31.7.2012
I'm back in Gran Canaria now, but I though I would quickly describe the end of the journey before typing all this to my computer, so I don't forget it.
Ok, so we finished the ceremonies to finally say farewell to those of us who are changing yeargroup and welcome the new ones.
Then we had a little party with burgers, sweets and music, but I wasn't allowed to eat any of the party stuff due to my previous illness. It was nice anyway.
The the 29th we spent all day getting things ready, like making our bags, folding the tents and cleaning, so by 2 a.m. the next day we would be ready to take the bus to the airport and head back to Gran Canaria.
It was a great trip. I've really enjoyed myself and I feel much more independent and able to survive in the wildness now. I'm really looking forward to next years summercamp, although I know that many other exciting adventures are waiting for me before that.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 13
28.7.2012
4:51
In the evening we had the festival. Most of the songs were really good and I enjoyed listening to them.
After that we had another firedrill. It was pretty challenging to walk through complete darkness, holding each others hands, through such an irregular path full of stones without falling down.
That night I caught a virus which didn't allow me to sleep, because I had a stomachache and needed to puke. So yesterday I spent all morning in the dinning room, with other 7 people who had the same problem.
At night we had an assembly in which we all had to say farewell to all those who are changing yeargroup.
This morning we tried to do some ceremonies, but the first time we were interrupted by hail and the second one by another storm. We still need to do some this afternoon.
4:51
In the evening we had the festival. Most of the songs were really good and I enjoyed listening to them.
After that we had another firedrill. It was pretty challenging to walk through complete darkness, holding each others hands, through such an irregular path full of stones without falling down.
That night I caught a virus which didn't allow me to sleep, because I had a stomachache and needed to puke. So yesterday I spent all morning in the dinning room, with other 7 people who had the same problem.
At night we had an assembly in which we all had to say farewell to all those who are changing yeargroup.
This morning we tried to do some ceremonies, but the first time we were interrupted by hail and the second one by another storm. We still need to do some this afternoon.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 11
26.7.2012
9:46
Yesterday was amazing! We started the day with a bus journey, which took us to the "Caves of the Eagle". I loved them. The figures and images formed by the rain, caved in the stone, really allowed my imagination to flow. Although I'm totally against building stairs and installing lamps which change the natural habitad of the cave. For example, the light produced heat which allowed moss to grow around them.
After that we went to visit some natural swimming pools with rocks around it to keep in the water which came from the river. It kept flowing at both ends, so it gave us a pleasant feeling through the movement of the water. At the end where the river came from, it was surrounded by huge rocks and there was even a small rapid!
10:46
We arrived at our campsite at around 10 p.m., ready for dinner. However, an exciting adventure was waiting for us first. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal, just a few droplets of water, silent tears of the sky. But soon these droplets turned into waterfalls, soaking our clothes and our hair. And then we were surrounded by thunder and lightning, which made the younger children run into the dinning room and us towards the tents, to check they were attached to the ground hard enough, so they wouldn't fly away. But soon we found ourselves running to the dinning room to join the others. There we made ourselves comfortable as good as we could with 200 people crowded into one room to have dinner while we waited for the storm to pass and the rain to soften.
15:20
Today is the song festival, so we started the day, this morning by finishing the lyrics and choosing a melody. I really like how it sounds, although it's obvious that we still need a lot of practise.
After we all felt like we could never listen to that song again without puking, we did a small break which we used to lay some basebal. It was really fun, but some of us were too competitive, so in the end we spent more time arguing about whether it was a full or a strike and about whether or that player was out, than we spent playing.
9:46
Yesterday was amazing! We started the day with a bus journey, which took us to the "Caves of the Eagle". I loved them. The figures and images formed by the rain, caved in the stone, really allowed my imagination to flow. Although I'm totally against building stairs and installing lamps which change the natural habitad of the cave. For example, the light produced heat which allowed moss to grow around them.
After that we went to visit some natural swimming pools with rocks around it to keep in the water which came from the river. It kept flowing at both ends, so it gave us a pleasant feeling through the movement of the water. At the end where the river came from, it was surrounded by huge rocks and there was even a small rapid!
10:46
We arrived at our campsite at around 10 p.m., ready for dinner. However, an exciting adventure was waiting for us first. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal, just a few droplets of water, silent tears of the sky. But soon these droplets turned into waterfalls, soaking our clothes and our hair. And then we were surrounded by thunder and lightning, which made the younger children run into the dinning room and us towards the tents, to check they were attached to the ground hard enough, so they wouldn't fly away. But soon we found ourselves running to the dinning room to join the others. There we made ourselves comfortable as good as we could with 200 people crowded into one room to have dinner while we waited for the storm to pass and the rain to soften.
15:20
Today is the song festival, so we started the day, this morning by finishing the lyrics and choosing a melody. I really like how it sounds, although it's obvious that we still need a lot of practise.
After we all felt like we could never listen to that song again without puking, we did a small break which we used to lay some basebal. It was really fun, but some of us were too competitive, so in the end we spent more time arguing about whether it was a full or a strike and about whether or that player was out, than we spent playing.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 9
24.7.2012
9:31
After we had been picked up, we went through a 2 hour long bus journey to Salamanca, where we are going to stay for 2 nights. Here the people of the neighbours association "zoe" were kind enough to look for a place for us to shower, do our shopping, cook our dinner and give us 2 rooms to sleep in. We arrived here almost at midnight, so all they expected in return was that we don't make too much noise.
Today, we went to see the beatiful city of Salamanca. I love this place. Not only does it have a great university, but also, it is ful of parks and green spots with wonderful smelling flowers. It's a nice place to visit, although it has hot, dry summers. If you want to visit this city, the most important thing you will need is a waterbottle, which you can fill in at the fountains of the parks and, of course, a camara, which I was stupid enough to leave at the neighbours association, because it didn't fit in my pockets.
9:31
After we had been picked up, we went through a 2 hour long bus journey to Salamanca, where we are going to stay for 2 nights. Here the people of the neighbours association "zoe" were kind enough to look for a place for us to shower, do our shopping, cook our dinner and give us 2 rooms to sleep in. We arrived here almost at midnight, so all they expected in return was that we don't make too much noise.
