Flow Camp...finally!

This is blog one about Flow Camp. Yes, I will be able to split this experience into two blogs.  This is the experience side of the blog and the next one would be like pros/cons sort of thing. I pretty much have NO pictures of myself.

I got spirit!
I was able to get Thursday night off.  After an awful day at work, I was able to go home and finished packing.  I realized in the move that I couldn't find any of my good backpacks.  I call my mom in a panic for a backpack.  I realized I wouldn't be able to go back to camp to retrieve things like fans, flow wands and all that. I'd be taking tons of stuff with me.  She brings it over.  I'm ready to head out!  I should have warned people that I used to attend 4-H Camp.  Therefore I have spirit and I bring it. So while I'm driving, I get lost.  Finally I find my way. Thinking it's 8 miles away, I see a sign. Bam! I turn in.  

There is a tent and there is Jorden! The person I've been basically harassing for months about Flow Camp. We greet each other and I head up to the camp grounds.  I try to remember not to park past the yellow tent but I'm confused if I'm not supposed to park past it or like past it on the other side past it.  So I park right at the edge of the tree line at the direct beeline to the yellow tent.  I'm not breaking a rule then, right?  Although I'm just feeling ansty at this point.  I'm nervous.  I'm alone. I don't know what to expect.  So I start setting up.  I'm starting to think to myself that I may not have fun because I'm alone.  That I have no one to talk to and pal around with.  I'm done when another car pulls up.  I find out later that it's Amanda, one of my Google+ spin buddies!  Talk about serendipity!  


After they set up, we all start to realize that we all know each other.  In between texting, I hooped a touch.  The weather was perfect at that afternoon.  Eventually, Amanda and her friend (name escapes me) turn some music on and bam! The hoopers come out.  As we spin, we find out that Nicole of MKY Hoops was near us, too! 


We could hear music in the background but no one know if they were sound checking or what.  Eventually, after a while, Nicole heads up there.  I grab my flashlight and superhooper LED and go on up.  Basically this is the only time I actually hooped at dark at Flow Camp.  Around 11, I go back to camp. I didn't take a nap and I'm so exhausted.  I would have slept decently if it wasn't for the fact that after midnight someone kept slamming a car door most the night. Every time I'd get in that sleep zone, someone would yell or slam a car door.

Nicole and her Cosmic hooper minis





More Nicole
  I was freezing and not sleeping that well.  Therefore, I just woke up at dawn.  I got ready.  Set up my backpack.  Set up my stove and realized I didn't have a lighter.  So, I had yummy cereal and some mushrooms.  Next, I hooped a bit.  I saw Paige roll up.  After a while she came over and told me I was surrounded by poison ivy.  She also shows me her area and invites me over.  Her area is in the woods and is pretty kickass. I go back to my car and throw everything in the car and move on over.  After, I'm set up, Jaclyn comes.  Paige finds our neighbor, Ann.  Around 11, we start to go to the porta potties and the warm up.
Warm up time!

 During the warm up, I'm starting to do a diagonal chest hooping.  What? When did that happen?  I also almost...so close...learning the reverse weave.  It's so...backwards!  Some of the hoopers were there.  You can tell that 75% of the people here are hoopers.  It becomes even more apparent later.  Although it is so hot now.  Everyone is trying to find shade to flow in.  The classes I took was bellydance, poi, hoop, fire fans, flow wand and minis.  Poi I was having great difficulty with.  Although at one point, Angel says while looking directly at me, "don't give up! Keep practicing!"  I think that was a hint. Or I was looking really defeated.  Although her co-teacher really helped me not give up.  I got the idea. It's the memory that needs work. The last time I touched my poi before my blisters, I was starting to get it.

Our Friday night moon.
Around the middle of the afternoon, I started to get that feeling I get whenever I am very exhausted.  Usually it means I'm about to get pneumonia.  I was trying to do deep breathing exercises in the intermediate hoop class.  At one point, I'm struggling with an alternate hoop current vortex when I turn around.  This girl, I'm sure she was trying to be nice, said, "hey, we have some smaller hoops if you want at our campsite."  I don't know if she said that because of my struggle or if huge hoop disdain is that big.  One girl mentioned earlier, "wow, huge hoop!" but it was in an appreciative voice.  This girl's comment didn't seem like a good thing.  Why is it so bad that I have a big hoop? I like my hoop and it's the only way I'll get reverse current right now.  I'm sure she meant it with all the love in the world...I hope.

