Day 6: Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter?
I considered Camp Jupiter for like two seconds, but sorry, my heart is with the Greeks.
Like, I appreciate that Camp Jupiter is super well-organized and clearly thinks a lot about the campers that stay there, and they even have a place for demigods who have grown up. But Camp Half-Blood just seems like a friendlier place in general.
You don't get all that power play stuff like Octavian's doing with Reyna, because they don't have the kids in charge of the whole camp. They have camp counselors, but Chiron is the trainer who runs things. At Camp Jupiter, Reyna alone was in charge of camp for like, eight months. Have a fun time at summer camp!
Camp Half-Blood also doesn't judge their campers for their heritage (godly or otherwise) - sure, Percy was alone in the Poseidon cabin, but it didn't take long for him to make a whole bunch of friends regardless. At Camp Jupiter, he was immediately regarded with suspicion because Neptune (Poseidon's roman form, of course) was generally mistrusted by the Romans (you'll notice even in Ancient times the Romans almost never attacked from the sea). Frank's grandmother worried about Frank going to Camp Jupiter because she worried that he'd be bullied because he's Chinese-Canadian. (I really like this about the books, that even in modern times at a camp based on Rome the author chose not to ignore the fact that the Romans were hugely prejudiced - there's always that underlying tone when they talk about Camp Jupiter). Not to mention how, for the first half of The Son of Neptune, the entirety of Camp Jupiter were just using the Fifth Cohort as punching bags because of something that happened in the 80s. Like, calm down.
I also like that Camp Half-Blood gets necklaces instead of tattoos. I feel like the Rome owns you thing is (accurate, but) uncomfortable.
Not to mention how the campers get to the camps. Camp Half-Blood - a friendly satyr protector leads you there. Camp Jupiter - a wolf teaches you for a few months and then sends you off to find it. Or, if you're real lucky, you get escorted there by a pack of wolves. (This is, of course, playing off the myth of Lupa and Romulus and Remus). Did I mention that you possibly get killed if you show weakness during that time? Fun stuff.
And MOST IMPORTANTLY: Camp Half-Blood has campfires every night. Sing-alongs. Led by the Apollo kids (hypothetically me, if I'm going to Camp Half-Blood). Like at real camp. Like, hey New Rome, you may have government and stability and a safe haven for grown demigods but do you have campfire sing-alongs? No? Then you have failed.
I just like Camp Half-Blood's overall tone better. Seems like much more fun, but I suppose, in Camp Jupiter's defense, we didn't really get to see that much of how Camp Jupiter really works in general. But my opinion stands.
Because sing-alongs.
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