The Return of Paidhi Girl!
Jul. 27th, 2007 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ann_leckieShe's been away two weeks at Girl Scout camp! Though Paidhi Boy and I each sent a letter, and she went with envelopes and paper and stamps, we heard nothing. "Oh," she said when she got back, "I lost all my letter writing stuff the first day."
Apparently she had an interesting time.
"And there was this girl? Not in my tent, in tent four..."
"She was mentally disturbed," explains Mr. Cameron, who will have heard the whole story in the car on the way back.
"I don't know what Dad means by mentally disturbed," Paidhi Girl says. "But she peed in her tent. She peed in her sleeping bag, and all over in the tent, on the steps. And she was mean to people, she kept taking pictures--it started when she kept taking pictures of people when they didn't want it, she wasted all her film that way! But otherwise she was nice."
Also the Secret Ceremony at which, in my day, all residents of Ahwenasa received "Indian names" is, apparently, defunct. On the one hand, I'm glad to hear it, since it's kind of cringe-worthy thinking about it as an adult. At least the names were chosen in some attempt to use actual Native American languages. But there was no mention of the fact that "Native American" spanned a really impressive number of cultures and languages, it was all meant to be sort of summer-campy exotic, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone had protested, or camp administration one day said, "What the hell are we doing?!" On the other hand, I myself was resident in Ahwenasa one summer and still remember my "Indian name." We all felt pretty cool in our craft store feathers the next day, knowing we were secret initiates. Ah, well.
Anyway. I am exceedingly glad Paidhi Girl is back. I swear she's a good two inches taller than when she left.
Apparently she had an interesting time.
"And there was this girl? Not in my tent, in tent four..."
"She was mentally disturbed," explains Mr. Cameron, who will have heard the whole story in the car on the way back.
"I don't know what Dad means by mentally disturbed," Paidhi Girl says. "But she peed in her tent. She peed in her sleeping bag, and all over in the tent, on the steps. And she was mean to people, she kept taking pictures--it started when she kept taking pictures of people when they didn't want it, she wasted all her film that way! But otherwise she was nice."
Also the Secret Ceremony at which, in my day, all residents of Ahwenasa received "Indian names" is, apparently, defunct. On the one hand, I'm glad to hear it, since it's kind of cringe-worthy thinking about it as an adult. At least the names were chosen in some attempt to use actual Native American languages. But there was no mention of the fact that "Native American" spanned a really impressive number of cultures and languages, it was all meant to be sort of summer-campy exotic, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone had protested, or camp administration one day said, "What the hell are we doing?!" On the other hand, I myself was resident in Ahwenasa one summer and still remember my "Indian name." We all felt pretty cool in our craft store feathers the next day, knowing we were secret initiates. Ah, well.
Anyway. I am exceedingly glad Paidhi Girl is back. I swear she's a good two inches taller than when she left.