Wednesday, August 09, 2006

The EFY Week of Crappiness



Idaho hates me. It really does and here's why. All of my five efy weeks were scheduled at BYU except for the middle one when I was supposed to work at BYU-Idaho. This is a fine plan, except this is how the week went:

Sunday, I am driving along, minding my own buisness and listening to my book on tape, when Officer Carlton (or something like that) pulls me over, gives me a ticket and tells me to drive slower. Grrr. Fine so that one was my fault, but still, it was not a good start to the week.

Monday, we meet the kids. Everything is fine. They are the 14-15 age group, and really shy. They are all still trying to act cool. Two guys join our group later on in the afternoon, and I realized after some of my girls pointed it out to me, that when they arrived, they were high. Yes like on drugs, at efy. Good.

Tuesday, my co-counselor tells me that some of the guys were complaining about someone smoking outside their window. He also tells me that he is concerned because one of his boys told him that he had been disfellowshipped.

While I am on lunch duty making sure that no efy kids escape the lunch area, two of my girls came to tell me that last night they had been talking to some of the guys in our group on the phone the night before and they were talking about how they where smoking cigars and cigarettes in their apartment (at efy!). They were also telling my girls about the different kinds of drugs that they use at home. Great. Only one of the boys was sent home.

That night at the dance, my co-counselor had some kind of... something. We weren't sure what it was, but she was shaking uncontrollably. She was so sick afterward that she ended up spending all day on wednesday in her apartment.

Wendesday, one of the guys told me about how he had just gotten a call from his dad telling him that his nephew had been born during the night with a hole in his heart and they didn't know if he was going to live. He ended up getting sick for most of the rest of the week.

My BC (the person in charge of me, and the one that I go to when I have various problems) got sick and spent the day in the hospital.

Wednesday night is games night and because one of my co-counselors was sick and the other was on duty, I was left with 32 kids in a massive crazy mess, until my co got off duty. Not my cup of tea.

Thursday was good. Good stuff happened and I felt like I was doing something worthwhile. Oh, one thing that happened was that a 14 year old had been drinking tequila out of an IBC Rootbeer bottle. I guess she was totally wasted and was scaring her little 14 year old roommates. Because of other various events she and her roommate needed to be separated, so the roommate came to hang out with us in the counselor apartment. (This is efy people.)

Friday started out good, but some of my girls had to check out early, and then their ride arrived late, so i didn't get to say good bye to the rest of my kids. That was a bummer. While waiting for their ride to come I realized that I had lost my car keys. I freaked out with this horrified feeling of being trapped in Rexburg forever. I thought that I had locked them in my trunk so I found a nice mechanic to help break into my car. No keys in the trunk. I eventually found them in my backpack. I love/hate when that happens.

To top it all off, I was walking up the hill to try to find some of my group, when I got hit with a waterballoon. I was so stressed and tired that I started bawling right there in the street. I felt like a little kid that was lost in Wal-Mart.

These wonderful adventures as well as the usual, sassy girls, kids with bad attitudes, battling lights out, and acting as the modesty police filled my time in Rexburg. Good stuff happened too, of course, but the bad stuff sometimes has a way of screaming in your face and leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

7 comments:

Zak said...

That was so sad the day you called me after getting hit by the water balloon- I'm glad efy isn't a year round job.... shudder.

Jeni said...

Oh Tiffanie! I can't believe all that! What is going on with kids these days? Maybe EFY was their parents' last resort to try to force the spirit into them or something. Poor parents. Poor you. Poor us when we all have teenagers. I probably would have cried long before the water balloon hit me. You are a tough woman.

I didn't know you were going to Rexburg. My oldest brother works at BYUI and his family lives blocks from campus. They would have let you cry on their shoulders.

Jaime said...

Oh Tiffanie! That is a terrible week at efy!! I can't believe what is happening with kids and drugs/alcohol. Why is it so cool? Is everyone OK that you worked with? I'm glad your home and efy is almost over for you. I'm sure you have helped kids more than you know.

mandi said...

Wow - that is so horrible. I'm never sending Maddie to EFY! I'm glad that's over for you!

heidi said...

Last night I heard you had a good, new post to read. What a nightmare. I can't believe all the 14 year-old's with drug problems that are still into EFY. Were they forced? That's weird. Ugh. I'm glad it's over.

Pam and Rand said...

Tiff - is it wrong that I spent most of the time laughing at your blog - it is certainly full of black humor. At least your discription is totally funny though the events are totally sad. I completely relate to the love/hate thing with finding the keys. It is the worst to put something in a spot you cannot find - and then to have someone break into your trunk. That is classic! I've done stuff like that soooo many times!! I'm glad there is no lure for you in Idaho. I'm with you there! It is no less than a frozen wasteland most of the time. What are up with the teens? Unreal!

payne8 said...

I feel for you dearest sis.