travel adventures part 2

It was the summer of 1997. Off I went to Perlman Camp in Pennsylvania. Never been to New York before, so being nervous and excited were are bundled into one when I arrived at Schiphol Airport for my flight. Pakistan International Airlines was the airline which flew us from Amsterdam to La Guardia in New York.

I remember telling my family that I was going to fly with them, and they all told me that they would pray for me! The audacity 😀 but at the same time knowing my conservative family it was a logical response. To be honest, to date, Pakistan air had the best airline food I have ever had!

It was on that flight that I started understanding the power of travel – especially traveling solo. It was easy to talk to others as you are not so preoccupied with your friends or family. You get to experience culture through other people’s eyes and things that you take for granted are not as normal as you believe.

We stayed in the dorms of Colombia University – one of the scenes of the Ghostbusters movie. Taking the subway was high on my to-do list as well as finding a diner but only one of those was realized at that time. You can guess which one!

Taking the greyhound from Penn Station towards Lake Como had me arrive in camp around 7 that night. I did not know what to expect, and I was totally unprepared. I got to meet a group of extraordinary people right away: people from Ukraine, Russia, England, France, New Zealand, Venezuela, Latvia and Ethiopia just to name a few. 

Still in contact to Steve who relocated to Australia… 

One of the rules in camp was: no alcohol! But of course, if you put many 20 year old together… they are bound to mess up, right? That’s what happened one night after we’ve been there for about 3 or 4 weeks. There was a “secret” party. Now I didn’t drink, but I attended the party as it seemed like a fun thing to do. We worked really hard in that kitchen, so one night of innocent laughter and fun wouldn’t hurt, right? Or so we thought!

In the middle of the party, Wex, the kitchen manager, shows up with the head of council. As a result, most of the people in that party got FIRED! The only reason I did not get fired was because they trusted me when I told them that I did not drink and that I was just there for the fun of it.

I want you to Imagine the scene. We started out in the kitchen with about 20 people as we had to make meals every day for around 400 kids and staff. After that party, there were about 12 of us left. And we still had to feed the same amount of people. Had I thought we worked hard before.. Oh my goodness! 

This was the rock I used to sit on during our midday break to catch my breath.

In the end though, we did what we had to do and made magic happen. I met wonderful people in camp and am still in contact with a few of them around the world. I am super grateful for this travel adventures part 2 as it is one major event that has shaped me into the woman I am today.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about what happened after camp. It involves Buffalo Police force, Niagara Falls, beaten up van and the likes. So stay tuned! What about sharing your travel adventures part 2? Feel free to share your stories!