Finally pictures! From Whistler to SFU Vancouver

Back and spending... a lot!

How can you go from wilderness and glacier to shopping crazy in a mall? That's how insane things have been turned around since last week. The first day here, Monday, we went to Science World and the kids took an assessment test in the morning. The scientific experience was totally interactive and we had good fun. The rest of the afternoon was pure exploration of the campus and of course its shopping facilities.
Unfortunately, no one has been able to fix the trouble with my computer, because apparently my firewall doesn`t allow the connection we have here. I'm using a free access here at the central office, but my pictures will have to wait for another computer. Still, I'll find a way, don't worry.
Today we went to the Vancouver Aquarium and Stanley Park, where we walked along the shore for a good distance and could see some of the totoms they have back there as well.
Tomorrow we're leaving on our own with public transit to go to another shopping mall, Park Royal, and a beach nearby. The whole idea doesn't really have to do with buying more, although I think we just  might, but the good news is we'll be meeting up with our adventure buddies in the afternoon. So, it finally worked out and everyone will be united for another time. Actually, there are just a few  of them, about 5, still very close and liked ones. At night we'll have dinner at Mc Donald's on our way back to the university. It should be fun!
Oh, I forgot to mention we went bowling last night and practically clsoed the place, so many people we were. We stayed there so long we just all got tired we couldn't do it anymore. I played myself with other counselors; an absolute disaster!
Brazilians are majority here and there are many Asians, mostly from China. It's a big blend of cultures and languages. The other day I sat with these young girls at lunch and met this Egyptian 9-year-old who's been coming to the camp for the last 3 years! So I wondered, "how did she cope with being left alone in a strange place at the age of 6?" Well, thtere are others like that here, German, Japanese, etc. Amazing kids!
I'll keep you posted on the next moves and promise to make my all out effort to get more pictures uploaded tonight.

Best wishes to all and looking forward to be back with you,

Lia

Goodbye and hello

Indeed, saying goodbye is never easy, and even harder when you don't know if you're going to see those people again. Truly, our adventure group grew bold and tightly bonded. Going through rough times together, fighting for survival side by side, sharing rationed food, lending coats in bad weather, making jokes in so many languages...We became one and started to see ourselves as this new identitiy: the Adventure Group. Needless to say, leaving Whistler was tearful and getting to Vancuover, a new place we knew practically nothing about, made all a bit anxious.
We are now settled at Simon Fraser University with the same camp, but here it's only run for ESL students. That`s why we have a special program that spits us from the rest. We have been faced with much change: many people (about 300 students), different accomodations, more strict rules and being divided in different groups. This is our second day and we're starting to get used to things and actually beginning to take charge of our lives and make some decisions about our future these next few days. Good news! Our goodbyes were not complete and we might be meeting with a few of our adventure buddies downtown Vancouver this Thursday. It`s such a relief for us all to know we can get back to what we once were! For the next days it shall be spending, a lot of spending! We're going to Robson St tomorrow and Thursday, and Friday we'll be visiting one of Canada's biggest mallls, Metro Town.
I apologize for the delay of this posting and the lack of photos. As usual, first world connections are not as effective and easy as one would imagine. Turns out my firewall is not compatible with the university`s connection. I`m using the computer lab and will try to use one of the kids' computers for pictures later.
Promise to be back with more and better comments.

