"When in Rome..."

Took a quick hop over to Italy with Greg. The food there is SO good. I already miss the "gelato" (like ice cream but even better!) - RC

I recently took a trip to Italy to discover my homeland and the homeland of the great Galileo. I was so excited to find this hotel in Rome. I wonder if Galileo ever stayed here?

Also on my trip to Italy, I visited the famous Colosseum and Forum. Hard to believe these places are 2000 years old!!! Did you know that back then, Rome was the size of San Jose and had just as many people - over one million people! It was the largest city in the world and still is one of the most fun and interesting places to visit. You should really go and see it for yourself some day!

Greg, Sunnyvale Camp Director

The Adventures of Jason and El Cristablo, El Cerrito's Talking Chicken

Mail from Jason! - RC

Wow!!! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was performing "500 miles" with my campers and passing the coveted "Chicken Hat" to my most spirited group!!! Time flies when you're having fun. How have you been? I've been enjoying my 7th and 8th graders and traveling around the country. El Cristablo, El Cerrito's Camp Chicken has been to Pennsylvania, Maryland, D.C., Seattle, Atlanta, Texas, and most recently San Diego!!!! He seems to bring a stir wherever he goes. I most recently have brought El Cristablo to a 2nd grade class as I read them the book "No More Chicken" as a mystery reader. Well Camp G is just around the corner, so I'm hoping to see my familiar faces and a whole lot of new ones as well!!!!!

Jason
El Cerrito Camp Director

Watch for Rubber Chickens?

Puja (our Camp Director at The Tech) sent this my way without much explanation. I wonder if she sees any rubber chickens? I'll bet they're pretty hard to spot in the wild these days. -RC

I Love a Day at the Museum! (Mail from Susannah and Beth)

I love museums! Modern Art, Natural History, Air and Space, it doesn't matter I love them all. Planetariums and aquariums (are there any other -iums?) too! When's the last time you went to a museum? I got to go out this weekend with Susannah and Beth, two Camp Directors who really know how to rock the sunglasses! I wonder if they make sunglasses that fit me? -RC

Dear R. Chicken,

It was so fun spending the long weekend with you. We loved exploring the galleries at the de Young Museum-there was so much amazing art! It was so cool to see at the Untitled (Orange) Painting by Kandinsky. We saw your abstract image in the painting! Here's a picture of the three of us outside.

Hope we can go on another adventure soon---next time to the Tech Museum!

xoxo

Susannah, Camp Director Camp Galileo Lafayette &

Beth, Camp Director Camp Galileo Oakland/Rockridge

Happy Valentine's Day! (featuring Mail from Vince)

They say funny things sometimes, but I've always liked those little candy hearts you get this time of year. "Email me" is probably my favorite. As you can see below, I love email! -RC

Dear Rubber Chicken,

Here it is Valentine’s Day. I hope you received my card? I wanted to say how much I miss last summer! I just got a call today from a parent asking us if we were going to be back at Belmont again and I said ….OF COURSE!

We need to hear what all of the campers have been up to and teach them all of our new games and activities! As for me, I have been exploring my home town of San Francisco. I’ve been keeping it local by biking in Golden Gate Park and helping to build the community Frisbee Golf course. It’s so awesome to be a part of it because the whole course was planned, funded and built by volunteers!

I saw Camp Director Stephanie and you were going to go out to Ocean Beach, we should join up! I’ve been surfing at my local beach too. It’s great you’re already made out of rubber. That should keep you warm. I got a new wetsuit this year so I’m ready to go.

Speaking of new, since I last saw you I’ve started teaching a new fourth grade class. They are really excited when I tell them Camp Galileo stories. I hope you get to meet them! One thing that is nice is that I get to see them for nine months. I wish we could teach our campers for that long! How cool would that be, a Camp G School!

Your adventures sound amazing. I can’t wait to talk about them in person.

See you soon,
Your pal,
Vince (Camp Director - Belmont)

The Stars are Bananas! (Mail from Anne)

The dictionary tells me that a group of more than one "nebula" can be either "nebulas" or "nebulae". Sometimes English is really hard! -RC

Camp is just around the corner, Rubber Chicken!

