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
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