Where in the world are our girls from?

Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Canada, China, Spain, Pakistan, and the Dominican Republic are all represented at Girls First! this summer. Girls also call many US states home, too: Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., New York, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Colorado, South Carolina, and California! In these photos, Judith from Spain and Vanessa from the Dominican Republic enjoy games on the lawn.

Sydney helps a friend

This week our Vet students learned how to bandage hurt animals. Lucky for this cow, Sydney came along!

How Do You Spell Fun? B-O-L-T!

Another Madeira tradition was passed along to the girls Wednesday night when we took them on a bolt which is Madeira speak for a trip to the local 7-11 store for snacks, beverages and magazines. Fun? Oh yes!! (Note to parents: girls were well mannered, let customers in front of them, and managed not to buy too much junk food!)

Friends at camp

Sometimes are friends come to camp - this is Gatsby's third time at Girls First! and we are lucky he brings his owner Gracie to teach Vet Science. Gracie's co-teacher Rachel also brought a friend, Mr. Bones who has been a big help in the Vet classroom as they learn anatomy.

South Dorm: Under The Sea

The girls of South take pride in their "Under the Sea" theme and as I write the girls are headed to the pool for their dorm-sponsored "Luau at the pool" evening activity tonight. They are not alone - a variety of pool-themed inflatible animals are accompanied them - a whale, shark, dolphin, octopus and more. If you were here you would be enjoying the fruit smoothies, hoola hoop contest, biggest splash contest, and get a lesson on hula dancing!

West Dorm: The Wild West

Each dorm has been decorated according to a theme. For West, it's the Wild West and last night the dorm hosted a campus-wide activity called "Miner 49'er" where the girls from all dorms went on a wild hunt to find nuggets of gold. It wasn't easy - they had to be on the look out for bandits!

Archery

By Jaedra

Girls had a chance to knock their bows and take aim at the archery class. Some girls were surprised at the significant amount of strength it takes to pull back the string but everyone managed to try to shoot. There is no 'bulls eye' in archery instead some girls managed to hit the gold!

Yoga Fun!

By Jaedra

Find a comfortable seat with a long tall spine. Close your eyes and begin to concentrate on your breath. Gentle inhalation and exhalation through the nose. This begins your yoga lesson. In class girls learned the meaning of ahimsa (kindness in word, thought, and deed) while practicing postures including the sun salute and warrior poses.

Deep Relaxation

Deep Relaxation: Girls started the deep relaxation exercise with a walk in silence from the main campus area down to the Hurd dance studio. Once in the class room girls took off shoes and placed yoga mats on the floor. We took a seat and closed their eyes. To the sound of  Om, Om, Om we started to go inwards and find our inner peace. After a guided relaxation including a full body scan and a meditation exercise girls felt relaxed, soothed, and calm.