Welcome to Camp Hellhole!

Hello everyone! I'm happy to be back blogging after a long time away.  First, I will be making 3 posts tonight; 1 for each night that I was away.  This weekend certainly was interesting and I can't wait to share everything! So, let's begin.  I survived the experience (and that is what is most important) but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it.  Let's start back on Friday; the beginning of my very long weekend.

(This post I wrote night 1, so please excuse the verb tense changes.)  I had one class this morning.  It was ok.  (Honestly, I was too nervous about my upcoming adventure....and let me tell you, it's an adventure, to really focus too hard.)  I had  the little Italian man again.  He's way too passionate about this movie.  We start a new one next week though. So, I get back the Scottish/Spanish professor again.  I'm sure he'll be a blast.

After my lecture, I went back to my room, gathered my things, and headed to the pick-up point to catch the bus to the Argyll Forest.  It turns out Stirling was pick-up number 1 for this bus (there were others that brought in students from the St. Andrew's and Edinburgh programs).  We dropped by Glasgow (a really nice part of Glasgow I might add.  I kind of want to go back now) to pick-up the Glasgow program students.  Then, we headed to Argyll.  We drove for a while and then took a ferry over a loch (I have no idea which one) to Dunoon (a small town on the loch).  I got kind motion sick.  If I would have remembered the whole ferry thing, I think it would have been better for me.  Then, we finally arrived at the camp (insert creepy music here).

First impressions: it is pretty (now see this where I can make many witty/cynical comments to go along with this. For example: it was pretty...horrible, grotesque, foreboding...I can keep going, but I'll restrain myself).  But really it was pretty in the sense that the scenery was really nice.

Here is a picture of the hostel. 

We went inside and were immediately given the stink-eye by about 50 Edinburgh students. They were kind of cliquey to say the least. All of us Stirling-ers felt really awkward.  We kind of just stood off to the side of the room and kept to ourselves.  Then, this man (who is probably top 10 most annoying people on planet Earth) got up to explain the facts of life (or things you don't need to be told unless you're 11) to us.  He gave us a very detailed description of how to make our beds.  It was really complicate, I don't think I would have been able to make my bed without his detailed description (that was a joke).  He was crazy.

After Crazy's speech, we found our rooms.  I was in a room with 3 bunks (or 6 beds) with my IFSA friends, Katelin and Dana, plus 3 Edinburgh girls.  They seemed nice. 

Here is the room.  My bed is the one in the bottom left-hand corner.  Sorry, you can't really see it.

After making our beds, we went down to have dinner.  We listened to another lecture from Crazy about proper eating procedure.  We had to wait to be dismissed from our table by Crazy to go get food.  Guess who was last in line? (If you guessed me, pat yourself on the back.)  Dinner was ok.  We had steak pie.  It could have been worse.

Finally, after being released from dinner, we had to choose whether to go on a night hike or watch a movie.  Out of all the people on this trip, guess how many people stayed for the movie instead of the hike? (If you guessed 2 and one of them was me, give yourself 2 points.  Bonus if you figured out the other movie goer was a Stirling friend of mine.) So, while everyone else went jumping into mud and falling off of walls (yes, these things did happen), we watched Rob Roy (think Liam Neeson running through the hills wearing a kilt).  

Here we are looking miserable in our new matching sweatshirts that we got that night.

Once we were done with the movie, we decided to brave the showers....the word horrible covers it pretty well I think.  

Having nowhere to change

One shower temperature (as in blistering for me, probably cold for others)

Really gross water (it was brown)

Rusty (the showers were metal)

Interesting stall set up (the hangers were on the outside awkwardly)

Built for people with lower standards than me (true fact)

Light speed (how long it took me to shower)

Eeeeewwww (sorry, but it really sums it all up)

Then, I went to bed.  This whole experience reminds me of Land Between the Lakes plus X-treme sports.  I'll get to my night's sleep in the next post.  But by this point, camp Hellhole, was well, a Hellhole (it's actually called the Benmore Centre in case you want to look it up.  It's used as a camp for little kids and a hostel.  Hints the LBL resemblance.)  I survived day 1, but the real fun begins tomorrow, in post number 2.