And So It Begins.........

We made it to camp!!! OH MY GOSH Switzerland is amazing!!! We took the train from Milan to Sierre, Switzerland. Then we took the funiculaire up the mountain to Crans-Montana which is where camp is! The town that camp is in is also a ski resort town so all our apartments are set up like that.

**Crans-Montana**

Switzerland is breathtakingly beautiful. The air is so crisp! The first few days were cold which we did not enjoy but it is now warm and we both have sun burns! We live in San Giorgio in a two bedroom apartment with a total of 4 girls - our balcony looks straight towards the Alps across the valley.

** This is the view from our balcony - it also looks down at camp which you can see**

Ally and I share a room and Erika and Heidi (two girls from Encinitas) share the other room. We also share a closet and 1 bathroom. There is also a fully furnished kitchen - but we will never really use it since we get all meals at camp. So far we have been doing orientation - learning about rules and our jobs and getting to know everyone. We are having so much fun meeting so many new friends from so many different countries and hearing so many different languages. We are also kind of suckers for all the accents - its so fun! There are about 22 people from the states (including 6 Californians and even 1 Texan!!!) and 21 from Canada, the rest are from all over. It has been kind of a rush trying to cram everything in! The camp itself is very nice and pretty big - there are steps everywhere! We have been playing games, going to meetings, doing a ropes course, hiking, going into town, and of course partying!!! It is so much fun going out because everyone gets along and everyone goes out together. We basically took over one of the two bars in town last night! We are also served free drinks at the camp cafe during evening activities - how crazy is that!! We start every morning at 7:45 so we have not been getting very much sleep, but it's only just beginning. I think our favorite thing so far is just getting to know everyone and making new friends. The campers come on Sunday, so we are looking forward to that! I (Amanda) will be a night guard for the first session (three weeks). So basically I will be sitting in one hallway from 8:30 to either 2am, 5am or 7am (depending on the schedule) making sure the girls are staying in their room. Of course they wont - so Ill be watching for them to sneak out and try and go to the boys rooms and so on. Ally is going to be a senior girls counselor for the first session - she will be in charge of 8 girls (ages 14-17) taking them around to the different activities. The activities are so cool, mostly sports but also things like arts and crafts, karate, circus, etc. Today we walked into town and had our very first Swiss Chocolate :) YUM!
I will be on skype when I start doing night guard duties which will be during the afternoon/evening for everyone at home :)
Well we are off to quiz night!
XOXO - Amanda and Ally

**our first night out - and Ally's 22nd Birthday :)