On the 2nd and 3rd days, the camp seriously picked up. Everyone was starting to get to know eachother. As was told to me by everyone, the South Americans segregated themselves somewhat, but we were still getting along. It is incredible being with so many different people however. I looked and listened around the room just before a meeting we had, and i realised in that room, people were speaking German, English, Portuguese, Spanish and French, and there were people from Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Canada, the Ukraine, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Austria. It was a pretty amazing thought thinking of all these people, the amount of history, culture and national identity imbedded in all of us. It was such a rich mix of people and each with something to offer. Its amazing to think what a group like this is capable of!
The days consisted of waking up at about 7:30 for brekkie at 8. We started lessons at 9:00 until midday when we went for lunch. There were 6 groups, from beginners to advanced and snowboarders and skiiers. I was lucky because our original group of 8 went down to 3 as many people in our group didnt need lessons and went off on their own. The lessons were really good. We went of piste a lot, which is really hard on the legs, but a great deal of fun. Undressed snow is so much harder to handle than the runs, and this is a real challange. It didnt help that our instructor was absolutely nuts and enjoyed seeing us stack it!!! Haha, i even caught him taking photos of Belinda when she fell! But he was really helpful in getting to know the area and the pistes.
In the arvo, we went off by ourselves, and i tried to go with a different group every day. It was good to teach beginners and the next day smash it really hard with some of the pro guys. One guy, Jesse, from the States, is a racer at home, and he came here and won his school skiing competition, and he was great fun to go with, even if he does travel near the speed of light!
The nights were heaps of fun. Every night we would go out and have a great time. One huge cultural difference between the Latinos (as they became known) and Us (as we became known) was that they can seriously dance, and we can seriously not! Haha, our legs were made for walking to the bar anyway! Haha. But i was spending heaps of time with Justin from New Zealand, and Megan from South Africa and we hung around heaps together, which was good. At best, i find it difficult to really be open in a big group, i think im somewhat overawed by everyone, and so it was nice to have two good mates just to chill out with and be around. We'd all come back around 11 (after being told to be back at 10!) and hang around downstairs in the hostel playing cards. This was also great fun. A good time to not do too much, have a chat with some mates, and wind down after the long days.
Paz