Camp Ayandeh Blog

To properly digest all of the activities from Day Two, the third day of Camp Ayandeh began with reflection time. This is a time each morning that campers are given to reflect, and if they so choose, to write in journals, about their thoughts, ideas, and experiences of the previous day.

The group was then split into three teams to rotate through three stations devoted to team spirit (banner making), public speaking (speech delivery), and physical activity (vasati).

This prepared them for a favorite Camp Ayandeh tradition: the Ta'arof Tournament! Each counselor group chose one camper to represent their team in the competition, which tested the campers' skills in ta'arof, with a twist. For each round, campers were given an item to "ta'arof over" for 30 seconds, and the judges took creativity, flow, and sting into account when making their decisions. After eight strong matches, Rassah was left as the final camper. Before she could receive her medal however, "Dariush, the 27-year world champion of ta'arof" challenged her to a final battle! Rassah and Dariush ta'arofed with great skill and creativity, but in the end Rassah proved she was a champion in the art of Persian hospitality!

The competition was followed by free time, with campers continuing their vasati games, sharing stories with each other, or participating in an impromptu sing-along with Raha, our resident guitar playing counselor.

The day continued with a return to group discussions regarding culture and conflict resolution. The campers learned about several theories regarding culture, and were given some ideas to consider: are some cultures more individualistic, while others are more collectivistic? Or is it perhaps a mix of the two? What are different ways that various cultures react to change, conflict, or gender relations? The campers were encouraged to analyze the theories and criticize them where they didn't seem to work.

After these theoretical discussions, the campers found physical relief in a game of whoosh -- a simple game that the campers and counselors creatively amended and extended to include gherrrrr!

Dinner was complemented with another birthday celebration, this time for Kamran's 14th birthday! What better way to digest birthday cake than with a lesson in Persian and Kurdish dancing? Farzad and Nasim led the camp in a lesson in Kurdish dancing, while Shabnam and Danesh taught the Persian style. More advanced dancers were quick to help teach other campers new moves.

The night was capped perfectly by storytelling around the campfire. If the profoundly simple stories of Mullah Nasruddin left the campers contemplative, Counselor Yusef's original Persian tale sent them to Mevieval Nayshapur to hear the story of Parivash. While Nasim provided the English translation, in true Iranian storytelling style, Yusef's story about young Parivash was complemented by musical interludes on tar and dombak, played beautifully by Kayvan and Yusef.

With the threat of rain on the horizon, the campers were left in suspense to hear more about Parivash's tales...to be continued next time!