English Winter Camp - Pucón

These kids bring out the goofy in me. They give me the chance to make funny noises, weird faces, and dance to nonexistent music without me feeling like a total insane-in-the-membrane weirdo. I like it.
I'm at camp. And here's a first for me: I'm the counselor! It's English Winter Camp in Pucón, Chile. There are many other week-long camps throughout the country with motivated Chilean kids who want to use/learn the English. They like-uh the English.

I made my way from Angol to Pucón on Sunday. The mini-bus hit a bump in the road and jolted me awake to an eye-opening view of Volcano Villarrica. The snow covered body of the colossal, conical composite volcano dominated the heavens more than the sky itself. In May, I conquered a 5-hour summit hike to the crater where I saw things I've never seen before. (Click on May in the blog archive for full story).

Having never been a camp counselor before, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But with my time spent here in Chile, I've learned to keep an open mind and also to keep the toilet paper out of the toilet (they just throw it in a little trashcan beside the toilet here. and no it doesn't smell, suprisingly).

The camp was held at a high school called Liceo Hoteleria y Turismo. Staring outside its front doors, you can see incredible snow covered mountains. The back patio offers a view of Volcano Villarrica. It. was. awesome!

•looking out front

•view of volcano villarrica out back

The kids at camp were just phenomenal! Their English was very impressive and I could actually hold conversations with them. Plus, I gotta give props to kids who would sacrifice their winter break to be at a language camp!

We played games, sang songs, scavenge hunted for things in the city, and found gringo tourists walking around and bothered them with questions. We learned the song "Waving Flag", that World Cup song that has been absolutely overplayed and will soon be forgotten.

About 40 kids attended the camp and all were super! They actually listened to me!
We split the kids up into 4 groups.. 10 for each counselor. I had Team Tigers, Chris had Panthers, Hillary was with the Wolves, and Katie had Scorpions.
Each team had a chant and we had competitions between the groups for to win points. My awesome lazy tigers came in last place at the end of the week, but no importa. We went out with style.

•the counselors: hillary.me.chris.katie

I liked it when the kids would get excited about an activity as simple as making a poster. I liked it when the they would attempt to speak English to me. I annoying liked it when the girls would steal my hat and gloves. I liked it when the guys fought over what lunch soccer team they wanted me to play on. I liked the sight of snow on the mountains. I liked making fires in our cabin's small chimney. I liked singing Christmas songs. It was a great week.

The food that they fed the counselors for dinner was incredible, too! Alvaro, a chef that is also a professor at the school, cooked us exquisite dinners like salmon, steak, and pasta (gourmet style). It was frickin' delicious!

On Saturday, we ended the week with a Talent Show where the kids performed dances, songs and stories. It was hilarious and extremely entertaining. You just had to be there.

Truth is, I will probably never see those kids ever again. But what's important is that we had as much fun as possible with the time we had together. The majority of the connections that we make when we're young are temporary. I've learned to appreciate moments. If you don't acknowledge the importance of the moments you share with those special to you, your time will pass by much quicker than you would like.

Click HERE for a video of some pictures during the week