This camp is the one I have been looking forward to since I got to site last year. It ran for 2 sessions, 10 days each and was equipped with 6 Mongolian English teachers, 8 American English teachers (i.e. my Peace Corps friends), and 4 adorable Mongolian camp counselors from a local university. This camp was situated in my soum on the lake and hosted about 100 kids each session from all over Sukhbataar aimag (and a handful from UB, too)
Every morning, we would wake up at 7. At 7:30 all kids gathered in front of the outdoor podium for morning stretches.
After stretches, breakfast!
Then, the kids learned some English. Here are some pretty generic pics of PCVs pointing to boards. 
Then, we all took some time to awwwww at my lil pupster. Well, I did at least.
Awwwwwwwwwww (yes, that is Lloyd... he's so big! And still ball-less!)The campers were split into 10 teams which competed with each other in various ways throughout the week. This is my team: The Happy Tigers. Our Motto: We are Happy Tigers! Rawr! Despite the fact that not one of these kids had a competitive bone in their body, I grew to love them and their "We just happy to be here" attitude.
Oh, and our flag was Tigger. Not some awesome badass pic of a Tiger destroying the competition, but the most lovable friendly tiger ever. They were just high on life, these kids were.
The rest of the day was filled with lots of fun random activities to keep the kids (and me) entertained. One rainy day, we made noodle necklaces!
Note: The two women on the right are adults. Noodle necklaces are fun for all!
And the best part about the rainy day was:
Our cabins leaked. Or in this poor camper's case... flooded.
And then my favorite time of day... Outdoor activities!! While half the students went inside to learn life skills (how not to burn down your ger, how to treat a deep cut, and STD awareness), the other half came to ME and we played games. Awesome games: Freeze Tag, Fox and Squirrel, Steal the Bacon (well, we played one round which resulted in 2 concussions...), Swing Dancing, Mingle, the lists goes on!
Dizzy Bat Relay. It's hilarious to watch little children fall flat on their butts.
Lap Tag: The player in front wants to get to the other side of the circle. The player in back wants to keep him back. Hilarity ensues.
This is Chuka. One of our counselors. She really liked this game and didn't seem to mind crushing our campers in order to win. No camper could get past her.
Mingle: We had different formation the students had to make requiring different amounts of people. Once something was called, they had to rush to make the correct formation... If you didn't have a group, you were OUT.
Pyramid: 3 people
Monkey: 2 people
Canoe: 7 people
Window: 4 people
Rachel and Jacob: Mostly Marco Polo, only both kids are blind.
Log Roll Relay: Kids roll on top of the other kids to get to the front of the line.
These are my happy tigers looking a little less than happy.
Duck Duck Goose: well, you know.
Swimming Lessons!
Hiking Day: We hiked to the sacred mountain. Boys climbed it. Girls walked around it.
My soum from atop Altan Ovoo! Clearly I did not take this picture.
Maggie demonstrating how to use the prayer boards.
The Tranny Dance! Teams competed by dressing up as the opposite gender. Best one won.
Happy Tigers! And a nip slip.
The winning team. Well deserved, no?
Oh, I forgot to mention, 2nd session I was on the Giants team. This is Oyona and Temujiin. Temujiin got 3rd.
Here is a very disturbing picture of my male friends.
Moral of the Story: Camp rocked.
So amazing when was it?
ReplyDelete