Today, we went to see the beatiful city of Salamanca. I love this place. Not only does it have a great university, but also, it is ful of parks and green spots with wonderful smelling flowers. It's a nice place to visit, although it has hot, dry summers. If you want to visit this city, the most important thing you will need is a waterbottle, which you can fill in at the fountains of the parks and, of course, a camara, which I was stupid enough to leave at the neighbours association, because it didn't fit in my pockets.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 8
23.7.2012
15:32
However, I don't recomend walking before having breakfast. Specially if you are alone. You might feel sick and fall down, which, in this path, could be dangerous. If you want to enjoy your breakfast around the fountain while looking at the views, like we did, you should have a small snack first and make sure you drink enough water along the way.
13:31
The hike yesterday was great, but exhausting. The views were amazing, but it was difficult to look around without falling down, because the path was made of rocks, so it was very irregular and difficult to walk through, which made the journey much more challenging and interesting. There were 2 fountains on the way which were really helpful, due to the extrem heat.
Once there, we went to a small pond which was near to the refuge we were staying in. It was great! I really enjoyed swimming there. Oviously, the water was icy. We were very high up in the mountains, after all. There was even a small waterfall above it, which fell onto a rock at around 3 metres high. The climb wasn't difficult,and sitting on that rock was amazing. I felt completely relaxed and in harmony with the water falling gently on my shoulders. I was one of the last 2 people to get out of the water.
On the way back, some of us decided to take a shortcut. It didn't turn out as well as they expected, but better than what I could have hoped for. We kind of came across a small cliff and were too lazy to turn around and look for a longer, but safer way, so we climbed down. I was only wearing a bikini and a towel and I had to carry my clothes and my waterbottle with me, so it was quite tricky and increadibly exciting.
Today we woke up early to walk all the way back to the bus stop, where we will be picked up at 6. Even though we've had to wait for 7 hours here, I think it was worth it. It was so much easier to walk in the morning, when the mountains hid the sun and everything was covered in a pleasant shadow, cool shadow. Also, I'd say the views where better like this.
However, I don't recomend walking before having breakfast. Specially if you are alone. You might feel sick and fall down, which, in this path, could be dangerous. If you want to enjoy your breakfast around the fountain while looking at the views, like we did, you should have a small snack first and make sure you drink enough water along the way.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 7
22.7.2012
9:43
Yesterday was a really busy day, so I will write about it today. We started the day with a fire drill which woke all of us up at 8 and made us go all the way to the river with our noses and mouths covered. It was quite exciting at first, until we were told that it was just a drill.
Then we made an activity in which we 'learned' to cook. We prepared a cake and started to cut some lemons when somebody screamed that our things were flying away. We all ran outside and started fixing tents so they stayed where they were, when something amazing happened: a tornado! Not a big and dangerous one. Just a really small one with hardly any strenght which disappeared again in 3 seconds. Not all of us were fortunate enough to see it, but I was, and the scene is kind of stuck in my head and I've got the feeling that it will stay there forever. For the first time in my life, I've seen a tornado! Come on! How many people can say that they've survived a tornado?
We finished checking all tents. This took quite long, as all younger groups had gone for 2 nights and there wasn't even half of the people of the group there. After the work we enjoyed a luxurious lunch with lemonade and cake. Of course, before that, we still had to make the lemonade, which ended up in a big lemon battle in which everybody challenged each other to eat the spare lemons. I can proudly say that I was between the 4 people who started this by eating a quarter of a lemon all at the same time. I don't really get what was so challenging about it. I think lemons are delicious. But the other 3 looked as though the were going through the worst kind of torture that they could imagine.
After lunch (the cake was delicious) we had some free time, which I and a few boys used to continue writing a song for a festival, which we had started the day before.
The last event of the day was the game which some people in our group had prepared, which was like a treasure hunt, following hints, answering questions and facing challenges like singing with our mouth full of flour. My face ended up full of paint and my hair full of flour, but I think it was definetly worth it.
After that it was time to pack. We are staying away from the camping site for 3 nights.
Today we woke up at 7 and had to organise some last minute things so that now we are on the bus, on our way to the place where we will start our 7km long hike to a lagoon at the 'Sierra de Gredos'. I've heard the views are good, but it's going to be tiring to carry my stuff for 7 km. Specially because we are hiking up a mountain
9:43
Yesterday was a really busy day, so I will write about it today. We started the day with a fire drill which woke all of us up at 8 and made us go all the way to the river with our noses and mouths covered. It was quite exciting at first, until we were told that it was just a drill.
Then we made an activity in which we 'learned' to cook. We prepared a cake and started to cut some lemons when somebody screamed that our things were flying away. We all ran outside and started fixing tents so they stayed where they were, when something amazing happened: a tornado! Not a big and dangerous one. Just a really small one with hardly any strenght which disappeared again in 3 seconds. Not all of us were fortunate enough to see it, but I was, and the scene is kind of stuck in my head and I've got the feeling that it will stay there forever. For the first time in my life, I've seen a tornado! Come on! How many people can say that they've survived a tornado?
We finished checking all tents. This took quite long, as all younger groups had gone for 2 nights and there wasn't even half of the people of the group there. After the work we enjoyed a luxurious lunch with lemonade and cake. Of course, before that, we still had to make the lemonade, which ended up in a big lemon battle in which everybody challenged each other to eat the spare lemons. I can proudly say that I was between the 4 people who started this by eating a quarter of a lemon all at the same time. I don't really get what was so challenging about it. I think lemons are delicious. But the other 3 looked as though the were going through the worst kind of torture that they could imagine.
After lunch (the cake was delicious) we had some free time, which I and a few boys used to continue writing a song for a festival, which we had started the day before.
The last event of the day was the game which some people in our group had prepared, which was like a treasure hunt, following hints, answering questions and facing challenges like singing with our mouth full of flour. My face ended up full of paint and my hair full of flour, but I think it was definetly worth it.
After that it was time to pack. We are staying away from the camping site for 3 nights.
