Summer Camp

English Summer Camp 2005

Aquí us oferim la narració completa, en anglès i il·lustrada amb fotos dels participants, de la nostra aventura a La Cerdanya. Els textos van ser elaborats en anglès pels nois-es del grup D (1r i 2n de secundària), de les les fotografies se'n van encarregar l'equip d'educadors de l'escola i l'emoció la van posar les 70 persones que durant 9 dies van viure plegats una experiència meravellosa. Els pares van poder gaudir-ne dia a dia en directe des d'aquest web, format que hem volgut mantenir pràcticament intacte. L'aventura va començar així:

First day, first pictures!

Hello! Just a few words to tell you that we are finally in La Cerdanya. Here are some photos of the very beggining of our Summer Camp.

, meeting point, 4 o'clock the bank opens at 5 three of us labelling the bungalows

labelling the bungalows snack time by the pool

in the pool how to decorate a bungalow by the pool

More news tomorrow: you'll probably see us climbing. By the way,weather is great!

Friday, 2nd of September 2005

The campsite and the bungalows by Sami Janafse and Èric Genis

The children of Group A stay in an area near the swimming pool. Boys and girls of Groups B and C are in the centre of the campsite. The older ones are further down, near the football field.

Some bungalows have TV. There are bungalows of different sizes but the biggest one is the bungalow of Sami, Pablo, Alex, David and Elias. The campsite is prettier than last year's campsite. Near here there is the Segre river. Around the bungalows there are some beautiful mountains.

Daily programme by Pau Escala, Marcel Rubió and Pep Genís

Today we woke up at a quarter past eight, we were a little sleepy. At 9 o'clock we had breakfast: toasts with butter, cheese, ham and jam; milk and juice. After that, we started the morning adventure activity. The sports centre is very near the campsite but we went by van. It was hot inside and we sweat a lot because we didn't stop running and playing around. We had a lot of fun!

Then, at 1 o'clock, we had lunch. We ate a rice salad, meat with sauce and an apple. After lunch, we got money from the bank for our free time. At 4 p.m. we started the English workshop, consisting in learning how to describe and theatre performance. Afterwards we had a quick swim before taking a shower. The swimming pool is always a good idea because the weather is sunny and hot.

And tonight...disco party!!

Free time by Judit Oliva, Gemma Marco and Judith Posada

In our free time we have a great time. Sometimes, we go to the bungalows and play board games and other times we listen to music with our loudspeakers. In the afternoon we go to the swimming pool!! Then, we get very wet!! Last night we played a night game. In our bungalow, we explained ghost stories, so we got very scared.

The younger ones spend their free time in the playground and in the football field. Yesterday, after the night game, they were the first ones to go to bed!

Adventure sports section by Marc Pablo, Andrea Roca, Elias Ramos and Lluís Escala

Groups C and D, in the morning, went climbing and they also practised other sports at the sports centre in Bellver. Groups A and B swam at the swimming pool after they finished their two hours long English workshop. After lunch we have exchanged activities, so the younger ones have gone climbing.

Climbing was very difficult but very exciting, a lot of people were scared. Some people played football and basketball while the others climbed. Judit Olive didn't want to climb. Our English instructors (Mike, Stew and Laura) have told us how to do it. Marc Pablo, Lluís Escala, Elias Ramos and Andrea Rock climbed very high.

And, finally, here is a small selection of our youngest climbers. Lots of them got to the top. Great!!

Saturday, 3rd of September 2005

Today, the older ones - groups C & D - had the English workshop in the morning, so they didn't have any news to report at that time. Nevertheless, during the day, we have been taking some pictures that we want to share with you.

Below, you will find images from today's activities: orienteering, summer camp song, archery, workshops,... (by Sami Janafse)

- Group A has started the day with the orienteering activity. They had a map of the campsite and had to follow directions to find out certain objects. In the pictures, you can see Stew explaining the rules of the game.

- In the following picture, we were singing the beautiful songs of the Summer Camp and other songs as well. This year's song is a version of Country roads, by John Denver. If you want to listen to the original song you can download it from here and here is the file with the lyrics we sing.

- The workshop. This is, for some people, the boring moment of the Summer Camp but it's one of the moments when we can practice and write what we learn. On the left picture we were guessing what Marc was describing. And on the right picture some members of group C were listening to Clara's explanations.

