03.08.13 Mini Hike

We got up nice and early for our now ritual morning exercise - we've become experts at the dances now although we still go the wrong way for left and right, we think it may have got lost in translation.

Breakfast this morning was attended by depleted numbers as Naomi and Olivia were feeling a bit ill (thankfully not for long though!) before we went on to do some more strength activities like the axe throwing and 'defending' our heads in a fight.

After lunch we went for a hike to Lake Baikal which was tiring but again gave us the opportunity to get to know the Russian Scouts a lot more.  When we got there we sat on roll mats which were offered to us by one of the Russian groups - this made the pebbles a lot more comfortable!  After relaxing on the beach we walked back to camp where we discovered a café which had been hiding from us since the start of camp.  We popped inside from some mars bars and Hannah got a coffee which made her VERY happy!  After we had our tea we visited another Scout group for more games, songs and chat before bed.

02.08.13 Axes and Spears!

Looking at the date you'll realise that we've actually made it back to the UK now.  Things got so busy that we decided to postpone the blog until we'd returned so it's now catch up time :)

Today was our first day on 'Eco'.  After breakfast we went on a walk to a small island which had a lot of species of plants that were unique to the area.  To reach it we had to cross two streams and got very wet in the process!  Once on the island we were told some legends about it such as the 'wish tree' which was a hollow tree that we placed a pebble in to make a wish for someone we knew.  The walk gave us an opportunity to get to know the Russian Scouts a lot better.  A few of them have very good English and have been translating for the younger scouts.

 

 

After lunch it was time to test our strength!  We threw iron axes and spears, attempted to knock each other off a log and had a go at wrestling someone to their feet using a giant stick.  It was a lot of fun.

Hannah, less than impressed by the ant hills!

 

In the evening we had a sub-camp meeting where Olivia and Vanessa were involved in a game where one person in the group had to wear as many clothes as possible - Vanessa's team won!  Later on we visited Oxanna's camp - they had invited us by making flowers using balloons with the message written on to them - where we played games, talked and sang songs.  Oxanna has really good English and has been helping us out by translating a lot.

01.08.13 Dance like nobody's watching!!!

This morning started very early for Vanessa and Alison who went to see the sunrise while everyone else had a lie in (rather sensible in hindsight!)

Before breakfast we were asked by members of Sparta to teach them the 'cup song' that we had showcased on the main stage the night before.  All went well until they smuggled empty cups to the breakfast table to practice which they got told off for - we hid in the corner denying all knowledge!

Today was the last day on the Art activities so we really wanted to make the most of it. Naomi, Hannah, Olivia and Vanessa made a cat doll scented with coffee and cinnamon. They also made postcards about their camp experiences. Alison, Sophie and Emily made sweets ( this turned out to be boiled sugar!) paper flowers and the postcards. Once again it was all a lot of fun. In the afternoon there was another wide game.



Olivia, surviving as a vegetarian on camp!

For the evening entertainment there was a dance competition! Each group was given a country to make a dance for. With the Union flag painted on our faces we took to the stage (minus Alison and Naomi) to perform 'the time warp'! We really enjoyed all the dancing, everyone was really fantastic!

 

That evening we visited Irina's camp where we played some new games and sang songs.

31.07.13 UK has 'talent'

Today our group split to do more activities. Naomi went with Emily and Sophie to make silk flowers and paint stones while Alison went with Olivia, Hannah and Vanessa to make seals using quilling and paint a souvenir jamboree bag. All the activities where a lot of fun!


It began to rain quite heavily during lunch so we all had to huddle together to stay dry while queuing. Fortunately it cleared in time for us to go on a visit to lake Baikal which Olga had arranged for us. After a VERY choppy boat ride we arrived at a beach where Naomi, Sophie, Hannah, Vanessa and Olivia changed in to their swimming costumes and experienced the cold waters of Baikal. Emily and Alison also had a paddle up to their knees. It was very beautiful and the water was extremely clear! In the evening there was a talent contest which we entered as a group. We did our own unique version of the 'cup song' which we have since taught to Sparta. All of the acts were fantastic and we had a laugh when Alison dressed in a traditional head dress and attempted to dance the Rumba with the Russian leaders!
 After the talent contest we visited the camp next to ours. Everyone was very friendly and it was wonderful to meet all of the people and get to know them a lot more.





The 'hair eating' bug!

30.07.13 Woggles, drums and dancing...

Today our wake up call was at 8am when loud music was played over the camp tannoy system. We then went to excercise at 8.15am. After breakfast we had a subcamp meeting for the Art programme we are on for three days. We found out where the activities would be taking place before heading to the first one which was woggle making. After a lot of fiddling and restarts we were successful. Next was an African drumming workshop where we enjoyed experimenting with different rhythms. Our final activity before lunch was dancing which we found a lot of fun despite some of the groups lack of skill (the instructor found this very funny). After lunch we relaxed for a while before playing a wide game with our subcamp. We joined with another group and followed a map all around camp taking part in games as we went around to germ points, it was a lot of fun! We found out that our group (monsters) came second. The evening entertainment was extremely interesting and fun - each group had to do a presentation!!! There was singing, dancing and we we did a sketch about our journey to Siberia. After dancing at the disco it was time for bed!

Our first breakfast on camp...mmm :)

29.07.13 Off to camp...

Although we have now made it to camp we have been so busy that we are only just catching up on the blog so it might be a bit mixed up.

We all met at the pick up point early in the morning to find it already packed with excited Scouts. Whilst we waited for the coaches to arrive a journalist from a local Irkutsk paper came over to us to take photos and ask some questions about what we thought of siberia so far and whether we were excited about camp (yes!)

After two hours on the coach we arrived at camp!!! It is very beautiful here despite the large number of unusual looking insects (more about them later).

We found our camp area which we are sharing with a group called 'Sparta', put our bags in the tents (pre-pitched tents on wooden platforms - a brilliant idea!) and began to decorate our half. We covered it in the Union Flag, bunting and our group banner. We quickly made a LOT of friends...they all seem very eager to meet the Brits! After lunch Alison and Naomi went to two leaders meetings and we continued to sort out our camp. Once tea had been eaten it was time for the opening ceremony! We attached our flag to a giant branch we had found earlier and lined up to parade in. The atmosphere was fantastic and everyone was very welcoming. Vanessa was the one to hoist the flag to(accidentally at half mast for a few minutes). There were some fantastic dances and everyone was very keen to get involved. The evening finished with a 'disco' - dubstep is very popular in Siberia. After dancing the night away we returned to camp where we sat around the campfire with Sparta, singing and drinking Russian tea.

28.07.13 Hannah, Olivia and Emily go shopping...

For the final day in homestay we decided to go shopping with our hosts to buy souvenirs. They took us on a walk through Irkutsk where we walked through a honey festival which smelt amazing!!! We also saw a really tall tower which used to be used as a fire watch tower when the buildings were made of wood. It was then on to a big shopping mall and lunch which we had at a place called "Chentos". We then headed back home to pack our bags for camp...we're hoping that they will be a bit lighter the next time we pack them! After we had sorted our bags out we went for a walk by the river which flows out of lake Irkutsk.