Disneyland!

So after a hard week of camp where does my Aunt take me? Disneyland of course!

Lets Talk About Camp!

Some of the volunteer staff 

Hey everyone! sorry it has taken me so long to get back on the last few day have been crazy and catching up on journals I should have been writing during the week but was just so focused on everything else.  So how do I describe my time there? Awesome! I will admit that I was shell shocked at the start but I've had so many experiences there I could not imagine having any where else.  I have met so many people and had just the time of my life.  I was dead at the end of the week but it was worth every single aching pain that I really didn't think about it.  Over the week I helped out with meals times but mostly archery.  Up at the North Camp they needed a archery teacher so being I can shoot I had been trained the entire week to get ready for North and I am excited.  I did an eight mile overnight with some of the older kids and that was a trip and a half.  I can't really type everything but it was a great experience, I learned a lot and I'm so happy for the experience I got.

Safe and Sound

So my first week in the woods is finished!  It was amazing and I will write about it soon.  but first I need some sleep for Disneyland tomorrow.

Oh What A Circus!

Well almost nine hours of travel and I have finally arrived in California.  I should be tried but I'm not.  So My first flight was four and half hours to Phoenix and behind me of course was a snot nosed teenager who insisted on kicking my seat after two hours I've finally turned to her.  I was playing my learn Italian app on my iPod and started spilling Italian at her unknown to her i was say head, shoulder, knees and toes, and shins...I guess any word when said angrily can be taken as a curse.  That was the only thing I said on the plane and she did not move or talk after that.  Phoenix was hot and short.  Got to LA which was cloudy and rainy which is strange according to everyone I've talked to.  Got to the hotel setup at taxi for tomorrow morning and then found out something great.  They upgraded my room to give my original room to a family and gave me suite with a little kitchen, and living room, A giant bed, and a Jacuzzi, I think today has been awesome and can't wait for tomorrow!

Here We Go!

So this will be my last post here until I get California tomorrow and maybe I'll do a video or something.  I'm packed and ready to go an could be ready to leave in ten minutes...though I still have 14 hours left.  But wish me luck, I could use it.

The Story of Your Life

So this has basically been my theme song through getting ready for this trip and getting me closer to stepping on that plane.

It Must Be Bigger On The Inside

So it's the day before I'm off on my adventure and this is my suit case.  I call it my TARDIS, from Doctor Who, because it was able to fit a month of clothes, toiletries, and even shoes into it and could sit fit more.  And the penguin tag was just cute.  I will be traveling with this and a bag for my laptop.  We are getting so close and I'm so excited!

Why I Sign.

Me (Age 8) and Emily (Age 5)  

So some people asking how did you get into Sign Language?  Most people  (not all) would respond with I have Deaf family member or I picked it up in a class I took way back when.  Well my story is a little different.  When  was three years old my sister, Emily, was born on September 22nd 1995, right on time and perfectly healthy.  She was like every normal baby and I was getting to be the big sister I wanted to be.  But shortly before my sisters first birthday I believe she started to become distant to her surroundings.  My parents thought she had gotten Sudden Deafness Syndrome.  So we started to teach her sign language.  But we would learn after my tests and opions that Emily was diagnosed as Non-Verbal Autisic and may never be normal.  So we kept giving her Sign Language lesson but not result for her but for me who would watch the lessons from a hiding spot began to pick it up.  And then over the years with taking class through programs out and in schools it seemed to be my natural track.  My sister never picked up the language and probably never will but I am thankful for her and all the adventures she has brought me because I might have never learned sign and might not know where I would be now.  

The Rough Plan

So This is the Rough Draft of the plan for my trip....

Thurs July 12th - Flight from Newark to Ontario Cali (Not Canada) I checked.

July 13th - 14th - Camp Orientation

July 15th - 21st - North Camp (Wrightwood)

July 22nd - July 23rd - DISNEYLAND

July 24th - July 28th - My Aunts' House (Groveland) & Yosemite

July 29th - July 31st - San Francisco

July 31st - August 3rd - Aunts' House

August 4th - August 11th - South Camp (Nevada City)

August 11th - Sacramento

August 12 - Home

Practice, Practice, Practice.

