Under The Sea

Part 1

"Oh dear, oh dear. Snap! Today is audition day!" I told my friend Mia. It was Monday the first day of theater camp and we were just about to find out what the play was going to be. In the music room we all 30 of us sat down. I sat with Mia and the people that I knew from last year. I could feel the pressure in the room. Finally the director - Janet, came in. "Hello everyone!" she said and she went on to the introduction of everything for the new people. Janet the switched her voice to a more excited tone, "The play that we are doing is…" many kids crossed there fingers now for whatever reason, "The Little Mermaid!" The room rumbled with 20 of the girls (There are 3 boys) whispering "Ariel". But not me. I thought in my head, "Ursula". I wanted to be an evil character. Good actors play evil people. I also wanted to be Ursula because literally almost everyone would want to be Ariel, and Ursula is also a main character.

In the morning we learned the audition cut-out songs: "Part of your world" and "Fathoms Below". It was simple - people who wanted to be boy characters or characters with deeper voices (including Ursula) would choose "Fathoms Below" to audition. Girls who wanted to be Ariel or a character with a light voice would sing "Part of your World".

After lunch, what seemed like minutes later… were the singing auditions. Everyone had a red hue on there face when they left the dance room after there audition. Finally it was my turn. I was one of the first people so I hate to admit, but I was sort of nervous. I stepped up to the block in front of Janet (the director) and Leo (the music instructor). I took a deep breath and said with thought. "Um, my name is Ania… and I am auditioning for Ursula or Ariel." I really don't know why I said Ariel at that time. It just slipped out of my mouth. When the beat of the music started I sang, "I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue…" And the song continued now came the hard part, "Fathoms below, below. From da da da da da…" I stopped singing, "Im sorry I lost the rhythm; can I re-start?" Leo and Janet are nice so they said yes. And yet again I messed up, but at a different part. Finally on the last try I got it right. Leo asked me, "Can you sing that part in your chest voice?" I nodded and I did. They dismissed me I left the room breathing heavily. Mia walked up to me, "How did you do?" I answered her honestly, "I don't know… poorly."

Soon came the speaking audition - the second stage of our auditioning. It was my turn. This time I knew what I was going to say, "I am Ania. And you remember how I said I was auditioning for Ariel, too," they nodded,"now I only want to be Ursula." So, I spoke my lines. And I didn't just speak I acted I felt the words flow off my tongue and I added a little accent. Perfect! I again was dismissed. Mia asked, "Well?" I said, "I did so much better than the singing audition!" Everyone told me I did great for both but I wasn't sure. Now everyone waited to be assessed. Few would come for singing call-backs, fewer would come for speaking call-backs (If you do well you get called back to audition again).

Janet opened the door and told us about the call-backs and what they are. First were the Ursula call-backs. When I heard my name I didn't realize I was holding my breath! I was the last to go and I personally thought my voice was AWESOME, but not the rhythm. And there is another set of call-backs: the speaking lines. My name wasn't called so I spent the rest of the day in disappointment. All of my friends felt my sadness and tried to cheer me up. I didn't know what to do.

When it was time to go home I wasn't to thrilled either. What would my family say? I bet they'd understand, and they did. That night I hardly slept. I didn't know why but I was sort of excited to hear what the roles would be the next day. I thought I would get a good role but not Ursula.

The next day at Theater camp everyone was sending silent prayers to get the role they wanted. Finally Janet came in. She addressed us about how not everyone would be able to be Ariel, and she went on about not to get all disappointed. At last she started calling the names, "Stella is going to be Ariel," no one was surprised - Stella had the most potential, "Ania is going to be Ursula." My face turned blood red, everyone was staring at me. I was hit with a wave of emotions: surprise, excitement, embarrassment, relief, but mostly happiness. I could tell that the girl who wanted to be Ursula, too, was mad. While everyone stared at me I just looked at Janet half-smiling. I couldn't believe it. I was going to be Ursula!!

Overnight Camp

This was going to be my first "long" overnight camp. I was so excited on that Friday when it was time to leave. I knew I wasn't going to be homesick, but I would miss my friends and family. This camp is a girls' YMCA camp called (Lake) Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha, (a complicated name). Lots of people that I know recommended this camp. My friend Shin Be was doing it with me. By the way I was in a group called the Pathfinders (AKA girls going into 6th grade).
     Once we got there I was told that I was going to be in the "Chippewa" cabin, with 2 counselors, 2 LC's (Learning Counselors) and 8 campers going into 6th grade. You can't say our cabin was luxurious. It had wire mesh instead of glass window, no electricity or heating, no locks on the doors, because of us it was sort of messy, and the nearest bathroom was 50 yards away in the Lodge - that's what I call roughing it out! There were many great things though such as: I had a great view of Lake Arbutus in the mornings, there were bunk beds, with us it was made sort of like a home, the sounds of the wilderness brought us to bed each night, all of us got our own space for our stuff, and baked goods (AKA cookies, brownies etc.) were allowed to be sent in the mail. Another thing is that we had a cabin that was "attached" to our cabin, as in there was a wall separating us. I made some great friends there, too.
     The girls in the Chippewa cabin were Shin Be, Elise, Nicole, Zoey, Tranyse, Catlyn, Grace, and I (Ania!!). I am great friends with all of them and I have their numbers! Our counselors were Laura S and Kate H. Our LC's were Mackenzie and Andrea.
     The activity that I will remember most from that camp is our hiking trip to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes! We took a bus and camped there for three days. On the second day we really roughed it! All of us walked 28 HUGE sand dunes to Lake Michigan and back! I was usually towards the front of the group. But, I can't say it was that easy (I was used to hikes before then), because it was super hot in the glaring sun. Without a cloud in the sky it was scorching hot. Luckily when we got to the lake we took a lunch break and we went swimming in Lake Michigan! That felt so good after such heat, I felt like I could hike 48 dunes there and back! Unfortunately that feeling didn't last too long. Overall I had a super-duper great time in the dunes!
     By the way at the camp we did so many things that I can't even list. All of them were so fun. But all of them have there own story. So, I won't write all of that today.

