Geneva Excursion!

I forgot to write a blog on my excursion to Geneva! A couple weeks ago, during the first session, we took our kids to the Red Cross museum and the lovely city of Geneva. Amanda came with us as well! In fact, there was a good number of extra staff members that joined us on this excursion. The museum was a short visit, but just long enough for the kids to not get bored.

When we arrived in Geneva, the kids went their own way and I walked around with Amanda, Erika, and Steph. We shopped a bit, and window shopped for jewelery! Some of the necklaces and rings were soooo expensive. We stopped at a cafe and ordered milkshakes which turned out to be a huge let down! Their idea of a milkshake is a glass of cold flavored milk. It was like the time I ordered a shake in Nice and they gave me caramel flavored milk...gross? Erika and Amanda made another stop at a chocolate shop- Amanda wanted mint chocolate and Erika wanted peanut butter chocolate. They figured in Switzerland every kind of chocolate imaginable would be easily found...not true! We have found just about everything except peanut butter and chocolate. Luckily Amanda found hers, but Erika is still on the look out for her reeses style chocolate! When they were finished, they met up with me and a few other counselors down at the waterfront. We all took lots of pictures of the massive water fountain, it was fun :)

Overall, it was a great excursion. It's always nice to get away from camp even if for only a few hours!

lots of love,

Ally

Lausanne & Montreux

Earlier this week, my friend Konsta had his day off and told me that he wanted to go to Lausanne. Well, since I have every day off and usually am stuck at camp or in my room, I decided to go with him. We planned on leaving around 11ish, so I went to Santa (his house) around 11:15 only to find him still sleeping...He got ready pretty quickly then we took Christoph's car and headed off to Lausanne. It's a beautiful town on the coast of Lake Geneva. Our very first stop in Lausanne-STARBUCKS! Oh my gosh it tasted so good. I mean, Starbucks isn't my favorite thing back at home, but caramel frapuccinos just taste so good. When we were on the excursion in Geneva a couple weeks ago, one of Steph's girls bought a caramel frapp but didn't finish it. I didn't want it to go to waste so I helped her out with it. I couldn't help myself!

After Starbucks, Konsta was on a quest to find sunglasses so we searched everywhere. We finally found a street vendor who had 2 pairs that he liked. A few minutes later, Konsta found another vendor with glasses he liked. He ended up with 3 pairs in one day!! We walked down to the lake and enjoyed the view for a bit, then took the metro back to the center of town. We found a church and paid 2 franks to climb up the tower for the view of the whole town. It was definitely worth the money!! The spiral staircase wasn't very fun, but we are used to climbing up and down stairs at camp every day!

It was already 5ish, so we made our way back to the car then drove along the lake to Montreux. Another beatutiful town! It's small and quaint, reminding me of the french riviera. We walked around for a bit then decided that it was time to put some food in our stomachs (for the first time all day!) Konsta and I ate at a Chinese restaurant and again, I ordered chicken with cashews. Chinese food twice in the past couple weeks...so strange!

When we got back, the 2 of us were craving ice cream so we drove around Crans-Montana searching for a little ice cream parlor. There were none. In either town. And the stores were already closed. Sad :( We gave up and never got that ice cream.

That night was my night off, so I went to the 80's party that was thrown for Christy's 21st bday. It was down at camp cafe and I had such a good time! My favorite part was the music. All 80's all night. Everyone was dressed up in colorful outfits and wacky hairstyles. Unfortunately Amanda was at her overnight, so we didn't get to hang out. But she also had a good time hiking with her campers!

miss you all, Ally

I love the time difference between Switzerland and home :)

Okay, so being a nightguard is boring-true. BUT it's also really really great because when I'm working at midnight, it's only 3 in the afternoon in California. That means I can talk to people on skype! Last night I skyped with Sara (roommate in Orange) and since she was at the townhome, Cindy, Chris Tom, and Jon were there!! After talking with them, I skyped with Jean (Amanda's mom) for a while! I've also been able to see my mom, dad, and Sammy. I'm just waiting for Ryan and Matt to miss me enough to go on skype...

