way showing planning and prepping and teaching to shoving off on that first day.

Well, it didn't happen that way, but that doesn't mean that I can't fill in the gaps now!

So here I go.

You would think that having thousands of dollars to buy a ton of equipment, enough to

outfit 15 people on the trail or on the river would be fun.

It was! But it was tiring too. It was, like, 95 degrees with

112 % humidity (ok...not 112% but it felt like it) the day I went to pick up the big order of gear at Cabela's in Harrisburg, PA. And by the way...a big THANK YOU! to Cabela's for their very generous discount.

Because of what they did...we were able to stretch out gear budget to include so much

more.

Not to worry though, Jessica and I didn't have to do all the

labeling and organizing on our own. The girls helped by labeling the gear they were to use for the trip so that we didn't have to do it all.

Good and Bad News...

I am sad to report that Saroya will not be able to join our little troop on the river. But it is for a good reason! Saroya is headed to grad school and her first day of orientation is July 13th and she can't miss that! She will be sorely missed but we all wish her the best of luck on this next phase of her educational journey.

Thank You Saroya for all you did to help while the girls were here two weeks ago.

Saroya M. Royster: Assistant Group Leader

I am a recent graduate of Bloomsburg University and I am interning with WINS to complete my coursework requirements. Although I didn't major in Science, as an alumni of the WINS program I'm glad to be back! I missed my WINS class trip to PEEC in 2002 so this is actually my first experience here. So far so good! I love the calming and relaxing feeling I get from being outdoors. I especially liked the yoga activity. I look forward to being on the river for a few days and I'm excited to be a part of this experience.