How excited are you to return for another fun filled summer at Camp G?! It seems like only yesterday you were twirling around in the air as the campers cheered every Friday. Do you remember our favorites? The stars are bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! And all the amazing dances the Nebulae came up with for their cheers. I cannot wait to see what the campers come up with this summer!

Well, I cannot wait to see you again in a few weeks as we begin our camp preparations. I know the campers are going to love all of the amazing adventures they will have this summer from exploring the ocean floor to buidling to creating earthquake proof buidlings. See you soon Rubber Chicken!

Anne (New Camp Director for Palo Alto)

Mail from Shelly!

Wow, one second you've set up an email address, the next thing you know all your old friends are writing to you! I should have done this sooner! -RC

Dear Rubber Chicken,

Remember those long, hot, summer days when we would frolic through the flowers together? We would sing songs as we hiked and feel the warm sunshine kissing our shoulders. Alas, it has been raining pigs and cows these past weeks, thwarting our flower frolics. But, no need to squawk, because before you know it, you and I will be out in the hills again, treading new trails and basking in the sun's energy. I look forward to our future flower frolics when, after a great day at CampG, we can watch the sun set over the Los Altos hills.

Until then, my friend, stay dry. We wouldn't want you getting your feathers damp!

Love,
Shelly, the new Camp Director for Los Altos!

Mail from Stephanie B!

I got this letter in the mail the other day from Stephanie from Camp G - San Francisco. I wonder if they make wetsuits in my size? -RC

Happy New Year, Rubber Chicken!

I just got the pictures developed from our surf trip to Chacala, Mexico for New Year’s 2007. Remember that overhead wave that you caught? It was epic – and was maybe even double overhead (though being your height, that’s not too hard to do)! I had so much fun with you, hanging out on the beach, building sandcastles in the sand, and of course, taking the ponga boats to the surf break. We even had a chance to practice our Spanish. Nosotros apprendimos espanol poco a poco! Hopefully there will be some campers this summer who can help us practice our Spanish, too!

Remember how warm the water was in Mexico, too? The water in San Francisco right now is definitely a lot colder than it was in Mexico, that’s for sure. I wonder if the temperature affects whether the surfboard goes slower or faster over the water? That would be a great question for our campers to experiment with in Ocean Explorers this summer, don’t you think? Well, we’ll definitely have to get you a wetsuit soon so you can surf at Ocean Beach with me this summer. Now that I think of it, the wetsuit will probably come in handy at Camp G San Francisco this summer as well, especially during Water Olympics! “Brrrr, it’s cold in here, must be that Camp G in the atmosphere…”. Remember chanting that last summer?

Well, I’ll leave you with happy, warm thoughts for this summer at Camp G! I can’t wait to see all of the campers from last summer…and to meet all of our new campers as well. Hasta luego, mi amigo!

- stephanie b*
Camp G Camp Director, San Francisco

Long Days, Short Nights. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.

Have you noticed how it gets dark so early in the evening these days? Around here the sun sets as early as 5:00 PM! The days are so short this time of year because we just passed through the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year. Tomorrow it will stay light out for one minute more than it did today. The day after tomorrow it will stay light out for one more minute after that. Every day from here on out is going to be longer than the last - all the way until the summer solstice on June 21st (which just so happens to be Waterball day during the first week of camp!). On that day the sun won't set until 8:35 PM, and it'll still be light enough to see until 9:00 or later. That's almost past my bedtime!

I notice the winter solstice every year because it means we've made it half of the way to the next camp season. I can't wait for those long days and short nights of summer, can you?

-RC

City in the Clouds

I was sorting through a shoebox of photos the other day when I came across this one from Machu Picchu this past August. I had a chance to visit Bolivia and Peru in South America for a couple of weeks, and I think I can safely say this was the highlight of my trip! Machu Picchu was an old Inca city high in the clouds on a mountain peak. It's abandoned now, but it's still in great shape because it was "lost" for many years. That's right, people completely forgot it was there up at the top of the mountain! Fortunately it was rediscovered about 100 years ago and now it's open to visitors like you and me. I'd try to visit as soon as I could if I were you though. The United Nations says there are so many visitors coming every year now that there's a danger the site is getting damaged. Hopefully people will try to conserve these beautiful places so that your children and your children's children will get a chance to see it for themselves!

-RC