So I took a little break from signing after school let out to give my arthritis a break and work on getting my wrist in proper condition.  Then I started doing small bits of signing here and there; especially when I don't want to be understood.  but I find signing and talking at the same time among people hear becomes frustrating to them because even if I'm talking it's been compared to watching a fly above someones head while they are trying to keep eye contact with them.  My favorite is in the supermarket show Mom some signs to different foods and if I am ordering deli meet the guy will talk slower to me and over use his mouth muscles like it will help me understand.  They look really embarrassed when I tell them I can hear and corrected them on what they should not do when they are confronted with sign again, and when my Mother gets her say I just walk away and let her finish.  But now I need to steep up and review a lot and really just keep pushing and signing and looking up new signs related to camp in my dictionary...The final countdown starts now...lets do this!

Camping....Yeahhh

So soon I will be off camping.  I have not been camping in a while and I'm excited.  I have started talking to parents of some of the kids going there and they all seem to be really nice and open to me being with their kids.

<-- I just thought this was cute

I don't know much other than what they told me just a lot of 'deafies' which is awesome cause that's why I'm there to be around a new culture and a world I really have not dived into.  I know I will be in a cabin with other volunteers which I'm assuming are Deaf but you never know.  I'm open to anything and everything.  If it's something I learned through my life it's that you need to be open to everything and try to accept it.

Except for this guy------------------------------------------------->
If I see that.  You are on your own.

Fours Days Left!

So I know I have not been on in a while but stay tuned for a bunch of crazy stuff :)
-Danica

Let Me Explain...

So to explain more about myself and what I'm going through here is simple.  I'm a college student willing to travel all the way across the country for a internship I could not resist.  I am studying American Sign Language with a minor in Theatre and Drama and another minor in English at Keuka College here in lovely New York.  Our school requires these Field Periods better explained as "mini-internships."  These help us build our resumes and make us feel confident in the fields we have chosen to enter into.  Through this awesome program I have worked at non-profit arts center and helped out in a American Sign Language classroom back at my old high school.
Now that I have explained to you all of that, you probably want to know where I am going now.  And here it is!

Lions Wilderness Camp for Deaf Children Inc.

Quite the mouthful eh?  Well this place my Aunt who has lived in California sent the link to their site to me one late night a few nights back.  Not really thinking they would take a New Yorker, I sent in my resume...I had an email of interest within forty minutes.  So mass amounts of emails, hurdles, and reference calls later I would become a volunteer at this camp.  Now I don't know much about this camp except from their website and volunteer manual tells me you and I will find this out together.  But I can say something and that is the camps mission statement...

"A camp experience sponsored by the Lions Clubs of California where a deaf child age 7 to 15 can learn outdoor skills and enjoy the wonder and beauty of nature to the fullest extent."

Sounded good enough for me and now we will be on this journey together!  

-Danica

Thank God For Kayak

My title of this post really says it all.  We all know how it feels to spend hours searching for that right flight for the right time and price.  And lets not get started on the hotel for only one night.
This picture right here
<---- Is me day three on looking for all of this and into the second hour of the day...
But its okay!
Cause thanks to kayak I found everything at the right price, even there perfect red eye back to New York after all this is said and done...I knew travel was not easy in the least but damn, it took forever...I still have hotels and ground transportation to figure out but one little accomplishment every so often makes it a better day.
-Danica

Hello Strangers

Hi ya everyone!
So basically I create this blog for people back home to see what I am up to on my adventure across the country!  I can't promise I'll be around everyday but following along with me on the steps to get there, what I'm up to and the crazy jet lagged posts after.  We are still a month away but why not start now? keeping things sweet and to the point I will only keep this up as an intro explaining what I'll be doing on this blog so see ya around!
-Danica