A Romanian church youth group stayed at the campground for 5 days. There was 50-60 teenagers and a dozen adult leaders. At first I thought it would be cool having them around. The girls stayed in the campsites next to me and the boys were across the creek. The leaders seemed respectful, and asked my advice for places to see and things to do. They invited me over for meals and church services. Most of the girls would say Hi when they saw me, and several asked questions about my solar shower and how it was to live in a van.
But one night the boys stayed up late and were being too loud. It was 10:30 and they had music playing. They also were talking and laughing boisterously. So I went over and told them that they needed to quiet down, so the rest of the campers could sleep. Several of the youth leaders were there but didn’t say a word. The music went off and the voices got lowered.
Then at 11 pm, some kid began chopping wood for the campfire. Talk about loud! Their voices had gotten loud again, too. I had to get up again and tell them that was not okay! I didn’t hear much more and was able to get to sleep soon.
The next day, I heard that the boys were still up at 1 am and realized a rattlesnake was coiled up a few feet away. They tried to get it to leave and it started striking at them. So one guy chopped it to pieces with the axe.
For the rest of their time there, the leaders and the boys shunned me pretty much. The girls had already been in their tents that night and didn’t see me telling the others to be quiet. So they were still friendly. But I was glad to see the group leave. They had worn out their welcome with me.
One thing, the youth leaders didn’t consider was, when they are open about being a Christian group, outsiders notice when they show rudeness and lack of consideration towards others. It reflects poorly on their church and beliefs. I had complaints from a few other campers, saying the group was loud late at night on the two other nights that I wasn’t there, too. When they first arrived, I had emphasized the 10 pm quiet-time rule for the campground to the youth pastor and he promised that they would abide by that. Which didn’t happen. So, it wasn’t a particularly great week for me. Fortunately, they moved on, as all the campers do eventually. I don’t let myself get too stressed about this job or people I don’t really like here, because it’s only for a limited time. I see plenty of marriages and relationships that are hell compared to the minor problems that I encounter as a camp host.
Incidentally, a couple days later there were another small group of Christian women at the site next to me. They were playing religious music at 10:15 that was way too audible. I got up and mentioned to them that music carries far at night. They apologized and immediately turned it off, with a good attitude. Much better!
iggyvandweller 