Today we woke up at 7 and had to organise some last minute things so that now we are on the bus, on our way to the place where we will start our 7km long hike to a lagoon at the 'Sierra de Gredos'. I've heard the views are good, but it's going to be tiring to carry my stuff for 7 km. Specially because we are hiking up a mountain
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 5
20.7.2012
9:48
Yesterday was really cool.
10:35
I had a plesant surprise before the campfire. While I had been working on my construction, another group had built a gate and we all helped lift it.
Turns out, it's an old custom to trick new people during this process. I was told to go to the kitchen and fetch some salt and oil. While I walked away everybody started screaming that I should hurry up, because it was really important and I really needed to hurry. So I had to run to the kitchen, convince one of the workers, who seemed really anoyed at my request, to provide me with these ingridients and hurry back trying not to spill any of the oil over my boots, while everybody started screaming at me again. They wanted me to spill half of it in every hole in which we had put the sticks to 'make the earth denser, so they wouldn't fall'. And they were all surrounding me, trying to make me do both at the same time. Needless to say, the oil and the salt were useless. Did I know they were pulling my leg? Obviously. But I allowed them to have some fun. I had been warned about these types of jokes which were done each year to the new ones. I'm actually relieved, because I had given rather worrying examples like putting toothpaste on my face while I sleep or hiding my sleeping bag in the forest. Oh! By the way! I'm not new. I joined the scouts in October. I'm allready in my participation stage and I've done 'The Promise' to be recognised as a scout worldwide. However, this is my first summercamp, which makes me not the 'new' one, but the one who has no experience with traditions only used in summercamps, so she won't suspect anything. But the 'new' one is shorter, so it's what lazy people use to answer the question 'why me?'. However, this still doesn't answer the question, as there are 5 'new' ones here and I'm the one of these 5 who has been here the longest.
15:32
The campfirenight was also amazing. Althought there was no fire, as I had expected. Every group made a small play and we presented them with some characteristic sketches between their auditions.
After it we had another incidence worth mentioning: a battle between two tents, mine and the one next to it. I share the tent with another girl and 4 boys. Two of the guys from the other tent tried to get in to fight with those boys and I managed to keep them outside for 10 minutes on my own, until they managed to open it. And only because they opened a space big enough for their arms and started tickling me. Ironically, those are the the only other people from the scouts who are in my class. Why didn't the boys hold them back? I sleep next to the door, so I was the only person who was there fast enough to hold them back. And after they saw that I was strong enough to do that, they didn't bother to stand up and help me anymore. After all, it was 1 a.m.
Today we have done some activities. We started with one to cut T-shirts with an amazing result. I really enjoyed it, and now I'm looking forward to trying out some more techniques when I get home. I can't do it here because:
1. I don't have scissors.
2. I only brought one spare T-shirt with me, as we were told that we would need one.
After that we had an activity about racism, which included a debate, some work with newspapers and some sketches. I played a muslim woman in one of them and one of the boys who attacked us yesterday was my husband.
9:48
Yesterday was really cool.
10:35
I had a plesant surprise before the campfire. While I had been working on my construction, another group had built a gate and we all helped lift it.
Turns out, it's an old custom to trick new people during this process. I was told to go to the kitchen and fetch some salt and oil. While I walked away everybody started screaming that I should hurry up, because it was really important and I really needed to hurry. So I had to run to the kitchen, convince one of the workers, who seemed really anoyed at my request, to provide me with these ingridients and hurry back trying not to spill any of the oil over my boots, while everybody started screaming at me again. They wanted me to spill half of it in every hole in which we had put the sticks to 'make the earth denser, so they wouldn't fall'. And they were all surrounding me, trying to make me do both at the same time. Needless to say, the oil and the salt were useless. Did I know they were pulling my leg? Obviously. But I allowed them to have some fun. I had been warned about these types of jokes which were done each year to the new ones. I'm actually relieved, because I had given rather worrying examples like putting toothpaste on my face while I sleep or hiding my sleeping bag in the forest. Oh! By the way! I'm not new. I joined the scouts in October. I'm allready in my participation stage and I've done 'The Promise' to be recognised as a scout worldwide. However, this is my first summercamp, which makes me not the 'new' one, but the one who has no experience with traditions only used in summercamps, so she won't suspect anything. But the 'new' one is shorter, so it's what lazy people use to answer the question 'why me?'. However, this still doesn't answer the question, as there are 5 'new' ones here and I'm the one of these 5 who has been here the longest.
15:32
The campfirenight was also amazing. Althought there was no fire, as I had expected. Every group made a small play and we presented them with some characteristic sketches between their auditions.
After it we had another incidence worth mentioning: a battle between two tents, mine and the one next to it. I share the tent with another girl and 4 boys. Two of the guys from the other tent tried to get in to fight with those boys and I managed to keep them outside for 10 minutes on my own, until they managed to open it. And only because they opened a space big enough for their arms and started tickling me. Ironically, those are the the only other people from the scouts who are in my class. Why didn't the boys hold them back? I sleep next to the door, so I was the only person who was there fast enough to hold them back. And after they saw that I was strong enough to do that, they didn't bother to stand up and help me anymore. After all, it was 1 a.m.
Today we have done some activities. We started with one to cut T-shirts with an amazing result. I really enjoyed it, and now I'm looking forward to trying out some more techniques when I get home. I can't do it here because:
1. I don't have scissors.
2. I only brought one spare T-shirt with me, as we were told that we would need one.
After that we had an activity about racism, which included a debate, some work with newspapers and some sketches. I played a muslim woman in one of them and one of the boys who attacked us yesterday was my husband.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Summercamp in Avila: Day 4
19.7.2012
10:26
Yesterday we continued our day by planning the campfire night, which is today, helping the youngest group with their tents and playing some fun games.
16:52
Today has been really interesting. We tried to do some constructions in the camp. I participated in the one in which we put together the outer part of 4 old and broken temts and making some kind of roof which had to be big enough for all 40 of us to find shelter under it.
Of course, this was the most difficult construction, but I wouldn't be me without allways being looking for a good challenge.