- The boys and girls of all groups learnt a lot about archery. Groups were divided into teams of girls and boys and started to shoot. First, we practiced and then we did three competitions. The first one was with two arrows, the second one was with one arrow and fifteen meters away from the target and the last one was with balloons hanging from the target. This final competition was the most difficult. The winner was the Azzurra team!

Here you can see the monitors Mike and Laura explaning to us how to hold the bow.

And tomorrow we're going trekking to the Malniu Lakes. We'll try to show you the pictures as soon as possible. Good night!

Sunday, 4th of September 2005

Great trekking today! Here are some pictures of our adventure in the mountains. Tomorrow afternoon our English reporters of Group D will have time to do the description of the route.

- From Guils Fontanera to La Feixa mountain hut

- At La Feixa hut

- Getting into the woods, way up to the lake

- At Malniu lake , having dinner and having fun

- Way down: at Malniu mountain hut

- Getting to Meranges

THE WHOLE GROUP AT THE LAKE

Monday, 5th of September 2005

As we promised, here is the report of the last two activities we have done.

- Caving, by Sami Janafse, Judit Oliva, Lluís Escala, Gemma Marco and Marcel Rubió

This Monday morning, after breakfast, groups C and D climbed to the top of a hill near the campsite. The climbing was very difficult and exhausting. When we got to the top, we found the cave and we went inside. It was very dark, and the ground was slippery, which made walking inside the cave very difficult. It was a little cold. The tunnels of the cave were 300m long. Some people were scared inside the cave, but not us. When we went out of the cave we were very happy, because the cave was very exciting. Then we went running down the mountain. Afterwards we had lunch and we ate: spaghetti with tomato sauce, meatballs and "flam".

Groups A and B went caving this afternoon. Here are their pictures:

By the way, today by 2 p.m. we have had the opportunity to cheer the Vuelta a España participants, who passed by the campsite on their way to Andorra.

- Trekking to Malniu, by Andrea Roca, Marc Pablo, Elias Ramos and Pau Escala

Yesterday we went to Malniu Lake. We went by coach. We passed by Ger, Bolvir, Sanejar and Guils, until we arrived to the Ski resort.

When we started walking, it was sunny and hot. The trek began at around 11 o'clock. First the mountain track was easy, but we sweat a lot. Near the road there were some horses called "ceratans", which are very big, and we also saw some cows. After three kilometers, we needed to walk out of the road and we took a more difficult mountain path to go up to the lake. We were walking in small groups and finally we all arrived to Malniu lake. There, some people put their feet into the freezing water.

When we finished lunch, we took a path full of stones and we arrived to a fountain next to Malniu mountain hut. After having a rest by the fountain we continued our way down to Meranges. We took another path, which was very difficult, because the path was very steep and narrow. It was tiring but very funny.

In Meranges, everybody was tired, monitors as well. And when we got into the coach we were so happy of the trekking!

Remember: below you can see the pictures of the trekking we uploaded yesterday night. Enjoy them!

Tuesday, 6th of September 2005

- Our songs by Judith Posada, Gemma Marco, Judit Oliva, Andrea Roca

This year,we sing two songs, FRIENDS IN COOL PLACES (last ESC song), by Garth Brooks, and COUNTRY ROADS, by Jonh Denver. FRIENDS IN COOL PLACES is about the friends you can meet in the Summer Camp, and COUNTRY ROADS is about the things you can see in the countryside and the roads that take you there.

We think that these two songs are beautiful, but we like COUNTRY ROADS better.

FRIENDS IN COOL PLACES (chorus)

'Cause I've got friends in cool places / Where the sun always shines / and the wind chases my blues away / And I'll be OK / Now, I wanna see my friends' faces / And share our time in the oasisOh I've got friends / In cool places.

COUNTRY ROADS (chorus)

Country roads, take me home / to the place I will go / West Cerdanya, mountain mamma / take me home, country roads.

