After my parents dropped me off at the school, I went to find my friends, of course. We talked for a bit, but the time came to say goodbye to the parents as we were about to be shipped off to the mountains. And then everyone got on the bus that would take us to Cardigan. This bus taking the kids from Hopkinton to Cardigan is an example of movement. The kids, all our stuff and the bus itself moved from Hopkinton to Cardigan. The bus ride was not too unbearable, I talked to some friends and it was pretty good. When we got off the bus, after about an hour, all of our stuff was dumped out of the trailers and we were forced to lug it inside and up the stairs BY OURSELVES! How medieval! After we grabbed our stuff, we went to our lovely little bunk rooms and unpacked, if you count throwing bags and clothes on the floor unpacking. We also unrolled our sleeping bags onto the beds. The bunk rooms were small but very nice and cozy, with bunk beds and a dresser, and nice little windows. I really was quite pleased with the bunk rooms.
Next we all got dressed into our trusty hiking gear- nylon and polyester- but not cotton because we all know that COTTON KILLS. Now we herd out onto the stairs outside and meet our instructors, my personal favorite being Andy, so I am slightly disappointed when I am not in his hiking group, but my hiking instructor was equally as awesome, so it was all good. This is the point in time where we break off in our hiking groups and do name games which I do hate so much but it actually wasn't all that bad. After the dreadful name games, we finally get to hiking, and I am accompanied by my super-cool-wicked-awesome backpack with a built in water tube. Hiking is another example of movement, because kids, backpacks, and other supplies move from the lodge to a lot of different places on the mountain. During the hike, we stop to make waypoints and sketch things, like trees and plants. The hike, in my opinion, was really nice, the scenery was beautiful. But despite the hike being short, it was pretty tiring.
We have the option to shower once we get back from the hike, which I do not. Showers, be darned! Rather, I get changed into super comfy clothes and hang with my friends which is super fun because I love my friends! After our free time , it's dinner time, and we eat these amazing tacos, if I remember correctly I helped myself to 4, and then for dessert we have delicious brownies, but we are only allowed one of those. But after dinner, something magical happens. We get a lecture… about Ort. Ort is the amount of food waste there is in total after the meal has been finished, measured in weight. We had a pretty high number that first night. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Then, we went outside, but meanwhile in the kitchen, one unlucky group had to do the dirty work. Cleanup. Another example of movement is when my hiking group moved from the dining tables to the kitchen.
After dinner, dessert, and clean up, the hiking groups went off on their own into the darkness and did a night hike which was basically just playing funny little games outside in the dark, and also walking alone down a path in the dark and walking blindfolded, in the woods, in the dark. We moved from the AMC lodge to the middle of the woods and then back. That is another example of movement right there.Soon after the night hike, which I really liked, we have Story Time with Mr.Woolner. Where he told us a story. Hence the title Story Time. It was a neat little story, about birds I believe. But after the story needed, to everyone's great disliking, it was Bedtime. And by Bedtime I mean time to move the cabins and pretend we are sleeping when really we are giggling and gossiping and being really loud even though the teachers know exactly what is going on. And that was day 1.