PS:
Sorry, I wasn't able write for a LONG TIME. I had been EXTREMELY busy.

The Art in Pictured Rocks

The week before I left for camp my family went on a trip to Pictured Rocks National Park and Lakeshore. We visited lighthouses and saw the Great Sable Dunes from a gorgeous overlook. Luckily we had excellent weather all week with no cloud in the sky. Our hotel had a great view of Lake Superior. I wish we stayed longer there was so much to see! And on the second to last day we went on a two-hour sunset boat cruise of the pictured rocks along the lakeshore. They were all beautiful. we saw   elegant arches and towers like Lover's Leap and Chapel Rock. We saw cool rock formations such as Miner's Castle and Indian Head rock. All standing proudly in the sunset. They all looked like an artist painted them. All of the colors were mineral stains besides white,  it was seagull stains (pooh). I saw caves carved out in the cliffs that were as smooth as a hard-wood floor. Actually domes of the holes still had snow in them! And as it got later with the sunset coming out, the sun's golden rays enhanced the colors making it even prettier! This picture was not one of the best, the better ones were taken with our camera not the phone. But, it still gives you a feeling of how the artist of time painted the colors on to the cliffs.

Busy Times

So far, this Summer I have have been really busy. I think it is one of the busiest times of the year, obviously. And just yesterday I had a pool party and a sleepover. Some people have asked me over and I could't come because of my schedule. The friends on my block though, I have easy access to. That is different from the rest of the cases where we have to drive. Anyway, I think being busy is fun it keeps you active during the Summer and you won't get bored as often, especially with some of your good friends.

Cold Water Challenge

Those of you that cruise Instagram should know what the Cold Water Challenge is. My friends from my block, Mia and Emma, got nominated to do it. Anyway, yesterday Emma did it and once the water was poured on her she literally was sprinting pack and forth on her tippy-toes. Emma was soaked and turning pale. Today Mia did it. I was going to knock on her door, but no one answered, so I went to their back porch. When I got their I was just in time to see Mia dumping the water on her head and seconds later jumping into their hot tub. For the Cold Water Challenge, nominate your best friend, because then it will be even funnier!

Neighbors

I moved into the house I am living in right now about two and a half years ago. I didn't know many people that lived on my street besides my friend Mia. I wanted to meet a family of four girls that lives one house away! Or two girls that live like four or five houses away. For all of those years I hadn't met them. But then when I was playing with Mia yesterday, we took the crazy idea of inviting them to play four-square with us. We thought we should go to the house with two girls first. Anyway, Mia knew their names: Charlotte and Isabelle. So, we walked up their front walk way and rang the doorbell, we tried to act calm  when their mom opened the door and said,
"Hi, I don't know if you remember me from before but, my name is Mia."
"And I am Ania I live a few houses away."
"We were wondering if you could come over to my house and play four-square with us."
"We felt sort of awkward living here all along and not getting to know you."
Their mom looked surprised but then her face turned into a grin and she said, "Oh, great! The girls are coming. They just said that they were bored so you came at a perfect time!" Into our view popped a girl our age light brown hair, and an older, paler girl with darker hair. The younger one was Isabelle the older now was Charlotte. And off we went. We played a typical four-square game and asked some questions to get to know each other. When they had to go home, we met Amelia and Abby (two of the four) and played four square. Now I know that taking chances can lead to fun outcomes!

A Fish as a Friend

My pet fish Spectrum, is a little bit over a year old. He is a beautiful male beta fish. My sister chose him. His color is a deep blue, like the color of the ocean and his tail ripples and shimmers just like the waves. His body is sort of small and his tail is really big, compared to the rest of him. His tail is elegantly curved and sort of frames his body. My sister was going to name him Rainbow because of how his tail and fins reflect the light, I thought that it was too girly so I changed it to Spectrum. Spectrum's tank mate is an adorable aquatic zebra snail. The snail's name is Big-Z because he is fat and has zig-zaggy stripes. Together they make our kitchen sink counter… perfect.