A Camper's experience

Today we had a day full of games, laughs and fun at Camp Valle Verde. We woke up really early, and it was still a bit chilly. When we listened to the Camp Song everyone was ready for our first activities. Gandalf and Frodo, from "The Lord of the Rings", taught us some excercises they do in the mornings to prepare for a great day.

Once we were more alert and happy, Pablo, -the red cabin counselor- conducted the "Thought-of-the-day" time, covering the first "finger" in the Valle Verde Logo: Human Warmth. We had this thought in our minds throughout the day. Then we went to the dining room, to have some fruit, juice and pancakes.

We had a few minutes to clean up our table and then we went to the cabin to brush our teeth, pick up our stuff, reorganize everything and get ready for adventure.

We had our First and Second Club Periods. We did so many new and fun activities. In the Bakery club they made some sugar bread that we loved; specially Polo from the blue cabin, who ended up being an excellent cook. Some other kids were talking about how they improve their skills in archery and riflery. In the crafts clubs like pyrography, geometric weaving, alebrijes and glass painting, we started with our designs for what we hope will be our masterpieces. The campers in the waterskiing club went to the Valle de Bravo lake for the first time. They enjoyed the weather and the view, and had a lot of fun trying to accomplish their goals. In rock climbing they enjoyed a completely new experience, learning the first techniques of a challenging sport. After all this emotion, we had a wonderful refreshing fruit snack.

After our Morning Clubs, we grouped with the rest of the campers for a fun water game, that the blue and purple cabins really enjoyed: "No Blinking". In this activity we met and had a lot of fun with boys and girls in different age groups. Then we had some themed races: the "Chaplin" race, the "Diminished Load" race, the "Drunk" race... and of course, the laughs and cheers were there all the time.

At lunch we were very hungry, and we ate all of our soup, salad, chicken and dessert. We also shared different stories with our cabin mates. We realized how much we know already about each other, and how we can become great friends. We cleaned up our table, and then we had some time to do different things. Some went to the Camp Store, the campers in the brown and pulple cabins were talking and talking, and getting some sun, but many of us played soccer or fire ball. I liked that there were lots of options to do whatever we wanted, so everyone really enjoyed their time.

This afternoon was different, because there were no clubs like on other days. Instead we had a rally in the Alfa section (the young campers) and a commando course in the Beta section. Both sections had a blast!. The young kids loved getting to know the characters from Harry Potter, and the older kids, were really tired and dirty, after they completed the course. Luckily we had some time for a shower, so no one stayed dirty nor smelly.

The Alfa campers where really happy when Sponge Bob SquarePants invited them for a "colors battle ", although it was really difficult which flag was the least targeted by other teams. At the end the winning team was the orange. In the meantime, the Beta Section had a very impressive fun tournaments between girls and boys. They really enjoyed the Oh Famous One contest, where after a revenge, the girls team won by only 15 seconds.

Dinner was delicious. The blue girls team were teaching some table rythms to other campers. After a few minutes the whole camp joined them and the energy and team spirit was great. Then we brushed our teeth and put on our jackets, since it started to get chilly. We had a very special moment, called "Camper dialogue". This activity is usually very short, but we always enjoy it: two funny characters interview the campers, and some kids share their special abilities or interesting stories. I think the dialogue helps us getting to know all the other campers, and it makes us feel like a big family.

We split into sections again for the evening programs. The Beta section had a courage mission, in which they had to find different amulets all in various camp zones. They had scary moments but fun at the same time. While this was happening, the younger kids had an interactive games night, but the best part was the artists impersonations, where Mauricio from the yellow team was the winner for his impersonation of David Bisbal.

We finished the day very tired, but we enjoyed talking in our cabin and we realized everything we did today: we learned new things, we bonded with new friends and we had so much fun. Valle Verde really is a magic place where we live so many emotions and where we can enjoy and grow.