Back from camp - browned, bitten and boiling but very happy!

We're back safe and sound after a great week at camp in Sisian.

The quoted "5 hour" journey to camp turned out to be another good example of the Armenian understatement as it was more like 7 and a half thanks to the bus breaking down and some very interesting roads through the mountains! The journey was well worth it in the end though as the scenery around the campsite was absolutely stunning (I say campsite, but if even your most basic mental image of a campsite is a grassy field and a tap, you'll need to scale it down a bit). The ever-resourceful Armenians soon turned it into a home from home and we all adjusted and settled in very quickly.

We soon got stuck into camp life and had an absolute ball joining in with traditional dance lessons and competitions, some re-worked Armenian fairy tale plays and a comedy sketch evening which we think we understood about 5% of! The girls and leaders were incredibly kind and patient with us and we found some of our most enjoyable moments were simply sitting around in rest times and learning about each others' lives and trying to pick up as much Armenian as possible!

Our training sessions with the older girls also went really well and hopefully we've given them some inspiration and ideas that they'll find useful in the next couple of years when they start new Guide groups of their own.

The journey home today was better than expected but incredibly hot and sticky (currently 40oC in the capital). We've all had pretty much the greatest shower of our lives and Cara and Kelly are in the hostel kitchen, hopefully whipping up something that doesn't involve bread, buckwheat or cabbage. We'll sit down and fill you in properly with all our adventures and comedic mishaps tomorrow when we've eaten and slept.

Catch you soon,

Marie and Team Armenia 2011