Basically what I'm saying is these next 2 weeks are the perfect time to skype with me (and Amanda too!) because after this session, neither of us will be working at night. We like to hear what's going on in your lives :) We miss seeing your beautiful faces and hearing those lovely voices!

xx (as they do in Europe)
Ally

Amanda's Day Off!

Last Thursday was Amanda's first day off, along with our roommate Erika. We were going to bungee jump off of a bridge in the mountains, but decided that we weren't quite ready for that and will wait until the 3rd session. Instead, we went to our friend Christoph's apartment for brunch! He is also a senior counselor who had the day off and his family owns a flat up in Montana. We all slept in (which is what I do everyday as a nightguard, but as a counselor it is one of the best things about your day off) then met up with Christoph over at Santa, the house he lives in for camp. He, along with Adam and the 3 of us girls, drove us up to his place and cooked a delicious brunch! Really it was more like lunch since we ate around 2ish. We also played cards and just relaxed for the afternoon. The boys drove into town at the bottom of the mountain but we just wanted to rest some more. There are movies at camp that we can borrow, so Amanda and I took the movie 'Some Like it Hot' because Danny (a head counselor and big man here at camp) said its a pretty funny movie AND it's filmed at Hotel Del Coronado! We pushed our beds together and the 3 of us watched the movie on Erika's laptop. Well...we all ended up falling asleep within the first half hour. I woke up in time to watch the last half, and it really is a funny movie. I think it's only the 3rd or 4th old black and white movie I've seen.

Anyways! After we all woke up, Thai food sounded like a good idea for dinner. Unfortunately it was pouring rain and Le Thai is one of the furthest restaurants in town. We settled for Chinese food. Sounds funny, huh? Chinese food in Switzerland. It was really good! We ordered chicken with cashews and chicken with noodles-we like chicken. For dessert we all ordered sorbet :)
All in all, it was a nice day! Maybe during her next day off (which is in a few days) we'll go see a movie! Harry Potter??

Love from one side of the world to the other,
Ally and Amanda

I stood on a horse!!

Today was a pretty good day. I was woken up around 10:30 by the cleaning ladies who come every Tuesday morning. I tried to have a polite conversation with them, but its hard when I don't know any french and they don't know any english. I think we talked about clouds and the weather. I sat out on the balcony while they gave us new sheets, vaccuumed, and dumped the trash (lucky us, huh?). When they were finished I made myself a granola and yogurt mix for breakfast and played around on the computer.

Today I decided to actually go to camp for lunch. It wasn't the best idea because we had fishsticks -blech- so I just had salad and lots of bread. The weather was nice, so I sat out by the pool and went swimming for a bit with Amanda. Then when her group was horsebackriding, I joined them! Unfortunately I forgot to bring close-toed shoes so I couldn't go in the forest with them. Pierre, the riding instructor, told me I could go on a horse that had a different saddle on it...I don't remember what it was called that he had me do but Pierre stood in the center and had the horse connected to a leash, walking around him in circles. We started with a walk, then a trot, then he had me climb onto my knees on the horses back! I thought that was scary until Pierre said, "Okay now climb onto your feet." Ummmm...no? But he told me it's not hard so I went for it and ended up standing on top of a horse! Man, I wish I had a picture of it. I have no balance or sense of coordination, but I stood on horse! Woohoo :)

Now I'm just hanging out in the hallway of the girls floor. They are at a club tonight so I am all by my lonesome til 10:30 or so. I think tonight I'll watch some more episodes of Burn Notice and read my book, Eat Pray Love. Yesterday I finished the Italy part of the book (Eat) and I just started the India part (Pray).

Ciaoo!
Ally

First 24 hours as a nightguard...

This is my second night as a nightguard and I'm already bored!! It's really nice to sleep in, don't get me wrong, but these 3 weeks are the complete opposite of what my first 3 were like. I was active every day and stayed busy from 7-11. Now I only work from 8:30 until 2 or 5 or 7am and other than that, I have free time.

