Message from the blogmaster (26/07)

We sincerely apologise for the lack of updates to our camp blog in the past few days, as we have not had proper internet access at the campsite. We have so many new stories and photos to share with all of you, and we are all just as disappointed as you are about this unfortunate situation.Please rest assured that we will upload the backlog of posts once internet connections at the school have been fully restored.-JAIME

18/07 - OPEN DAY!!!

Today, we had one of the major activities of every Village: the Open Day! This is the time during the month when we open the campsite, in order for members of the local CISV chapter to see how the Village is going and meet all the participants. For the delegations, it was an opportunity for them to introduce themselves and share a little cultural presentation about their respective countries.

Each delegation set up and decorated booths dedicated to showing off the best of their respective countries and cultures. Unofficially, though, it was a chance for everyone to get a taste of sweets and other treats, as well as score some cool freebies and souvenirs, from around the world. ;-)

THAILAND

NORWAY

PHILIPPINES

JORDAN/MEXICO

VIETNAM

HUNGARY

USA

BRAZIL

DENMARK

ITALY

 GERMANY

ALGERIA

FRANCE

We also invited over all the host families for the kids' second homestay who were also coming to pick up the kids for the weekend, so we were able to smoothly and personally hand over the kids to their families right after the program. All-in-all, it was a truly open day, with guests of all ages coming together and, excuse me, BUILD GLOBAL FRIENDSHIP! :-p

16/07 - Feeling HIGH on Shopping Day (D12)

We woke the kids up for breakfast about an hour earlier than usual, to get ready to finally get out of the campsite for our first excursion into the city of Paris. It was looking to be a very warm and sunny day, so it was fortunate that the official camp shirts that we were finally able to distribute came in a clean white color.

The Danish delegates looking sharp with Jaime

It was a very big challenge to herd an entire group of 72 people (47 kids, 6 JCs and 19 adults) through the Paris Métro without losing track of or leaving someone behind, but with a complex system of frantic hand signals, panicked yelling, and brisk shuffling, we managed to come off as a pretty disciplined young army on the march (despite the fact that everyone except the Staff was in a constant state of confusion). 

Once we got out of the métro station, we finally saw from a distance the surprise that the Staff had in store of the kids (and the reason we all had to get up at 7h30): A giant balloon that could take all of us to catch the breathtaking views of Paris from high up in the sky. We had arrived at the spot where Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier took the first manned balloon flight back in 1783.

 

The white dots in the field above are the kids ;-)

Some of the delegates admitted that they felt a little scared of going up so high at first, but then everyone also said that they had an amazing time on the balloon. We're pretty sure you would forget your fear of heights, too, once you take in these wonderful views of Paris.

The balloon was only able to take 4 delegations at a time, so while 16 kids and 2 leaders were up in the sky, everyone else stayed on the grassy field to enjoy the sun and have a small picnic. We finally had terrific weather after experiencing a week of rain and gloomy weather, that everyone was just happy to be out and enjoying each other's company in the open.

Everyone, including the Staff and the JCs, was able to have a chance to ride the balloon, and as the photos below show, everyone touched back down onto the ground feeling just a little bit lighter inside. Indeed, it was an awesome way to start to what would be quite a long day for everyone.

After the balloon surprise, we brought everyone to a nice shopping street and gave them a few hours to go around to shop for souvenirs and have a good meal (as typical tourists, most people ended up at the McDonald's restaurant at the end of the street), always under the looming presence of the Eiffel Tower.

We all met back up to take a short walk to the base of the Tour Eiffel, where we had one last thing to take care of: our official camp photo! :-D

Everyone was pretty tired by this time, but still all smiles after a truly wonderful day in the city

The icing on the cake was when, as we made our way back to the campsite on the Métro, everyone burst out into the singing the CISV Song on the train. It was a touching and humbling display of unity and appreciation coming from both the kids and adults (although I'm pretty sure the other people on the train with us were a little spooked by our would-be preteen flash mob). ;-)

12/07 - DANISH National Activity! (D8)

And our first delegation to present their national activity was: DENMARK! They began with a short presentation about the country, where each of them live, their families and their schools. It was great to have a little glimpse into the everyday "real" lives of Mikkel, Sasha, Victor and Pernille outside of our camp. With Pernille in the lead, the kids also shared a little about the history of their country by talking a little about the Vikings and their alphabet, called the Futhark.

Everyone was then invited for a short activity to decode messages written in this old alphabet. Some of these included: "We are from Denmark!", "We like Paris!", and "You are awesome!" The second part of the activity involved writing our names and some of our own short messages in the Futhark, and it was a very nice hands-on activity for all the participants.

To end the activity, the Danish delegation shared one last thing about the more modern Danish culture than surely all of the kids would be familiar with: LEGO! The Danish kids spoke a few words about the company and the toys themselves, and then distributed little Lego packages for EVERYONE to play around with.

 

Finally, the Danish kids went around to distribute their very creative scrapbooks that featured many other facts about the Danish people, food and culture, as well as some colorful pictures of and information about the entire delegation. For example, we learned that Sasha loves doing gymnastics, Victor plays the guitar and piano, Mikkel can do tricks on his scooter, and Nille is both an engineering student and a part-time FIREFIGHTER! 

Overall, it was an awesome national activity to get the ball rolling - we are all very excited to see what the other delegations have in store for us. Everything seemed to be well-prepared and rehearsed, and it was all especially interesting for one of our Staffers, Jaime, who will be moving to Copenhagen to start working in September. :-)

12/07 - Shattering stereotypes (D8)

After almost a week of getting to know each other, we decided that the kids were finally ready to dive into the camp/CISV themes with a village staple simply called the "stereotype game." For this activity, we divided the group into delegations to share their knowledge and ideas about the other countries and cultures represented in our Village.

Of course, most of their ideas were based on preconceptions gained from before camp, from the media, school, or friends and family. Some of these were were positive (even flattering), some were negative (maybe even hurtful or offensive), but very few of them were entirely accurate. We next had them share what they felt about these ideas, and shed a little more light on the truth (if any) behind these statements.

We then talked to the kids about stereotypes and their effects. It was a funny and at times very emotional exercise, through which we tried to make them understand that today's stereotypes (both positive and negative) are a product of the past, and that tomorrow's assumptions and labels are fully up to them to decide as early as TODAY.

We hope that by discovering the differences that make each person and culture unique, it becomes much easier to see and appreciate the strings that bind us all. Nothing encapsulates what we work for more than the CISV Song, which we all sing to both begin and end each day at camp. We'll get there someday...PEACE BY PIECE. ;-)