The day after Christmas, while most MM&TL staff, alumni and campers were recovering from the festivities of Christmas, 9 MM & TL CITs were boarding an airplane, travling to Costa Rica for an adventure of a lifetime!

One of the first things our Guide, Carlos shared with us, is that we needed to learn the phrase Pura Vida. He said that if we can learn to say Pura Vida, we will get along alright in Costa Rica. Pura vida literally means Pura = pure and vida = life, but “Pure life” in Spanish would be “Vida pura” instead, so the real meaning is closer to “plenty of life”, “full of life”, “this is living!”, “going great”, “real living”,” Awesome!” or “cool!” It can be used both as a greeting and a farewell, to express satisfaction, to politely express indifference when describing something or even to say “thank you” or “you’re welcome”. The phrase has become universally known in Costa Rica.

Pura Vida became our battle cry as we were backpacking through the remote jungle, up and down the vicious and overgrown terrain. Pura Vida was our spirit as we harvested sugar cane to make brown sugar for the Village of Piedras Blancas or moved 100s of lbs of sand and rocks to build a new foundation for a bridge that was damaged in flood waters during the rainy season. Pura Vida was the gift we received from the gentleness and hospitality of our hosts families in the village of Piedras Blancas as we ate meals together, played with children and became part of the family. Pura Vida was our exhilaration as we rappelled down a 90 waterfall, rafted 17 miles down the class IV Sevegre River and learned to surf in the warm waters of the Pacific.

One of the reasons each individual was on this adventure is because they will be CITs this summer at either Camp Merri-Mac or Camp Timberlake and this was one of the options of training for the summer. The training focused on the characteristics of leadership that we hope for at MM&TL. Each night we explored different aspects of leadership such as servant leadership, leadership as influence, humility, self-awareness and integrity. We were able to connect not only the moments from our trip, but also moments from life at home to these concepts of leadership.

One of the most vivid moments was at the end of our hike on the first night. After 9 miles of extremely rugged terrain, we hiked into our campsite. We all were completely exhausted. Despite being ready to throw in the towel and curl up on a tuft of jungle moss and mud for the night, there were things that had to be done. We needed food, shelter and to take care of our personal needs. In the wilderness, each one of these needs takes extraordinarily more time and effort to complete. The moment demanded that each member of the group choose to be selfless by first managing personal needs and then tending to each other and the tasks at hand. This was critical because it was not about being comfortable, it was about being safe. With out the calories of food, we would not be able to continue. With out the protection of shelter, we would be exposed to the elements. It demanded a sacrifice on the part of each individual to accomplish the basic necessities for our group to be safe. Each member contributed there different gifts and strengths to the task at hand.

The CITs on this great adventure will share Costa Ricas Pura Vida with Merri-Mac and Timberlake this summer so that the campers, staff and community around us may experience life that God has given us to the fullest!

Ryan Carlson
Director of Black Mountain Expeditions

The concrete foundation walls are up and Tree Top is starting to take shape.

It is all pretty exciting around here because we have also decided to take on yet another project, the Lodge is getting a much needed face lift! Why would we do that you might be asking yourself? Well, ultimately because we love you girls and a lot of Sunnysiders weren’t going to be able to be here without us doing something drastic. We fill up really quickly after camp (never forget to early enroll people!) and it was heartbreaking to us that some really sweet girls were going to miss out on their last summer with us due to lack of space. So for the first time ever, the Lodge is going to have campers living in it! Aren’t we crazy? Maybe a little bit. But it is going to be nice. Check out the progress so far. You would never even know it was the Lodge.

And then we put in some pretty stone steps on the bank up by the canoe shack too! Because why not?

Happy Camping! (Especially to you Sunnysiders)

From all of us here at Merri-Mac

Actually, we are adding two this summer.

I have a confession to make.  I’m proud we’re building a new infirmary (Tree Tops?) but I am even more excited that the bottom floor will be a demonstration kitchen.  Yep, we’re adding a cooking class this summer.  I love our food at camp, but I cannot wait to see what our girls cook in class…and I am expecting to see some of it on the round table this summer!

But that’s not all.  We’re also rolling out a new knitting class.  Knitting has become the new cool thing among high school student here in Black Mountain, and I suspect it will be even more popular here.

I have always been pleased that Merri-Mac has something for everyone.  We have high energy athletic sports like gymnastics, soccer, diving, cheerleading, volleyball, fitness, etc.  We also have camp classics like fencing, riflery swimming and archery.  I especially like our mountain sports like climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and backpacking.   And of course riding is in a class of its own.  But recently I have felt there was  room for a few quieter, small motor skill , activities, and I think cooking and knitting will fit the bill perfectly.

Knit one, Pearl two,

Adam and Ann

Ask an Merri-Mac camper from the 1940′s or 50′s what camp tribe she is in and she will say “I AM a Choctaw “, or “I AM a Seminole”, or “I AM an Iroquois.” Seldom will you hear “I was.” There is a sense of permanence that gives our campers a base, a stability, and a sense of tradition. Those same former campers can walk into the Merri-Mac Dining Hall today and hear the same songs sung today as they sang them more than 60 years ago.

Each camper or counselor joins an Indian tribe soon after arriving at camp. When you become a Iroquois, Choctaw, or Seminole at initiation, you have joined a lifelong group within the Merri-Mac family. Each night in camp, our evening activity is a competition between the three tribes. At the end of the session, the tribe with the most victories wins the Merri-Mac banner and some serious bragging rights.

It was amazing to catch up with folks from the summer. I was reminded again of just how blessed we are to have such a great group of people surrounding camp.

We even had an appearance from “Virtual Dave” at the Staff reunion.  It was nice to see her wandering around the party on Brie’s Ipad.  Very nice touch, Dave!

It is hard to believe that camp is just around the corner.  After Christmas it seems like the snowball of camp preparation really begins to grow larger and head down the mountain!  We are getting super excited and can’t wait for June. What about you?  Are you ready for camp?

It is a new year and all across the land people are making resolutions to improve themselves. We pretty much have this resolution for camp going all the time, but it just so happens that our project started now. This will be a beautiful three story building that will house a new infirmary and give other daily camp activities some needed space on the bottom floor.  I wonder what those activities might be?  I will tell you that they are both going to be new to Camp Merri-Mac. Get excited people!  We certainly are.

Also, we need a name. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Happy Camping!
Director Dan

Joy has a 3.6GPA, is on the Dean’s List and is a religion major at the University of South Carolina.  At school she is a Young Life leader and a member of the Haiti mission group. Currently Joy is studying abroad for a semester at USIU, a college in Nairobi, Kenya.