Today, after working til 5am, I woke up around 10. I got out of bed and had a glass of water. Then I realized that I had nothing to do, so I went back to my bed and slept for a few more hours. Since lunch at camp is at 1:15, I just missed it. So instead of eating, I decided to take a bath. I can't even remember the last time I had a bath. Probably when I was in elementary school! I took my book in with me and enjoyed a nice hour of reading in the tub :) By the time I was done it was only 3ish, so I watched Hitch on my ipod and painted my nails. I'm terrible at painting nails, so it took me the whole movie to get all my toes and fingers done. Amanda and Heidi came home for a bit, so I chatted with them for a few minutes then headed to town. I thought it would be a good idea to buy some food for the next time I miss lunch (which will quite possibly be today).

Right now its 1:30am and I'm watching the tv show Harper's Island. It's probably a bad idea to watch a scary show when I'm in a big building where almost everyone else is sleeping...I'm just freaking myself out now!! Last night I talked to Sara Zotovich for a while (yay!), updated the blog, and watched a movie called Boys and Girls. When 5 oclock am finally rolled around I was ready climb into bed and pass out. It was weird walking home and listening to the birds chirp while the sky turns from black to blue...

Tonight I talked to my mom for a little while on skype!! I also talked to Clay! Lucky him, right now he's snorkeling in Hawaii. But who am I to be jealous--I'm living in Switzerland for the summer. Oh man, after this scary tv show I think I'll watch something a little happier, like Friends. Or maybe I'll read my book? Or write some postcards?

Oh no. I'm watching the tv show on mega video and it just stopped. It says I have to wait 54 minutes until I can finish the show!! And it was just getting good. Oh well, I still have 3 and a half hours until my shift is over.

I work on the garden floor, which is the very bottom. It's a nice location because I am only a flight of stairs away from the snack room. Every night we get cappuccinos and there are plates filled with cheese, meat, bread, and fruit that we can munch on during the night. I stick with the bread/cheese combo and take home fruit for the next day.

Okay I need to get up and stretch my legs.

(for some reason the computer isn't letting me make the heart I put at the end of my blogs *UGHHH*) LOVE-- Ally

Am I in Texas…?

Yesterday was hands down the best day even for me in Switzerland. After finally falling asleep at 8:30am, I woke up at 12:30 to one of the prettiest Swiss days : ) The sun was out, the sky was blue and the pool seemed to be calling my name. I decided to give up my sleep and made my way down to the pool where I was able to soak up the hot sun for a few hours. After trying to even out some sweet tan lines from a few days before, I decided to accompany Heidi into town. She needed to get a birthday present for a friend, and I had nothing better to do, so into town we went. Crans is a beautiful town and I absolutely love all the random flower beds lining the streets. Heidi wanted to get a bow tie for her friend’s birthday gift so we walked into a small shop. The store clerk knew right away we were Americans and proceeded to tell us he only spoke Italian, French, and German… no English! We were in luck, in my broken German, I managed to help Heidi pick out the right tie, get a sweet deal (5 Franks off!!) and talk a little about my work in Switzerland to the nice clerk man! Score, my German skills paid off!! After that, we walked around and I got a popsicle from a small grocery store, and let me just tell you, some things are just not meant for chocolate. My fruity buzz - light year popsicle was dipped in chocolate on the tip. I thought that was a rather odd combination, but once I managed to get all the chocolate off, the popsicle was delicious!! We continued to walk around town and eventually made it back to our apartment where I showered and got ready for the nights activities. The junior campers (ages 8-11) invited all the specialist counselors (night guards included) to their special stunt night. We ate dinner with the juniors which was super cute because I am used to eating and being around all the senior campers. After dinner we were escorted into to the club room which was decorated like an underwater adventure zone. Pretty darn cute! We sat at small tables which had chips and hot sauce and guacamole. Then we had little junior servers who brought us all glasses of wine. Think about that, Little girls, with life vests on, serving counselors endless glasses of wine…. Pretty entertaining. As we drank our wine and ate the chips, we watched each junior group put on a little skit - some song and dances, a fashion show, and the ever so popular “if I weren’t a camper…” song. It was precious! Made me miss my little Star Point darlings! After the show, it was the time to get to work, where I hung out with Ally’s campers for a good part of the evening.
A pretty sweet day right? I sure thought so!! But then I was surprised to wake up to a cold and cloudy day. This is when I was reminded of my dearly beloved Texas, and its ability to change weather in an instant. Right now I am looking out of my balcony and can see the fog and clouds right in front of my face. I can not see the mountains across the way, nor can I see the pool at camp. Thunder and rain passed through a little while ago and now all is calm, quiet and cold at 5:30pm on Friday - the last day of camp. It is a sad day for Ally (as it is her last night with her campers) and a glorious day for me (my last night as a night guard!) Hooray! So now we must get ready for tonight.
Can’t believe the first session of camp is nearly over. This may very well be one of my lasts posts for a while, because Ally will be the one with all the free time! But I am sure she will keep you updated!!!
Hope all is well at home!
Lots of Love,
Amanda

I havent uploaded my photos yet, but Ill post some later!

