sexta-feira, 15 de julho de 2011
quarta-feira, 13 de julho de 2011
X-TREME Downhill Biking and Talent Night
Our morning began smooth with just some fun by the lake or a last visit to the village to shop for proper camping gear. Slow morning to make up for the extreme afternoon with some hot downhill biking. My warrior of the day: Victoria, the only brave woman to join and come out, as expected, victorious! I should not leave out the whole group of tough warriors who took the challenge pretty seriously and turned out even more skillful than I'd imagined: Stéfano, Guilherme, Felipe, Lucas and Rafael! A big clap to y'all!!
First, all bikers had to sign wavers to assure there was someone taking full responsiblity of what they were about to do. After, they went up to get the bikes and all the armour and protection pads needed, not to forget the helmet. Later, they all took the chairlift with their bikes up the hill, where they were assessed as to what level biking they could handle. Finally, they were given clear instructions on how to ride this particular bike on this specific kind of sport: how to leave your foot on the pedal, how to handle the brakes, what to look out for on the way down, etc. Ready? Well, then tighten your seatbelts, we're going doooooooooown...! And so they got down the hill and guess what? They'd do it again; take the chairlift up to the point they could go and... downhill they went once more.
I must say it was incredibly exciting to watch and I would've gone, had I not been in charge of a group of 10. Imagine the group leader getting injured one day before the camping trip? Disaster! Thanks to that you'll have some cool pictures to look at. Just be patient, internet here is of a jurassic speed and takes loads of time to upload each photo. But you shall see all our courageous soldiers!
Our night was also fun with the Talent Show. I must say the Brazilian group really rocked the house. They sang, danced and joined in everything they could find. Our adventure guys didn't really have the time and energy to do so, but we sure cheered along and danced some Macarena as well.
Wish us good luck and good weather on our 3-day camping trip. I should be back to my blogger post on Saturday. See you then and stay tuned!
Lia
First, all bikers had to sign wavers to assure there was someone taking full responsiblity of what they were about to do. After, they went up to get the bikes and all the armour and protection pads needed, not to forget the helmet. Later, they all took the chairlift with their bikes up the hill, where they were assessed as to what level biking they could handle. Finally, they were given clear instructions on how to ride this particular bike on this specific kind of sport: how to leave your foot on the pedal, how to handle the brakes, what to look out for on the way down, etc. Ready? Well, then tighten your seatbelts, we're going doooooooooown...! And so they got down the hill and guess what? They'd do it again; take the chairlift up to the point they could go and... downhill they went once more.
I must say it was incredibly exciting to watch and I would've gone, had I not been in charge of a group of 10. Imagine the group leader getting injured one day before the camping trip? Disaster! Thanks to that you'll have some cool pictures to look at. Just be patient, internet here is of a jurassic speed and takes loads of time to upload each photo. But you shall see all our courageous soldiers!
Our night was also fun with the Talent Show. I must say the Brazilian group really rocked the house. They sang, danced and joined in everything they could find. Our adventure guys didn't really have the time and energy to do so, but we sure cheered along and danced some Macarena as well.
Wish us good luck and good weather on our 3-day camping trip. I should be back to my blogger post on Saturday. See you then and stay tuned!
Lia
terça-feira, 12 de julho de 2011
Kayak and cross country biking
The day started sunny and active. We went to Rainbow Lake for kayaking and some other sports as well. To begin with, most people joined in a volleyball game, that later split and branched into an American football game (at least that's what it looked like) with our two counselors, Mark and Nathan. When that was done and everyone more than warmed up, most boys headed for the kayak or just a good swim in the lake. Please don't get the impression this is hot steamy weather. No, it's this dim sun with good wind and temperatures between 15 and 18o C. But as days go by, we get used to this new style and then join in the summer spirit doing summery activities, like swimming. After all, we are the adventure group, the so called Explorers!