First we had to connect the tents. This was the easy part. We rolled stones between the tents to have something to use as a starting point to tie the rope around them. Then we started to connect some of the metal sticks to lift the tent. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. We didn't nearly have as many sticks as we needed. In fact, we had to give up and start again and still didn't manage to create a comfortable environment under the tents. Then Saralden, one of our scouters, suggested to go into the forest and look for wood sticks to use those instead. We found some which were thin enough so the man I talked about yesterday would let us use them. Here's where the hard work started. We hadf to cut and sharpen the tree trunks. Then we had to burry one end and tie the other end to the tent. The wind seemed to have decided that he didn't like the noise we had done cutting, and would get his revenge by messing with our work the point where it was impossible to be inside the construction without getting hit from either side by the stormy tents.
But after a lot of hard work we completed it. Well, actually, we've just done the main structure. We might add some details later.
But this afternoon there is something completelydifferent planned. It's campfire night and we need to prepare for it. I'm really looking forward to it.
10:26
Yesterday we continued our day by planning the campfire night, which is today, helping the youngest group with their tents and playing some fun games.
16:52
Today has been really interesting. We tried to do some constructions in the camp. I participated in the one in which we put together the outer part of 4 old and broken temts and making some kind of roof which had to be big enough for all 40 of us to find shelter under it.
Of course, this was the most difficult construction, but I wouldn't be me without allways being looking for a good challenge.
First we had to connect the tents. This was the easy part. We rolled stones between the tents to have something to use as a starting point to tie the rope around them. Then we started to connect some of the metal sticks to lift the tent. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. We didn't nearly have as many sticks as we needed. In fact, we had to give up and start again and still didn't manage to create a comfortable environment under the tents. Then Saralden, one of our scouters, suggested to go into the forest and look for wood sticks to use those instead. We found some which were thin enough so the man I talked about yesterday would let us use them. Here's where the hard work started. We hadf to cut and sharpen the tree trunks. Then we had to burry one end and tie the other end to the tent. The wind seemed to have decided that he didn't like the noise we had done cutting, and would get his revenge by messing with our work the point where it was impossible to be inside the construction without getting hit from either side by the stormy tents.
But after a lot of hard work we completed it. Well, actually, we've just done the main structure. We might add some details later.
But this afternoon there is something completelydifferent planned. It's campfire night and we need to prepare for it. I'm really looking forward to it.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Summer camp in Avila: Day 3
18.7.2012
9:09
Yesterday I was interrupted by dinner and didn't have the chance to keep on writing.
Ok, so yesterday our first task was to rebuilt the tents at different positions. Due to the fact that we only had a 4 hour sleep, we had the rest of the morning free.
In the afternoon (after some more free time which we spent playing poker) we had a harder task. We had to move huge tree trunks through the forest to use in theconstructions we would build tomorrow. This was trickier than I had expected. We carried them on our shoulders, but this was hardly imposible, as we all had different heights. Also, they were heavier than I had imagined.
After we had brought 4 of them to our campsite and were eager to shower, a man appeared to talk to us. It turned out that he was the one who had cut those trees and their owner. He asked us to return them to the place wher we found them.
13:01
After breakfast we decided to go swimming in a river which is near to our campsite. Sadly, I've got my period, so I can't join them. Almost everybody is in the water now, and I've discovered that taking photos of people while they jump is kind of fun. And it's not going to be the last time we come here, so I will have another chance to swim.
23:08
Ops! I forgot something! Yesterday we were told that apart of cows and bats, there is another animal walking around which we should know about: Vipers.
Poisonous snakes. Although they are not deadly for humans, their bites are dangerous and victims need to go to the hospital inmediatly. We are supposed to be checking our stuff with sticks before taking it, because they are small and could be hiding under those objects. I haven't seen anybody do it, yet.
When they told us, I thought it would be really excitng to see one. On our way to the river we found a dead viper. I thought it was pretty cute, actually, except for the fact that it was dead. It was dark green and black, quite long, but rather thin. Although I know they are dangerous I can't help but wish to see one alive in the next couple of days.
9:09
Yesterday I was interrupted by dinner and didn't have the chance to keep on writing.
Ok, so yesterday our first task was to rebuilt the tents at different positions. Due to the fact that we only had a 4 hour sleep, we had the rest of the morning free.
In the afternoon (after some more free time which we spent playing poker) we had a harder task. We had to move huge tree trunks through the forest to use in theconstructions we would build tomorrow. This was trickier than I had expected. We carried them on our shoulders, but this was hardly imposible, as we all had different heights. Also, they were heavier than I had imagined.
After we had brought 4 of them to our campsite and were eager to shower, a man appeared to talk to us. It turned out that he was the one who had cut those trees and their owner. He asked us to return them to the place wher we found them.
13:01
After breakfast we decided to go swimming in a river which is near to our campsite. Sadly, I've got my period, so I can't join them. Almost everybody is in the water now, and I've discovered that taking photos of people while they jump is kind of fun. And it's not going to be the last time we come here, so I will have another chance to swim.
23:08
Ops! I forgot something! Yesterday we were told that apart of cows and bats, there is another animal walking around which we should know about: Vipers.
Poisonous snakes. Although they are not deadly for humans, their bites are dangerous and victims need to go to the hospital inmediatly. We are supposed to be checking our stuff with sticks before taking it, because they are small and could be hiding under those objects. I haven't seen anybody do it, yet.
When they told us, I thought it would be really excitng to see one. On our way to the river we found a dead viper. I thought it was pretty cute, actually, except for the fact that it was dead. It was dark green and black, quite long, but rather thin. Although I know they are dangerous I can't help but wish to see one alive in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Summer camp in Avila: Day 2
17.7.2012
20:33
The bus journey yesterday was longer than I had expected. We stopped at an inn around midnight to have a drink and stretch our legs. The plan was to stay there for 5 to 10 minutes and then continue. However, once outside the bus, the fresh air and the space were too big a temptation for us. We ended up leaving at 1 a.m.
Later we arrived at the end of the journey around 2, only to find out that we still needed to walk a big deal in the darkness on a path that was full of bats and, surprisingly, cows. And, of course, it was dark. So dark, that hardly anybody could find their lamps, except for those of us (including me) who had been intelligent enough to look for them in the bus.
Once we arrived at the camping site, we still had to get the tents ready. After all this messy process we finally went to bed (sleeping bag, actually) around 4.30 a.m.