Working with teenage girls is quite an experience...

Hey all!!
I have been working at camp for almost 3 weeks now with a group of 8 girls from around the world. I can't believe they are leaving on Saturday...and even though they were annoying at times and didn't always like to follow the rules--I am going to miss them so much! I didn't realize how much of an impact 15-17 year old girls could have on my life.

I had my ups and downs with them but I would say it was the best group to have for my first time working at camp. All the future campers I meet have a lot to live up to.

I learned a lot from these girls. Alya from Saudi Arabia wasn't feeling well on our overnight hike so she walked with me in the back. To keep her mind off of her nausia I asked her about home. I didn't know that they don't have movie theatres! Or that the weekend is on Thursday and Friday! I feel so uncultured.

I have done so much with these girls! Horsebackriding, archery, swimming, circus, fencing, tennis, excursions to Geneva and Zermatt (where the Matterhorn is), river rafting, the glacier, and an overnight hike.

I think my favorite excursion was Zermatt. It is the cutest little town compared to Geneva, which is like any big city in America. The best part about Zermatt was waiting to turn the corner and --ta daaa!-- see the famous Matterhorn. I really don't know why it's popular, but I like it because of Disneyland (thank you Amanda for putting up a picture of both the real one and the disney one). Right when we got to town, the campers went off on their own and us counselors stuck together. The first thing we did was find the Matterhorn. Then we walked around the cemetary where people who died climbing/descending the mtns are buried. It's crazy how young some of the people were. Our next stop after Zermatt was Scion, where all the shopping takes place. I'm proud of myself--I didn't buy anything!!

During the last week of the session, we went river rafting!! We had to wear wetsuits, windbreakers, and boots. I thought it was little much with the wetsuit until one of the other counselors, Simon, jumped into our boat and pushed me into the water. It was 8 degrees celsius. FREEZING! But after a few seconds your body turns numb and the pain sort of goes away. Since the river wasn't a very difficult one (they classified the rapids as -1) we made our own fun by playing games and pushing each other in. We even got the river guide to go in no matter how hard he fought against us! After the rafting, there was a delicious bbq waiting for us. It was the perfect ending to our morning.

Another fun but cold trip that we went on was to the glacier. My group along with 4 others took a gondola up to the glacier where we spent most of the day relaxing. First we took a short hike to the top where there was a beautiful view of the glacier. Then one counselor, Jenny, stayed behind and hung out at the restaurant with kids who didn't want to go to the snow while the others grabbed trash bags and headed over to a nice spot for sledding. Some kids were courageous enough to go sledding on their bellies! It made them look like penguins. I wasn't quite as courageous but somehow halfway through my first ride down, I lost the trashbag and slid the rest of the way backwards and on my stomach. Needless to say I was freezing cold and my hands felt like they were going to break off- but it was so fun! Before we left the snow, the other counselors and I tried sledding down all together. It sort of worked, but I got a nice bruise from going over a bump in the snow. For the next couple hours, all the campers hung out and relaxed- and so did the counselors. It was a good day for us because we didn't have to take the kids from activity to activity and motivate them to do things they didn't want to do. We just got to enjoy the day. Unfortunately I forgot to reapply sunscreen and got back to camp with a really red face. I know my face gets red easily- but I don't know if it's been this red before!! I learned my lesson.

Overall, I had the best time during this 1st session. I'm sad to see it end :(

A new session starts on Sunday which means a whole new group of campers. This time I'll be a nightguard so I will be switching with Amanda...wooo working at night. I'm sure by the time I get used to being nocturnal these next 3 weeks will be over and I'll be back on a normal schedule...