After lunch the group was split in two. One part went cross country biking around Lost Lake (the same one from last night) and the others went down to the village to do "food prep", which means to buy all the food for our upcoming camping trip and bring it back up the hill to our residence. I was in this last one and personally did the shoppings with the counselors while the kids strolled in the village. It's tons of pasta, bagels, peanut butter, cereal bars and much more. As we checked out through the register, the kids would come into the supermarket and fill their camping backpacks with food to carry up the hill. Before dinner we got together and sorted everything out in the right bags so we're ready for the trip. Some people are carrying the tents and others are doing the food.
Now all campers have gone to a local school's gym to play some ball games and should be back before 10 pm for their night snack and bedtime.
Tomorow will be my last post before the trip and then I'll be out for about 3 days, so expect news only Saturday afternoon.
See you tomorrow then,
Lia
After lunch the group was split in two. One part went cross country biking around Lost Lake (the same one from last night) and the others went down to the village to do "food prep", which means to buy all the food for our upcoming camping trip and bring it back up the hill to our residence. I was in this last one and personally did the shoppings with the counselors while the kids strolled in the village. It's tons of pasta, bagels, peanut butter, cereal bars and much more. As we checked out through the register, the kids would come into the supermarket and fill their camping backpacks with food to carry up the hill. Before dinner we got together and sorted everything out in the right bags so we're ready for the trip. Some people are carrying the tents and others are doing the food.
Now all campers have gone to a local school's gym to play some ball games and should be back before 10 pm for their night snack and bedtime.
Tomorow will be my last post before the trip and then I'll be out for about 3 days, so expect news only Saturday afternoon.
See you tomorrow then,
Lia
segunda-feira, 11 de julho de 2011
Sunday chill out and room clean up
Today evryone got to sleep in, which means to sleep till later. That meant we would miss breakfast, but our counselor made sure we had lunch bags to eat around 11:30. Before doing that, all counselors went around checking rooms and having kids do proper tidying and cleaning. All the gargage was taken out and other things were provided for the week to come. Only after all the adventure campers got the OK for their room could we leave for lunch.
The afternoon was spent at the village. We went to the movies, one group to see "Transformers" and the other to see "Horrible Bosses", and later we just hung out, did some more shopping and, of course, the must stop at Starbucks. The best part of this all is that our kids are already blending with the other adventure buddies. So the girls have been hanging out with some French and French Canadian boys, while the boys are mixing with the Italian, Mexican, French and Spanish. A true fruit salad with very good Englsih taste! What I want to say is that English is really becoming our common ground, to the point that our counselor will have them pick up garbage if they swear in the language. That's how far they've gone into speaking it. To me that's just pure delight, I don't even care if they're swearing, they're just reprograming their minds.
In the evening, after dinner, we went to Lost Lake for some soccer and frisbee. I guess you can figure out who played one and the other. Only this time the girls had the French boys join them in the frisbee. Great fun with a beautiful view in the background. They even say there's a beaver in the lake; real Hollywood movie stuff we don't believe actually exists, but it does, in Canada.
Our next adventures should be rock climbing and swimming at another lake, so keep in touch.
Lia
The afternoon was spent at the village. We went to the movies, one group to see "Transformers" and the other to see "Horrible Bosses", and later we just hung out, did some more shopping and, of course, the must stop at Starbucks. The best part of this all is that our kids are already blending with the other adventure buddies. So the girls have been hanging out with some French and French Canadian boys, while the boys are mixing with the Italian, Mexican, French and Spanish. A true fruit salad with very good Englsih taste! What I want to say is that English is really becoming our common ground, to the point that our counselor will have them pick up garbage if they swear in the language. That's how far they've gone into speaking it. To me that's just pure delight, I don't even care if they're swearing, they're just reprograming their minds.
In the evening, after dinner, we went to Lost Lake for some soccer and frisbee. I guess you can figure out who played one and the other. Only this time the girls had the French boys join them in the frisbee. Great fun with a beautiful view in the background. They even say there's a beaver in the lake; real Hollywood movie stuff we don't believe actually exists, but it does, in Canada.
Our next adventures should be rock climbing and swimming at another lake, so keep in touch.
Lia
domingo, 10 de julho de 2011
sábado, 9 de julho de 2011
Camping is cool!
