Camp Balchyoca Memories

Photo by Jaime Banks

On to camp! In short, camp was ... great! Back in 2005, we heard about camp ALL summer long, and we couldn't help but feel that we had missed out on a highlight of the summer (even the whole year!) for everyone! So, when the opportunity arose to participate in camp this year, I was quick to take it!

It was a pretty much perfect week! We had a great crew of staff and campers, with people there from Estonia, Russia, Canada and the United States. Definitely an international week! The weather couldn't have been any better - sunny and warm every day! Not one bit of rain until Friday morning - but even that didn't last for long, and soon it was sunny and warm again! It was a great opportunity to spend time with lots of the people that I got to know in 2005 - the Kohvs, Sooniks, Sasha & Artyom, Dan, Geoff & Jaime, Adam, Stas & Nastya, Nikolai & Olga. And I also met so many new fun people - Merlin, Eeva-Liisa, Asja, Igor, Allan, Alice & Elyne, and Mare ... just to name a few!








I found it to be a very typical camp experience, except much larger (180 people!) and translated into 3 languages (Estonian, Russian and English). We had singing, lessons, crafts, recreation and of course, BEACH time! We got to go to the beach two times every day! This was definitely one of my favourite parts of camp ... I loved swimming, and playing volleyball on the beach! On our last night at camp, we had a huge bonfire and then went down to the beach for fireworks ... it was great!

Off to the beach
Photo by Merlin Ponna

Photo by Jaime Banks

Photo by Merlin Ponna

I was a counsellor in a cabin with four girls - Liza, Nastya, Kristina and Liza. They were a good bunch ... I liked getting to know them. It was nice that they were big enough that I didn't have to look after them all the time, which gave me the freedom to spend time with other people too.


Overall, definitely a fantastic experience! So, so glad that I went! It was awesome having so many great people all together for the week. I have so many fun memories from it, and look forward to when I am able to return to help again!

Photos and collage by Merlin Ponna