20:33
The bus journey yesterday was longer than I had expected. We stopped at an inn around midnight to have a drink and stretch our legs. The plan was to stay there for 5 to 10 minutes and then continue. However, once outside the bus, the fresh air and the space were too big a temptation for us. We ended up leaving at 1 a.m.
Later we arrived at the end of the journey around 2, only to find out that we still needed to walk a big deal in the darkness on a path that was full of bats and, surprisingly, cows. And, of course, it was dark. So dark, that hardly anybody could find their lamps, except for those of us (including me) who had been intelligent enough to look for them in the bus.
Once we arrived at the camping site, we still had to get the tents ready. After all this messy process we finally went to bed (sleeping bag, actually) around 4.30 a.m.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Summer camp in Avila: Day 1
16.7.2012
21:04
I'm really excited right now! This summer camp is going to be so cool! After all, it's going to be my first summer camp with the scouts.
No phones. No ipods. THis next 15 days are going to be spent in complete harmony with nature while enjoying some fun activities.
Today wasn't really anything special (at least not yet). We already have the flight from Gran Canaria to Madrid behind us and now a bus journey to our campsite in Avila awaits us.
21:04
I'm really excited right now! This summer camp is going to be so cool! After all, it's going to be my first summer camp with the scouts.
No phones. No ipods. THis next 15 days are going to be spent in complete harmony with nature while enjoying some fun activities.
Today wasn't really anything special (at least not yet). We already have the flight from Gran Canaria to Madrid behind us and now a bus journey to our campsite in Avila awaits us.
Summer camp in Avila
I've been in a summercamp in Avila, with the scouts, for the last 15 days and, as in my last trip, I had no access to internet, so I've kept a journal which I will be publishing here now day by day, starting today. If I skip days: sorry! I'm a busy person!
I hope you like it!
I hope you like it!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Trip to Cataluña: Day 6
Farewell, Barcelona
Day 6, 18:56
I'm sitting on the airport on my way to Gran Canaria right now. We didn't really do anything interesting today. We just visited the Barcelona football stadium. For some of us this was a dream comen true and for others, like me, a nightmare of boredom and crowded hot rooms. Needless to say, I didn't like it. The most challenging bit of my day was going up the 6 or 7 floors using the stairs, as there were no elevators. So boring.
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After that we went to have lunch and we spent the rest of the day at the airport until we finally got inside the plane. In my opinion, we could have taken a flight in the mornig, and skipped all the waiting, but I guess that for those who like football, it would be quite interested to visit the stadium, as it was quite modern, full of electronic equipment.
Oh! I forgot something! After lunch we wet to visit an old church for literally 5 minutes.
This is going to be the last entry in this journal, so I thought I would talk a little bit about the trip in general.
Ok, so first the obvious: I loved it! Specially the the first few days, in which we stayed in the mountains. The days in the city were great, too, although not nearly as good.
If anybody is thinking about taking a similar trip, I would definetly recomend it. I've had so much fun during this 6 days, I can hardly belive it's only been 6 days. We've done so many things, that it feels as though we had spent months here. I've even gotten used to the weather!
And of course, I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer holidays. I will be doing some more trips there, so make sure to subscibe if you want to know about them, too. I promise, you won't regret it!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Trip to Cataluña: Day 5
At the speed of light
Day 5, 21: 24
Wow! Portaventura was amazing! And when I say amazing, I mean like really, really amazing.
Needless to say, I've really enjoyed myself today. I haven't had any chance to write today, because I forgot my ipod (I'm writing this on the notes, so I can just email it to myself to get it to my computer instead of copying it again) in the hotel room, so I couldn't write on the bus (second time in a row I don't write from the bus! wow!) and I couldn't use the ipod camera to take some photos.
Ok, so before I tell you about my time in portaventura, you should know, if you didn't know it already, that portaventura is a funfair. And it's not just a funfair. It is tthe funfair which has the quickest rollercoaster in Europe (or at least I was told that, I'll have to research it when I've got access to the internet again). And guess what! Ok, so if you don't guess what I'm going to say now it would be weird. Take a time to think about it before you keep reading if you don't want to make a fool out of yourself.
I went on that rollercoaster! I went on "Furious Baco"! And it was so scary! It went that fast that my biggest fear at that moment wasn't falling down, but bumping my head into the security belts. I still have a headache from that. Isn't that awesome? This rollercoaster was divided in small parts. Each of these could fit in 4 people, who sat down, had there security belts put on and were left hanging there from the rollercoaster. I've always thought that those rollercoasters in which you can't touch the floor are the scariest ones. Having something under your feet has always given me a sense of security. The curves were the scariest bit. It was impossible to avoid bumping you head into everything around you. But going up, at that moment when you reach the top of the ramp and look down, when you know you are about to fall there with breathtaking (literally, I forgot to breath) speed gave me an incredible sense of adrenaline. And turning around to look at the next group screaming after I had gotten down, made me feel really good about myself. I know rollercoasters don't really prove ones courage. But after all, courage is not the absence of fear, but the acting dispite fear. And I was scared. I considered turning back. And I took a deep breath. And I did it.
Of course there were other roller coasters, too. I bought a fastpast, which included only one ride on a list of ten rollercoasters, which were supposed to be the best ones, so I just went over that list going on all of them. I really enjoyed the Dragon Khan and the Shambhala. And the tuki splash was perfect to get completely wet on such a hot day, but I would recomend wearing swimming clothes for this one or riding on it at the beginning, so you have enough time to dry. Also I've found this fastpast to be very effective. The queues were really long, some went up to 4 hours waiting time. We only had 7 hours to visit the park, and we also needed some time to get in and have lunch, so without the fastpast, we could have only visited a big rollercoaster and a small one, which should have a shorter queueu Paying this extra €25 we could visit the best attractions in the park. It even helped us figure out which attractions were the best, so, as a group, we didn't need to argue about where to go. And, of course, it made me feel so powerful to simply get through and look at all the jealous faces on the queue. Of course, some rollercoasters had a queue at the fastpast part, too, but these were so much smaller. And others didn't even have one person waiting. I wasn't sure about whether it would be worth the money at first, but now I can only recommend this investment, if you can afford it.
