CTeenConnection

“So shout out loud my CTeen crowd a family forever we’ll be.” This was one of the many lines I chanted while on CTeen Xtreme. Recently, I returned from a two week journey out west with CTeen Xtreme. And what a family we became.

While on CTeen Xtreme we traveled from Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles, California. On the way, we visited Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. I had the best time doing activities such as hiking, rappelling, rope courses, swimming, riding UTVs, going to national parks, screaming on roller coasters, and much more.

Traveling on the bus was also fun because it meant singing songs and bonding with the other girls and counselors on the trip. Speaking of singing, boy did we do a lot of it on Shabbat. Shabbat was the best! We spent one Shabbat in Aspen and one in Las Vegas. The only time we stood still on Shabbat was while we lit the candles and said the blessing quietly to ourselves. Otherwise, we were singing, chatting, and dancing! After Shabbat dinner, the singing didn’t stop. Being CTeeners, we pulled out our song booklets and sang late into the night, the songs may have ended for the night, but the fun didn’t stop there. Those who chose to, stayed up even later and had meaningful discussions with our awesome Rebbetzin, Manya.

Let me tell you something; Manya was the absolute best! Every morning, before davening with our awesome, nice, amazing counselors, Manya taught us a meaningful lesson. Our lessons ranged from being thankful for waking up each morning, to Jewish dating, eating kosher, and so much more. The ideas I learned are going to stick with me forever.
Because of this trip, I have become more in touch with my Judaism. I’ve discovered more areas of Judaism which I previously didn’t know about, like Perkei Avot. We learned it during Shabbat, and I enjoyed it so much that I bought myself a Perkei Avot book on our last day in Los Angeles. I’m really looking forward to learning more now that camp is over.

Speaking of LA…woah! What a packed three days we had there! Our last day was especially exciting. We toured the Hollywood Walk of Fame, ate at Munchies, and lastly had our farewell banquet.

The banquet was filled with many mixed emotions. While we were having fun being together, eating, signing our cards, doing raffles, and reflecting on the trip, we were all sad to be leaving each other. Though we have parted ways, our group chat is still going strong and everyone is excited to see each other again at the International Shabbaton in New York! CTeen Xtreme may be over and the summer might be coming to an end but CTeen Xtreme will always be a part of me because, “A family forever we’ll be.”