See you then and the countdown begins,

Lia

Disco Night and Whistler Mountain

Recovery day and Whistler Mountain

We started slowly just saying goodbye to the big group of Brazilians leaving and our main counselor Mark. After breakfast we went down to the village to look around and enjoy the busy crowd coming for this huge bike competition in Whistler. It's been raining now and then, so we can't really stay outdoors that much. Actually, this has been a day to enjoy civilization and urban life, after so much core nature in the past few days. Later after lunch we took the chairlift up the mountain to take the peak-to-peak gondola at Whistler Mountain. Although the weather didn't help us that much, the view up there is just awesome; we pass by green grassy slopes until we hit the top snowy summit. Incredible! It's like going from spring to heavy winter in 15 minutes. Back down we took the bus or walked back to the residence so we could pack up, for tomorrow we leave to Vancouver for another adventure.
As for tomight, if everything goes according to plan, we'll be going to the movies to watch the latest Harry Potter film after dinner, which should be great fun for our last time together as Adventure Group - The Explorers.
By the way, I must say I love your comments; it's great to feel followed, especially when you're the only adult in the group. I'm like the oldest person on camp! Can you believe it? And I'm pretty young, aren't I? Well, I guess it's my best trick for not aging, hanging out with the youth!

See you in Vancouver now,

Lia

Stunning view and hard core adventure

Ever pictured yourself in a little tent by a glacier? How about climbing high to get there with a really heavy load on your back? You know, just your sleeping bag, sleeping pad, your clothes, camera, toiletries, provisions of food for 14 or a tent. A considerable weight, I must say. Our hike took a bit over 3 hours into the rainforest, rocky hill and a bit of the two, that is, muddy ground with big branches, rocks in between and eventually, snow! When we got up there it was about 2:00 pm and you can imgaine how starved we were. Right then we learned our food would be rationed and we could not go about eating what we wanted, when we wanted or more importantly, how much we wanted. To begin with, our lunch would be 1.5 bagels per person with peanut butter and nuttela; to drink, always water. Right after that, we put up our tents, got settled in and made sure we got our heavy coats out. After all, summer in the glacier is like no winter has ever been in São Paulo. Cooooold!!! Oh, sorry, forgot to mention the best of our incredible adventure up the mountain; it was raining all the way and we had our raincoats on plus a plastic bag all around our bags to prevent our things from getting wet.
Now the stunning part. This is a group of 3 lakes and the very last one is where we set our campsite. You would not believe the color of this water, something between a light green/torquoise and blue with the snow surrounding it. A breathless view, believe me. All the pain and sacrifice totally paid off this undescribable chance to share a bit of Nature's heaven. I couldn't stop looking and being every time speechless. I would wake up early, before anyone, and walk to our bathroom - about a mile away acroos rocks, river and snow - and stand in front of the lake looking at the mist slowly reavealing the water and its surprising shades.
Our campers were just great; they used humor to deal with our difficult times of rain, cold, not so delicious food, crazy hikes and uninviting bathrooms. There's a funny story about this last one: I was the first to go to the bathroom as we arrived and though having asked for directions, I had some difficulty to find it; after some search I came across a toilet in the middle of the snow in a secret place. I figured that would be our bathroom and, went ahead and used it. I did wonder it would be a bit tricky to know if someone was coming or if someone was there, but... As I went back to our campsite, I told my buddy campers about our crazy experience of going to the bathroom outdoors in the snow. Well, turns out there was a little bathroom house just some meters ahead and I'd totally missed it. From then on, I became the joke of the camp and my toilet in the snow was baptised "Lia's bathroom", which you can imagine everyone had to go and check.
Another funny joke was our so called breakfast: oatmeal with raisins and cranberries. On the first day kids were like "what is this?", because it really doesn't look that good and as they tasted it, there was no flavor. Still, that was the plan for breakfast and there was nothing else, so everyone had to force themselves to have at least a bit. People even dreamed of the oatmeal with sugar, cinamon and other possible flavors. That's why they asked me to take pictures of them eating it and making the disgusted faces. Now, whenever we talk about food the good "oatmeal" comes up and they'll go "What was that?", "Who eats that ...?", and we all laugh.
Goood spirited warriors that found healthy ways to overcome the very hard challenges we went through. When the bus finally arrived at the residence, we all clapped and rushed to our rooms to get in the real bathrooms!
Check the pictures for the view, our campsite, my one and only bathroom and our delicious "oatmeal".
And today is Disco Night!!!

Talk to you later,

Lia

True beauty and unvorgetable camping!

Downhill Biking

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