- Film review: "The Goonies", by Marc Pablo, Lluís Escala, Elias Ramos and Carla Camín (special guest)

Yesterday night we watched a film called "The Goonies". The film is about five boys who find a map in the attic of a house and they go to search a treasure. They have some problems because a group of thieves goes after them. The best of the film is the different traps they find in the cave because they are very imaginative. One of the boys (Chunk) is very funny. The worst of the film is one of the girls because her role in the film isn't very important and the bad ones are silly and lazy. If you want to know the end you will have to watch the film.

weather forecast

morning

afternoon

morning

afternoon

Tmax

Tmin

6th September 2005

7th September 2005

- The weather, by Marcel Rubió and Pau Escala

Yesterday morning, the weather was a little bit cold, but when we did the activity the weather was warmer. After lunch the weather changed again, it was very cold. After the activity there was a storm, wich continued all night long. There were thunders and lightning. Today it was cold at first, but now it is a little bit sunny and we will be able to go to the pool. We hope it doesn't rain this afternoon because we will not be able to go biking.

- ESC Timetable, by Sami Janafse, Èric Genís and Víctor Sánchez (special guest)

08:30	a.m.	-	wake up
09:00	a.m.	-	have breakfast
09:30	a.m.	-	free time
10:00	a.m.	-	workshop
12:00	a.m.	-	swimming pool
01:30	p.m.	-	lunch time
02:00	p.m.	-	free time
03:15	p.m.	-	bank
04:00	p.m.	-	adventure activity
06:00	p.m.	-	snack time
06:30	p.m.	-	sports
08:00	p.m.	-	showers
08:30	p.m.	-	dinner time
09:00	p.m.	-	free time
10:00	p.m.	-	night activity
11:30	p.m.	-	go to bed
12:00	p.m.	-	silence

- And here are some pictures of today's adventure under the rain. We went by mountain bike from the campsite to Bellver, crossing the Segre river and riding up and down the hills, across tracks and small villages.

These are the pictures of groups A and B, taken during the morning :

and these are the afternoon pictures, under the rain, taken during the route with groups C and D :

CROSS COUNTRY: Clara & Albert running through the fields

Wednesday, 7th of September 2005

Good morning! Here we are after another stormy night. Yesterday, we couldn't update the website due to a small accident during our route by mountain bike. Our friend Anna Foved fell down and broke her arm. Dear Anna, we hope you feel better in Barcelona, we miss you a lot!

The Summer Camp goes on and the weather is much better this morning. Bellow you can see some pictures taken at breakfast time. More news as soon as possible!

Thursday, 8th of September 2005

(this is the last update from La Cerdanya, uploaded on Friday morning. We're going back to Barcelona tomorrow...)

- Horse riding, by Eric Genís, Lluís Escala, Gemma Marco, Marc Pablo and Judith Posada.

This morning at 10, groups C and D, went horse riding. It was very exciting but some people were a little scared. Sònia, the monitor, told us everything we needed to know about the horses but she was a bit serious. After her explanations, we tried to ride the horses and then we went for a beautiful ride in the forest. The horses were trained and quite easy to ride. They were of different colours and sizes but all of them were very pretty. Some horses were a little bit crazy because they crossed the stream of water a little bit faster than the others and we all got wet!

- Orienteering and archery, by Judit Oliva, Pau Escala and Andrea Roca

Yesterday we did orienteering. Orienteering consists in looking for flags, which have got a special mark that you have to stamp on a piece of paper. There were eight flags hidden all over the campsite and every group had to find them following the indications written on a map. Some people think that orienteering is a little bit boring and tiring but others enjoyed the activity.

Some groups also learned archery yesterday. Below you can see some pictures of our young Robin Hoods with their bows and arrows.

- Visiting Bellver de Cerdanya, by Marcel Rubió

Yesterday evening we went to Bellver de Cerdanya by van. The monitors gave us 45 minutes of free time so that we could walk around the village and buy what we wanted. We bought a lot of "fuets" and "llangonisses" (the "embotits" in Bellver are tastier than the ones in Barcelona because the meat is better) and other people bought souvenirs for their families. Bellver is much smaller than Barcelona, but it is much cleaner; the houses in Bellver are older than the ones in Barcelona, but they will probably last longer.

- Yesterday's night game: "Battle of songs", by Judit Oliva, Pau Escala and Andrea Roca

The monitors were the ones who had the best time yesterday night, but they didn't win! The game consisted in writing on a piece of paper all the songs that everybody in the group knew, and then all the groups had to sing in turns. We were divided into 7 groups and we couldn't repeat any song. We were singing for one hour and it was such a fun!

FRIENDS IN COOL PLACES... one year later

Note: this morning the older ones we have been told about the big disgrace in New Orleans caused by the hurricane. Nature is beautiful but sometimes it can be terrifying as well. We are very concerned about it.

