My 24th week was probably one of the most challenging and most adventurous week in my life.
On Saturday, Ieft Niagara falls to travel up north not knowing what I would experience in the next couple of days. Half of my exchange student friends and half of the Canadians who will be on exchange next year (Inbounds and Outbounds) did the trip. After 6 hours we stopped in Algonquin park, infront of a huge lake. After getting off the bus, we walked over the lake for about 20 minutes.
We slept in a house heated by a stove, boys and girls seperated. We were sleeping in sleeping bags on foam mats on the floor. After all, it wasn't that uncomfortable!
At night I went for a little swim. The camp didnt have any showers, or running water, washrooms or electricity. The only light we got came from generators or the sun and our washrooms were outhouses. We all thought, 4 days without showering werent possible to handle, so we all "showered" in a little hole in the ice of the lake. It was crazy! I needed to wash my hair so I used shampoo and needed to stick my head under water for around 30 seconds. My brain literally froze!!
We also needed to brush our teeth standing outside with a mug filled with warer, because they didn't have any taps. It was such a great experience!
On Monday we went on a 10k hike! We walked for 7 hours with our snowshoes and had lunch in the middle of nowhere. The whole group was seperated in different people having different jobs. There were the fire builders, the planners, the navigators, the safety group and the leaders. I was a fire builder and made the fire to cook our lunch on. We cooked hot chocolate, noodle soup and grilled cheese over the open fire! During the trip it had around -30°C outside, thank god I was dressed warmly! At one point i stepped on the lake and sunk through the snow in slush. My snowsuit got wet.. the wet parts froze! But we warmed ourselves on the fire and the safety group looked after eeveryone so it was all good! :)
Every year, the group going to Algonquin writes a message to the future group coming there and puts it in a box that we call the "time capsule". My group found a sock with the signatures of many exchange students, inluding my hostbrother Gavin from my first hostfamily! I was so happy and surprised to read the messages they wrote for us!
In the last night, we had a few serious minutes for ourselves. All the students went outside, sat in the snow with only a candle, a pencil and a notebook. We were told to think about what we want to accomplish in our exchange and what we want to change. It was the perfect place to think about life and all the things I have been through.
After that, our leader Greg Norton fired fireworks for us which made the night perfect.
I learned so much in this weekend and I am so proud that I found the most awesome friends! Thank you Greg, Donna, Mike and all the other leaders for making this weekend so unforgettable! It was a very unique experience.
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| Our group |
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| Snowshoeing |
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