Ops! I forgot to mention something! Have fun! Funfairs are as entertaining as you make them! Such thinks as singing out loud on the slow rollercoasters (they weren't on the list, but they were on our way and some of them had no queue at all) or dancing on a small stage you find, until just about everybody is watching or has joined in, can really improve your mood. And it will make other visitors, and specially workers, who spent there all day and must be so bored of doing the same think everyday, smile for a while.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Trip to Cataluña: Day 4
Day 4, 9:12
Today is not going to be very exciting. We are going from the mountains, to the city, where we will spent the rest of the trip. So todays plan is sitting on the bus for some hours, going to a spanish village for lunch, sitting on the bus for some more hours and finally going shopping in Barcelona. Not very exciting. Actually, it's not exciting at all. But I'm going to write about it anyway, as it's part of the trip, even though it's going to be a boring day. To be honest, I only wanted to come to this trip, because of the first two days. If we had just stayed in the city for the week, I would have probably not come, as none of my friends are here anyway, so I've had to spent all my free time with people I don't reallly know very well. Wasn't as bad as I had expected, though.
The bus, in which I've been sitting all of this time, has finally started moving. I say goodbye now to the first part of our trip.
Day 4, 11:08
Still in the bus.
Day 4, 11:09
I'm bored.
Day 4, 11:10
Still bored.
Day 4, 12:31
We made a small stop to strecht our legs at a village. There we went to a very nice antiquitats shop and to a small playground, which we found. Now we are back in the bus, ready to continue our journey.
Day 4, 12:52
So bored...
Day 4, 13:56
Still bored...
Day 4, 14:42
This is a very long bus journey...
Day 4, 18:20
We are on the bus now on the way to the hotel. We only had 20 minutes to go shopping, but I've managed to find presents for all my friends and my sister in that short time. I'm curious about the new hotel and about the new people I'll be sharing a room with.
Day 4, 22:18
I've got an important achievement to announce: I'm not writing from a bus!
I'm writing from the beach, where I can see the moon. It's beautiful out here. Of course, Gran Canaria is full of beaches, but it is the first time I swim in the mediterrenean sea, so we could call this an adventure. The water is so nice here. Even though it's quite late, it is still warm and nice.
We came here after dinner. We first spent a while in the water (only those who were brave enough to go swimming at this time of the night) and then we bought a frisbe and started playing, first outside and then in the water. Then everybody sat down and relaxed, but my body was screaming for more action after spending 5 hours on the bus this morning, so I went for a walk. This beach is huge. I loved it. I really enjoyed myself. I think that it is the first time since I came to Barcelona that I was actually by myself. And the first time I was relaxed. I'm neither an introvert nor an extrovert. I change depending on my mood and on the situation. And right now, I really needed an introverted moment. Now I can continue the rest of the journey being an extrovert.
Oh, yes! I had forgotten something! We checked in at the hotel before. Our room was tiny. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. Just look at the photos and I'm sure you'll agree (great! now I need to remember to take photos of my room later...).
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Ok, so here's what happened. We got into our room and I was going to sit down on my bed. I sat down like a civilised person. I didn't jump into bed or leave myself fall into it or run towards it. I just sat down. And guess what happened: it broke down. It literally broke down under me. One moment I was sitting and the next I was rolling on the floor. Oh, did I mention that the door was open and our whole year group was outside looking for their rooms? In a few seconds my room was full of people laughing. Those who hadn't been lucky enough to see it and entered asking what had happened were given a perfect representation by one of the students with the most talent in acting. Ok, so I must admit, it must have been hilarious, but I'm not really keen on the jokes about my weight which went on during the rest of the day. The hotel is called "hotel canada palace", if you want to know which hotel to avoid when you are in Barcelona (or if you want to know which hotel to go to if you want to have a laugh). Although; to be fair, the food is simply delicious and it is quite good situated. Or at least with my definition of good situated. It is an hour from the city centre, but rigth next to the beach.
Today is not going to be very exciting. We are going from the mountains, to the city, where we will spent the rest of the trip. So todays plan is sitting on the bus for some hours, going to a spanish village for lunch, sitting on the bus for some more hours and finally going shopping in Barcelona. Not very exciting. Actually, it's not exciting at all. But I'm going to write about it anyway, as it's part of the trip, even though it's going to be a boring day. To be honest, I only wanted to come to this trip, because of the first two days. If we had just stayed in the city for the week, I would have probably not come, as none of my friends are here anyway, so I've had to spent all my free time with people I don't reallly know very well. Wasn't as bad as I had expected, though.
The bus, in which I've been sitting all of this time, has finally started moving. I say goodbye now to the first part of our trip.
Day 4, 11:08
Still in the bus.
Day 4, 11:09
I'm bored.
Day 4, 11:10
Still bored.
Day 4, 12:31
We made a small stop to strecht our legs at a village. There we went to a very nice antiquitats shop and to a small playground, which we found. Now we are back in the bus, ready to continue our journey.
Day 4, 12:52
So bored...
Day 4, 13:56
Still bored...
Day 4, 14:42
This is a very long bus journey...
Day 4, 18:20
We are on the bus now on the way to the hotel. We only had 20 minutes to go shopping, but I've managed to find presents for all my friends and my sister in that short time. I'm curious about the new hotel and about the new people I'll be sharing a room with.
Day 4, 22:18
I've got an important achievement to announce: I'm not writing from a bus!
I'm writing from the beach, where I can see the moon. It's beautiful out here. Of course, Gran Canaria is full of beaches, but it is the first time I swim in the mediterrenean sea, so we could call this an adventure. The water is so nice here. Even though it's quite late, it is still warm and nice.
We came here after dinner. We first spent a while in the water (only those who were brave enough to go swimming at this time of the night) and then we bought a frisbe and started playing, first outside and then in the water. Then everybody sat down and relaxed, but my body was screaming for more action after spending 5 hours on the bus this morning, so I went for a walk. This beach is huge. I loved it. I really enjoyed myself. I think that it is the first time since I came to Barcelona that I was actually by myself. And the first time I was relaxed. I'm neither an introvert nor an extrovert. I change depending on my mood and on the situation. And right now, I really needed an introverted moment. Now I can continue the rest of the journey being an extrovert.