- Tonight's disco-party ESC final (uploaded from Barcelona)

Friday, 9th of September 2005

(uploaded from Barcelona)

- Diploma ceremony : last wonderful sunny morning in La Cerdanya ... with parents!

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Abans de començar l'ESC, el nostre web mantenia ben informats els participants. Vegeu les notícies i documents elaborats i penjats al web durant els mesos de juliol i agost.

Tot a punt per a l'English Summer Camp - July 15th

60 nois i noies de 9 a 14 anys, rècord d'inscripció en una edició de muntanya, participaran al camp d’anglès i d’activitats d'aventura que tindrà lloc a Bellver de Cerdanya de l’1 al 9 de setembre. El disseny pedagògic dels workshops està pensat per treure de cada alumne el millor dels seus coneixements d'anglès, en sessions molt dinàmiques i vivencials. I de les activitats... què en podem dir? Durant l'estiu, practiqueu (encara que no sigui en anglès) la bicicleta, el cavall, el tir amb arc, l'escalada, el trekking... en resum, poseu-vos en forma perquè això promet emocions fortes.

Per la distribució dels bungalows no cal que patiu perquè ho tenim tot organitzat i ben repartit. Estem segurs que ho trobareu molt bé.

Bungalows i apartaments de fusta

Durant la reunió de pares que va tenir lloc a finals de juny es va comentar la possibilitat de celebrar un dinar comunitari, amb pares, el darrer dia de l’estada a La Cerdanya. El dia 1 de setembre, quan ens trobem per marxar de Barcelona, tindreu la darrera ocasió per inscriure-us-hi, si encara no ho heu fet; i pensem que màxim el dia 3 ja podreu trucar a l'escola per confirmar-ho o bé consultar aquest web on serà anunciat. Us avancem que també des d'aquest web es podrà fer un seguiment diari de les activitats (amb comentaris en anglès i fotografies dels participants, elaborats pels nois-es més grans del camp) durant el seu desenvolupament.

De moment, ja podeu descarregar els documents (en format .pdf i .jpg) que us poden ajudar a planificar bé la vostra participació al Summer Camp.

- Horari sortida/arribada i llista de material - Català

- Horari sortida/arribada i llista de material - English

- Quadre d'activitats previstes per grups

- Dades de contacte pares-nens durant l'ESC

- Dades sobre el dinar de cloenda del dia 9 a Bellver

- Mapa de carreteres amb la ruta BCN-Belllver

Recordeu la cançó de l'English Summer Camp 2004? Si l'havíeu oblidada aquí la teniu; aquesta és la lletra de la famosa

- Friends in Cool Places (lyrics)

Que no recordeu la música? També tenim la solució, podeu parar l'orella als dos arxius de so d'aquí sota, el primer (més lent i facilot) amb la melodia incorporada, i el segon l'arxiu instrumental sense melodia però a bon ritme. Sabreu cantar-la?

- Friends in Cool Places (mid with melody)

- Friends in Cool Places (mid instrumental)

Més coses. Aquí us oferim un arxiu .pdf amb el mapa del Trekking del Summer Camp. La ruta és senzilla però s'apropa al que anomenem "alta muntanya", amb paisatges i vistes realment espectaculars. Creieu que ho resistireu? Nosaltres estem convençuts de que sí.

- Descripció ruta trekking Malniu ESC'05

Fins el dia 1 de setembre l'escola estarà tancada, però podeu comunicar-vos amb nosaltres per correu electrònic a l'adreça habitual (escola@escolapeterpan.org), que consultarem diàriament. Si abans del dia de sortida, voleu parlar per telèfon amb els responsables de l'ESC, ens trobareu els propers dilluns 29-08 i dimarts 30-08 a la tarda a l'Escola.

Countdown: ESC is just a few days away! - August 25th

Get ready babies, because the 1st of September is coming and La Cerdanya is waiting for us. Check the files below (list of clothes, notes and messages for parents, maps, songs lyrics and music...) to make certain you don't forget anything important before you leave home.

Parents: remember that from the second day until the end of the ESC you'll find news and some photographs of our activities on this web page, with daily updates.

You can still contact us via e-mail at the school address - messages will be answered immediately. You will also be able to phone us at school on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th (in the afternoons).

Ooops! and don't forget to check this web page for updates... from now on... in English... of course.