Miss you all, I can't believe we have been in Europe for about 5 weeks now!

♥Ally

Love from Switzerland!

Hey Guys!!!

Each summer, the whole staff at camp take a huge group photo during orientation week. They then make tons of post cards for all of us to send out to our beloved friends and family! They are free and we get to send them for free.... so if you want a post card from camp, leave us your address :)

XOXO,
Amanda and Ally

Oh Mr. Sun!!!

Hello dear friends! Its officially Wednesday morning for me here at camp, but it's still Tuesday for yall back home; which means Ally and I have been gone for 4 weeks (or a whole month)! Crazy how time flies!!!
Switzerland has been amazing, don’t get me wrong, but the weather has been killing me! The other night I went to work with sweatpants and my northface on!!! This is summer right?!? Since we have been here, the weather has been fair, but nothing like a summer should be (considering I am used to Texas heat and all...)! Its been cold and cloudy and even rainy at times [thank goodness for our rain jackets and REI!]. Yesterday and today I gave up quality sleep time to lounge by the pool practically all day! It was finally nice and sunny outside! I did manage to get some pretty sweet tan lines, but it was totally worth it! Summer has finally come to Crans-Montana Switzerland!
YAY!!!!!

Hugs and Kisses,
Amanda

Zermatt Excursion!

Last week, the senior campers went on an excursion to Zermatt, Switzerland. This is the same city that I went to a few weeks ago to visit my cousin Kyle. This time I decided to tag along with Ally and her campers. We took the bus with around 100 people to Tasch and then took a train into Zermatt.

Zermatt was beautiful! Such a quaint little town with no cars! We walked around the town and the best part was stopping to take pictures of the Matterhorn! We are so used to seeing the Matterhorn at Disneyland… and now to see it in person, just plain crazy!

***Can you tell the difference? Props to Disney :)

As the kids explored the small city and do what kids do, we hung out with the other counselors and did our own thing. Camp here is crazy - even though we brought campers who were between 14 and 17 years old, I still don’t think they would be aloud to explore a city on their own while the counselors went to a little café to have drinks (compared to American camps).

We also walked into a small chocolate shop... as soon as I walked in the door, I was engulfed by the smell of chocolate - i wish there was a way to describe it! It was amazing! Gotta love Switzerland!!! :)

After Zermatt, we made a quick stop at Sion - another small town between camp and Zermatt. Here the campers went shopping and the counselors did too. It was short but sweet. After shopping for a few hours and walking around this new city, we were back on the bus and headed back to camp!!
Sorry its been a while since our last post…. I’ll try to update more : )
LOVE,
Amanda

If you want to see more pictures of our trip to Zermatt - check out our pictures on Picasa!

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajyoung526/ZermattExcursion#

Ally's Day Off!

Tuesday was Ally’s first day off! We all get two days off each session, for a total of 6 days during the whole summer. Most people use it as a day of rest or a time to go into town or even travel around Switzerland. Ally and I decided to make a trip down to Sierre - the town below camp.

Street market in Sierre

Pretty vineyards between Sierre and camp.

We found a grocery store which reminded us of home. Most grocery stores here are small, but this one in Sierre was big and had practically everything you could think of; it was very comparable to a super target. There was also a small restaurant inside that reminded me of Central Market!! Being in Switzerland, it only makes sense that this store had a whole isle of chocolate! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different kinds of chocolate! It was crazy.

After that store, we continued to walk around Sierre, the town it self is pretty small and quaint, but it was fun to walk around. We also did a little shopping at the H&M which is always fun! We then made our way back up to Crans-Montana where we had lunch at an Italian restaurant called Michelangelo’s where we shared a delicious margarita pizza! YUM! It was nice to have lunch that wasn’t camp food! Even though we are pretty spoiled because camp food is really good compared to the camp food that we are used to in the states. After lunch we had time to go home and watch a movie and take naps! Tuesday nights are buffet nights for the seniors, so we dressed ‘smartly’ (which in Switzerland means to dress up/nicely) and went to camp for dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different kinds of food. There was so much food and it was all so yummy. There were tables of cheeses and meats, appetizer type foods, steaks, pastas, salads and a table filled with a million desserts!!! Tuesday dinners are definitely something to be jealous of, because only the seniors get it, so all other counselors and specialists miss out. After dinner, I had to start my night shift so Ally hung out with me for a little and we got to Skype with our families! It was a great day!
XOXO,
Amanda

Happy 4th of July!