And so the real adventure begins... We just came back from our camping trip at Cat Lake, an unbelievable place surrounded by pine trees and with crystal clear water that looks like a mirror. We arrived there around 11:00 am, just when the other group (Lucas, Stéfano, Victória and Camila) were leaving. They left the tents up for us, which surely helped us settle in. We left our things in our tents and set out hiking around the lake. It was good for warming up, for the day wasn't too hot and the sun was struggling to get through the clouds. When we came back we had lunch - ham and cheese sandwiches - and later went down to the lake to check if the water would be suitable for swimming. Well, it was too cold outside and we decidded to play games there instead: detective, follow the beat and other ones.
Around 5:00 pm we started to light up our campfire. It took a bit of work at the beginning but with everyone's help we managed to make good fire to warm us up and cook our dinner: hotdogs and marshmallows! Delicous!
The night was cold and a bit noisy with the other campers on the site, so we were all sort of run down in the morning. Good thing we had bagels and nutella for breakfast. All healthy stuff, as you can see. But adventure demands energy and that menas good yummy calories. We also have to pack up some energy for our next trip on Wednesday.
Well, now back to our residence, we had lunch, unpacked and went down to the village to chill out. And tonight is Saturday Disco Time! And it's the 80s! That would be my generation, so we'll be dancing some good Michael Jackson, New Order and Madonna!
Tomorrow is more of a cool day, so we'll probably go to the movies or something and just hang out here.
Keep in touch,
Lia
Around 5:00 pm we started to light up our campfire. It took a bit of work at the beginning but with everyone's help we managed to make good fire to warm us up and cook our dinner: hotdogs and marshmallows! Delicous!
The night was cold and a bit noisy with the other campers on the site, so we were all sort of run down in the morning. Good thing we had bagels and nutella for breakfast. All healthy stuff, as you can see. But adventure demands energy and that menas good yummy calories. We also have to pack up some energy for our next trip on Wednesday.
Well, now back to our residence, we had lunch, unpacked and went down to the village to chill out. And tonight is Saturday Disco Time! And it's the 80s! That would be my generation, so we'll be dancing some good Michael Jackson, New Order and Madonna!
Tomorrow is more of a cool day, so we'll probably go to the movies or something and just hang out here.
Keep in touch,
Lia
sexta-feira, 8 de julho de 2011
Fish and Shoppings
Yesterday our group - Ricardo, Isabella, Guilherme, Felipe, Mariana and Rafael - went to Vancouver for a day trip. We visited the beautiful aquarium at Stanley Park, had lunch bags with sandwich and juice, and later went to what students had been the most hungry for: SHOPPING! It was great fun and I haven't been very necessary as a chaperone; they just leave on their own and how to get around and shop much better than myself. They find stores and malls that I'd take some hours to realize. Good for them! You should have seen Felipe talking to the salesman at Future Shop to ask about all these fancy details of a camera flash and lens, and finally explain the whole situation he would be back in a couple of weeks and since he was going back to Whistler, it wouldn't be wise to purchase it yet. These guys are in trouble when they're back in Brazil, I'm not going to let them speak any more Portuguese! They're too good to be wasted!
Well, the other group - Camila, Lucas, Victória and Stéfano - are coming back from their camping trip around lunch time and should be chilling out this afternoon to rest from the adventure overnight. I'm sure they'll have good stories to tell. I'l inform you later of that.
I must apologize for the lack of photos, but I've been trying non-stop to upload them and the system ends up crashing and then my only solution is to close it. Today I'm going to try something Tania suggested. I truly hope it works!
My next post will probably be only on Saturday evening, but stay tuned for more.
Lia
Well, the other group - Camila, Lucas, Victória and Stéfano - are coming back from their camping trip around lunch time and should be chilling out this afternoon to rest from the adventure overnight. I'm sure they'll have good stories to tell. I'l inform you later of that.
I must apologize for the lack of photos, but I've been trying non-stop to upload them and the system ends up crashing and then my only solution is to close it. Today I'm going to try something Tania suggested. I truly hope it works!
My next post will probably be only on Saturday evening, but stay tuned for more.
Lia
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