Oh, yes! I had forgotten something! We checked in at the hotel before. Our room was tiny. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. Just look at the photos and I'm sure you'll agree (great! now I need to remember to take photos of my room later...).
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Ok, so here's what happened. We got into our room and I was going to sit down on my bed. I sat down like a civilised person. I didn't jump into bed or leave myself fall into it or run towards it. I just sat down. And guess what happened: it broke down. It literally broke down under me. One moment I was sitting and the next I was rolling on the floor. Oh, did I mention that the door was open and our whole year group was outside looking for their rooms? In a few seconds my room was full of people laughing. Those who hadn't been lucky enough to see it and entered asking what had happened were given a perfect representation by one of the students with the most talent in acting. Ok, so I must admit, it must have been hilarious, but I'm not really keen on the jokes about my weight which went on during the rest of the day. The hotel is called "hotel canada palace", if you want to know which hotel to avoid when you are in Barcelona (or if you want to know which hotel to go to if you want to have a laugh). Although; to be fair, the food is simply delicious and it is quite good situated. Or at least with my definition of good situated. It is an hour from the city centre, but rigth next to the beach.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Trip to Cataluña: Day 3
Colourful war
Day 3, 13:21This morning we went hiking at a nacional park. The views were really amazing. Simply breathtaking. I loved it.
Day 3, 16:14
After hiking we went to an activity centre, in which we still are, to have lunch and do our next two activities: quads and paintball.
But of course, we didn't do them inmediatly after lunch, so we went to the swimming pool, where I lived an unexpected adventure. After the boys had gotten bored of swimming alone, they started throwing the girls which were sunbathing into the water. And I'm proud to say that I was the one who resited them longer. Of course, there was a price to pay for this achievement. I had to run around all of the pool holding on to all trees as strong as I could. In the end they attacked me with a hose from each side so I had no way out and then they grabbed me and trew me into the pool. It was hilarious.
Now I'm waiting next to the quads until it's my groups turn. Wish me luck!
Day 3, 18:06
I've learned an important lesson today: I'm a terrible driver! I kept stopping and almost banged against the borders at least one hundred times in the last ten minutes. And I banged against my english teacher! But that was really not my fault, it was him who was going to quickly and tried to get past me without turning properly. Really! I hope I'm a little bit better at paintball...
Day 3, 20:19
Ok, so before I start talking about my paintball experience, I want to make sure you know what you are doing if you ever decide to do paintball. If you have ever talked to somebody who has done paintball before, they've probably told you it doesn't hurt. It just stitches a little and in a second that pain will be gone. Ready for the truth? It does hurt. I was lucky (or am a good player, but this is less likely) and was only hit once. At that moment I was really distracted shooting other other people, so it hurted a lot, but I didn't give it a lot of attention. Now I've got a bruise in the size of the bullet which is burning and hurts like mad when I move my arm (I was hit on the shoulder). And some of my less lucky classmates were hit 4 or 5 times and were even bleeding.
But apart from the pain, I must say that it was pretty cool. Hiding behind trees and trying to find a target which was near enough to hit him properly gave me a feeling of adrenaline that made me feel fantastic and alive. At that moment, all my attention was directed towards the game. All my problems, fears and complains suddenly disappeared. It was just me and the game.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Trip to Cataluña: Day 2
Defeating the waters
Day 2, 9:12
Standing up at 7 wasn't that bad, although I realised this morning that it would have been at 6 in my island. After breakfast we picked up all our towels and swimming stuff and now we are here on the bus, on the way to the "Noruega Pallesera". There are other schools staying in the hotel, who also do the same activities as us. They went rafting yesterday and told us that a girl broke her teeth and a boy allmost drowned. Sounds great, doesn't it? At least it's finally something really exciting to talk about here.
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Day 2, 12:51
Rafting is definetly the coolest think ever. I love the feeling of the water splashing against myself and the adrenaline of rushing down the river. And how we rushed down that river. Equiped with our professional swimming clothes, boots and paddles, we thought we had done a great achivement after the first few rapids. Of course, we didn't know what was yet to come. The first real rapid, left all of us without breath after falling to the floor of our boat. I'm surprised nobody fell into the water. This rapid was called "La Lavadora" which means The Washingmashine. I'm sure that it would be a similar feeling to raft inside a giant washingmashine, specially if you change the cloths in it for tree trunks and rocks.
After this first rapid, we were allowed to go swimming in the river, with the warning that the water was icy. It was, but the strenght of the current would have been a better warning. It was a real challenge to try not to let the current carry you away from the boat. And getting back on the boat without help was simply impossible.
Then we prepared for the next rapid. This was similar to the first one, with a small exeption. It was a kilometre long. The speed of the boat made it difficult to avoid the tree branches banging into our faces and the strong waves made all of us feel stupid when we didn't hit the water with the paddles, because it move away from us.
The whole tour was simply amazing. I loved the rush and the breathtaking speed. At that moment, going with the river, I felt alive for the first time in a lot of time.
Day 2, 23:29
Hydrospeed was amazing. It was much scarier than rafting. In the water, I was alone and my only chance of survival was holding on to the board with all my strength. Of course, there were supervisors, so it was perfectly safe, but at least we all had that feeling in the water. We went through the same rapids as this morning. At least the first one, we only did a part of that journey. On the board I was independent and responsible for myself. I was the only person that I could rely on (ok, so there were supervisors, who cares?). I have one tip to give you before I stop writing. If you ever go hydrospeeding, don't you ever drop your board. You will regret it when the strong currents inmediatly starts turning and pushing you around until you can hardly breath. Just good I was rescued by a supervisor.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Trip to Cataluña: Day 1
Rainy arrival
Day 1, 15:12
So here I am, sitting on the bus, listening to some music, half asleep, but half awake, starting my next adventure. After standing up at half past six and spending two hours at the airport and three at the plane, it doesn't surprise me that we are all so sleepy. And just by thinking of the five hour long bus journey that awaits me makes me want to get out of here and run and jump and scream at the top of my lungs, so I can feel alive again. But of course, I wouldn't be torturing myself like this if it wasn't worth it. Over the next six days I'm going to be such activities as hiking, rafting and paintball in the spanish Pyrenees. And, of course, I'll keep you updated on all events of my journey.