At camp, the 4th of July is not that big of a deal, because you know, we’re in Switzerland and everything… but for all of us from USA, it was time to celebrate! Since I am a night guard, I do not get to go out with everyone at night, but tonight is my night off! Good planning right!?! We started out the day decked out in our red, white, and blue.

Once all the campers were in bed, it was time to celebrate! I would compare this night’s events to a frat party… lots of noise, lots of people, and lots of drinking games. God Bless the USA! I was kind of sad that we didn’t get to participate in American traditions like hanging out at the beach, or the lake house and BBQ and watch fire works, but I guess this is second best! We were also a little jealous that our families spent the holiday together at the Paur house with BBQ and fire works.
Good thing the next day was Sunday because that meant we got to sleep in and then wake up to enjoy Sunday Brunch!!! YUMMM

XOXO,
Amanda

Canada Day

July 1st is Canada’s independence day, and what better way to celebrate than throw a huge party! It was pretty easy to dress up because their colors are red and white…so close to America!! My girl Catt (this is Ally) had a Canada hat so I borrowed it for the evening festivities. I feel like I’m in a movie about college life. All the Canadians showed their spirit by singing songs loud and proud. Happy Canada day! :)

♥Ally

Photos!

Hey Yall,
I uploaded our pictures onto Picasa so if you would like to check them out, go for it :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajyoung526
XOXO,
Amanda

Staff Party!

On Friday night, before the campers came (on Sunday), camp threw us a party to celebrate!! After a week of orientation, we were ready to have a good time! It was funny because we were so used to everyone looking like they were hung over, tired, dirty or didn’t care, but then we all got to dress up for the staff party!

**San Diego girls + Roomies!!!

Alcohol is definitely a different story in Europe, compared to back in the states. During evening events at camp, the camp directors gave us drink tickets so we can have free drinks at the bar at the camp. For the staff party, we were given 3 drink tickets which we could use for any drink (beer or wine). I just thought that was kind of crazy, because I feel like that would never happen back in the states. But who am I to complain…

We had a great time hanging out with everyone without thinking about working. It was so much fun with tons of dancing and hanging out. It was a great way to start camp off with a bang!!!

Welcome to International Summer Camp Montana!

Hiking - Rain, Hail, or Shine!

We have been so busy lately, but still wanted to update you guys on some fun things that we have done so far! During orientation week, the counselors went on a hike to the over night hut. The over night hut is a small place up in the alps that the kids hike up to one day and stay the night then hike back to camp the next day. Usually three groups go at one time. All the counselors hiked up there so we know the trail to follow when we take our own groups up there.

We took a bus to the beginning of the hike. We hiked a few minutes and stopped to have sack lunches that we brought with us. It was quite an experience because we had to roast sausages - like we put them on a stick we found and held it over the fire. It was pretty fun. They also served smoked Raclette (a type of stinky Swiss cheese). Ally tried that and said it was delicious!

We also had wine and lots of fresh fruit. As lunch was finishing, it started to rain. And then it hailed… we continued on our hike getting drenched by the rain and hail, but it was still fun and a good work out. The sights were beautiful! At this point, it was still hard to believe that we were going for a hike in the Swiss Alps…. How crazy! I took tons of pictures :)

We also saw cows with huge cowbells - it was hilarious. Seeing the cows on the side of the trails reminded me a little of Texas! But a little different. We also saw some goats - also with bells. The bells are so loud, you can hear the animals from so far away.

When we got to the over night hut, we got a drink and hung out and rested for a little while, then we hiked back down to a small restaurant where a bus picked us up and took us back to camp. At the restaurant, we got drinks (Ally and I chose hot chocolate to warm up while others had beer or wine), and played cards while waiting for the bus. The whole day was pretty fun getting to know other counselors better and just hang out while enjoying Switzerland!

We figured out that camp is located about 5000 ft. above sea level. The over night hut is a little over 8000 ft. - just to put that in perspective.
Hiking is fun :)

LOVE,

Amanda