Either way, I started to feel sicker and walked out early.  I got some real food, revive vitamin water, and rested during the twins class.  I felt tired but revived after that rest break.  Fans was interesting.  My next few classes were flow wand and reversals.  My next batch of bruises was because of reversals class.  Although big, heavy hoop cannot do pinches.  The instructor for this class was very intimidated by the size of this class.  Most the hoop classes were full.  I left a bit early.  I wanted to change and walk to the campsite that was a billion miles away.  I was drenched in sweat.  If I didn't change at least my shirt, I would have been soaked.

Flippin' amazing.
Paige, Jaclyn and I found a great spot near the fire circle.  I played with my hoop and glow poi for a short while but I was so tired.  We saw some amazing fire dancers.  Mostly poi.  A few hoopers but most were virgin burns.  My favorite was the guy with the anacondas and the few people that danced with each other. OMG. AMAZING. I was exhausted.  Therefore I trekked back early.  I know. I'm an awful kill joy.

That night I slept better. I found and extra blanket in the car and wore my jeans to sleep.  I could hear music that was reminiscent of the desert, if that make sense.  I didn't mind. I used to sleep with music when I was a teen.  I woke up early again.  Pretty much an hour after the music stopped.

The day, I had eggs and sauted portebello mushrooms.  I know you don't care but I was soo stoked about my breakfast. It was pretty awesome!  Yoga for prop manipulators was next.  My shoes became soaking wet.  Let me tell you, yoga is some hardcore shit.  I failed at it miserably.  And if you find a spot, make sure it is not under some lyras.  That was pretty stupid when it came to sun salutations.  Next was the group photo. I had some time to waste when I walked back to camp to change shoes and get the glow sticks.  I also grabbed a sandwich and forgot the glow sticks. Awesome. No glow sticking for this girl.  Either way, I was prepared to do my classes.  I did the bellydance fusion class, a hoop class with Jorden, contact juggling and flow wands with Grimm.

  Jorden really burned my muscles.  When it got about time in the class that we were covering material I couldn't do, my aching muscles and I said, "we're out."  I had never tried to counter spin with my reception hoop. I think I had only done that a few times with my flammer when it was all new in hooping.  I never realized how important my muscles were to get the hoop up till that class. 

Next was flow wands with Grimm.  And let me tell you: it was fucking amazing.  The man is a genius. No one in any of the youtube flow wand videos is doing what he is doing with the tool.  Shekinah, I will make you a video of the things he taught me one day!  That is also when he told us that no one had showed up to his intermediate fan class.  I explained I was a beginner and it would have been useless.  He said, "it was beginner to intermediate."  What? I think knowing it was Grimm teaching fans, I would have gone anyways.  In the aftermath, I didn't learn super much from reversals (heavy hoop makes pinches impossible).

After that I went back to rest.  I was napping in the hammock when it started to sprinkle.  Paige and Jaclyn packed everything up before the rain.  I didn't do as much as I should have.  I thought it would pass.  After an hour or so, I called John to tell me the forecast.  He said it was clearing up but more was potentially coming.  I took that as my sign (with the leak in my tent) to start packing up.  Paige and Jaclyn also decided to leave.

A local magician played with us, too!


Right before we left.

A part of me feels like I wussed out but I was so exhausted. I don't think I would have enjoyed Flow Camp as much if I had stuck it out.  I still missed it when I got home especially when the pictures flowed in on facebook.  I tried to do what I thought I had learned in my hoop but I couldn't.  I have been trying to do more reverse current since Flow Camp.  I really wished I had a hoop to burn or was comfortable with my fire fans. I'm dying to fire hoop again.  And to really fire hoop.


Finally this is the end of blog part 1 on Flow Camp.Weeee.
 





Comments

  1. This sounds like you had a great time! Don't feel like you wussed out - ! You listened to yourself and your body and did what worked best for you :)
    I know the last day of Hoop Fest I didn't take ONE single class bc - hey man - I was tired! heheeh.

    ... weird about the big hoop thing. I am sure it wasn't intended rudely - but yeah there is hoop love for every size! I just had a class where I brought my 43" hoop (the largest I have) and a gentleman (who was doing just fine with that hoop) actually requested a larger one! Just preference I guess :D

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  2. I love that last photo of you! You look really happy and I love your colorful hair. :D

    Also, hopefully the girl meant it in a nice way. I was working on some variations on vortex today and noticed it's easier to do with a little speed behind it, and that meant switching from a big hoop to a lighter/smaller hoop. I definitely still use the big hoop for learning reverse vortex (at the moment I need all the space I can get in that hoop so I don't hit myself in the back of the head/neck), but perhaps that was her line of thinking...?

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