The flight was quite calm. We had no... Ups, have I forgotten to explain who "we" are? This is a school trip. I'm here with all the other students of my year group. However, I don't really go to school trips often, unless the itinerary is cool, and I've never seen one which is this cool.
So, back to were I was:
We had no important incidents worth mentioning there. We had, however, a little missunderstandment when picking up our luggagge. One of our teachers realised that hers had been stolen, as it wasn't were she had left it. After going around looking for it, one of the students exclaimed, "hey, silly, wasn't your suitcase plain, without those caros?" and he was right, the boy had taken the teacher suitcase without even realising it. And the funny thing is that the two suitcases didn't even look alike!
Day 1, 18:06
This bus journey never seems to come to an end. Now it's also started raining. I love the rain. Watching it is so inspiring and relaxing. The sound of rain is so much better than any music in the world. I'm desperate to get out now. It doesn't really rain a lot in Gran Canaria, so right now I just want to get out and feel the soft touch of the drops of water against my face. We were told half an hour ago that in ten minutes we would make a stop to strecht our legs and go to the toilet. That should have happened 20 minutes ago, and I don't think we are stopping soon, as we are in the middle of nowhere, but I really hope that it's still raining when we finally get out of here.
Day 1, 18:43
We finally arrived at a small village, were we spent 20 minutes. It was still raining, when we arrived, but not as heavy as before and it stopped after the first few minutes. Now I'm back on the bus, ready to for another 2 hours of our ride.
Day 1, 23:42
The hotel in which we are staying is wonderful. I'm sharing a room with 4 other girls in the attic, while the rest of the people are all one floor below us. I love our room. It has a mysterious atmosphere. When we first got here the other girls said it was scary, but I think it's simply amazing. And I can hear the rain from here.
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We were told at dinner, that we need to stand up at 7 tomorrow. I feel exhausted just by thinking about it... Then another long bus journey awaits us to get to our destination: the river "Noruega Pallaresa" in which we will first go rafting and then do hydrospeed. I've never done rafting before, but I know what it is about, and I know it will be fun, but I don't even know what hydrospeed is. But it sounds really exciting and I'm looking forward to it!
Trip to Cataluña
Last week I went on a trip to Cataluña, first to the spanish Pyrenees, then to Barcelona. I had no access to internet during that time, but I kept a journal, writing as though I would be writeing here, so now I'm going to publish it during the next few days, day by day, starting today. I hope you like it!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Hiking and hailing
You will never believed what happened this weekend! I stayed at the montains for the night and to get to the place where we(me and the scouts from my group) were staying we had to "hike" quite a long way. I would rather call that climbing, as it's what we were doing most of the time, but, officialy, we were hiking.
When we had just left behind the part of our way covered by trees and the landscape changed to a rocky platform it started... You won't believe this: IT STARTED HAILING!!! HAILING!!! In Gran Canaria!!! Maybe those of you who live in colder place are thinking right now: so what? But in Gran Canaria it was even on the news and the next morning the road which had been empty the day before, was full of cars heading towards the "snow", which was ice, not snow, but snow sounds cooler, so everybody was saying snow.
Until now I had only seen snow/ice abroad, so it was such an increadible coincidence that it snowed/hailed exactly the same day in which we were going to the mountains. It was an incredible experience to be able to touch the cold ice, to feel the strong wind messing up my hair and to see the little ice pieces falling down from the isolated trees around us every time the wind went a bit stronger.
I've spent all my life wishing to live in a place where I could see the snow every winter, and where I can sit next to the fire in the evening, before going to bed. Last weekend this wish almost came true. I know I will not see the snow every winter, but I know that I will never forget this winter.
By the way, the
reason why it took me so much to write about this is that I got a cold. Seems like cold weather isn't really appropiate for me.
When we had just left behind the part of our way covered by trees and the landscape changed to a rocky platform it started... You won't believe this: IT STARTED HAILING!!! HAILING!!! In Gran Canaria!!! Maybe those of you who live in colder place are thinking right now: so what? But in Gran Canaria it was even on the news and the next morning the road which had been empty the day before, was full of cars heading towards the "snow", which was ice, not snow, but snow sounds cooler, so everybody was saying snow.
Until now I had only seen snow/ice abroad, so it was such an increadible coincidence that it snowed/hailed exactly the same day in which we were going to the mountains. It was an incredible experience to be able to touch the cold ice, to feel the strong wind messing up my hair and to see the little ice pieces falling down from the isolated trees around us every time the wind went a bit stronger.
I've spent all my life wishing to live in a place where I could see the snow every winter, and where I can sit next to the fire in the evening, before going to bed. Last weekend this wish almost came true. I know I will not see the snow every winter, but I know that I will never forget this winter.
By the way, the
reason why it took me so much to write about this is that I got a cold. Seems like cold weather isn't really appropiate for me.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Discovering a rocky world (Spontaneous adventure)
I was at the beach yesteday and as it was too cold for swimming (too cold for swimming??!!?? In GRAN CANARIA???!!!??I can't believe it!!), I decided to do something different.
As I walked along the shore, I discovered a rocky platform. I couldn't resist the temptation to leave the soft sand and walk around the hard and rocky surface instead. Even though it was not as comfortable to walk on (I was barefoot). It was an amazing expirience to see so much wildlife around that magical place, hidden most part of the day by the vast ocean. When I got nearer to the water, the rocks started getting slippery and more than once I almost fell into one of the many puddles around there.
Here are some photos I took:
As I walked along the shore, I discovered a rocky platform. I couldn't resist the temptation to leave the soft sand and walk around the hard and rocky surface instead. Even though it was not as comfortable to walk on (I was barefoot). It was an amazing expirience to see so much wildlife around that magical place, hidden most part of the day by the vast ocean. When I got nearer to the water, the rocks started getting slippery and more than once I almost fell into one of the many puddles around there.
Here are some photos I took:
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