Arts Camp Session 1: Cultural Banquet

It has been a tradition at Centauri, throughout the entire 18 years of our existence, that once per session we select a culture somewhere in the world and celebrate it using the arts and food.  Of course, the culture is selected well before camp so we can make elaborate plans (!!) and this session we were celebrating Morocco.

Everyone dressed up for dinner, which was a Royal Banquet hosted by the King of Morocco. We wore clothing as close to Moroccan as possible, and washed our hands ceremoniously as we entered the dining hall. We ate fantastic Moroccan stew, with couscous, pita, skewered beef, baba ganoush and other dips.  We drank mint tea sweetened with honey and finished the meal with a platter of figs, dates and traditional candies and cakes. During dinner we danced to entertain the King, watched belly dancers and learned phrases we could use throughout the banquet.  Then, it was time to visit the Souk!

Our outdoor Moroccan market included live music and a host of interesting stalls to visit: jewelry making, a snake charmer, henna tattoos, Moroccan tile-making, soccer, a stall with oranges dusted with cinnamon and much more. At the end of the evening, the King invited everyone to join him underneath the trees, and the court storyteller told a traditional Moroccan folk tale.

Tonight was the LIT (Leaders-in-Training) Night Walk – another long-standing camp tradition. What a glorious night it was to be out! The sky was blazing with stars and the grass filled with firelies.

Tonight, a camper said to me: “it took me a few days to figure things out, because I’ve never been to a sleep-over camp before. Now, I feel this place is pure magic and it’s like a second home.”

More photos available at https://www.centauriartscamp.com/media/Galleries/2012/index.htm

Julie
Centauri Arts Camp
www.centauriartscamp.com