Reflections from Les Elfes Summer Camp

Poem by Arya Dharod

The place of mountains, grass, lakes but no sand,
You guessed it- it’s a nature heaven- Switzerland.
The camp name you may not know,
So to you I will show.

I come all prepared.
(And a little scared!)
Proudly I walk, with a big suitcase and backpack in hand,
Hoping that my mother packed something other than a rubber band.
I meet a lady – tall and looking my way,
This must be her, I say.

My Dad greets her, Ms Bibi – who else could it be?
I look at my feet and she surprises me!
She starts to talk about the camp and how it’ll be so much fun,
I sigh and think of all the other stuff, staying home I could have done.

However, I will soon see that this camp was the best,
I played all the roles – a helper, a friend and a guest.
Green meadows all around,
The air is filled with rich, bird sound.
The mountains stand high above, snowy and tall,
All around I feel nature’s call.

I lie in bed, snoring away,
Then the music plays and starts my day.
A monitor knocks on the door, a smile on his face,
‘Come down’ he says. ‘To breakfast, you must race’

I go down to pancakes and bread,
My hungry stomach needs to be fed.
Afterwards, I shoot some hoops outside,
When the monitors call us away, I must abide.

Morning languages are quite a blast,
They aren’t boring, so get over quite fast.
I learn German, a language quite tough,
Yet daily my teacher is there, ready to teach me this stuff.

I learn how to say Hi, and Goodbye,
When I get it, my teacher gives me a high-five.
I march off towards lunch – what will it be?
Melted cheese or pasta to set my soul free?

I then meet the teenagers – all in my group,
There’s so much noise, it’s like a chicken coop.
The monitors come in and there is instantly a hush,
Everyone sits quiet, and there’s no more rush.

After the monitors are done, we rush quickly to get dressed,
In these afternoon activities, our clothes get quite messed.
We climb rocks, we kick balls,
We eat ice cream outside, we visit malls.

The afternoon is filled with sweat but fun,
And what better than cool, creamy ice-cream when it’s all done.
Back to camp, we cycle or walk,
There is slushy sweat in my sock.

Now it’s free time, but not so free,

You can swim or play games or watch a movie.
We get our phones for which we’ve waited so long,
We call our parents, play games and listen to our favourite song.

The day is coming to an end,
I have a cup of tea with my friend.
At 7 we all gather for the final meal,
If we see some cheese, we all do squeal.

After stuffing ourselves till we can’t no more,
Desert is brought in, and our mouths start to pour.
We eat and chat and eat some more with friends,
What do we chat about? It depends!

We chat about our lives,
For we have yet no wives.
We chat about food,
We chat about our mood.
We chat about our lives back home,
Back in Russia or Sweden or Rome.
It shocks me that we are all so alike,
Be our names Arya, or Nester or Mike!

Be us English, or African or French,
All boys still have that ‘I don’t shower stench’!
All girls still sit and gossip, about who knows what,
We boys rack our brains, like how much do they talk!

Finally, we play one last indoor game,
Win it and it might bring you fame.
Boys vs girls, teams vs teams,
There is a lot of running and a lot of screams.

At last, we wish each other ‘goodnight’,
I head up one floor, forward and to the right.
I come in to a dark room and my brother snoring deep,
He’s younger than me, so he needs more sleep.

I tiptoe slowly, and (don’t) brush my teeth,
I run into bed but then smell my feet.
I then take a nice, proper bath – freezing cold,
You’ll have to admit, this boy’s pretty bold.

If you believe that though, and think it is true,
At least someone thinks I’m a proper, clean boy. Phew!