JORNADES CHALLENGES. El Collell. Maria M. (1 BATX A)

El Collell 2018: 

The strength (and the disconnection) I needed

This last week we have spent three days in El Collell, a camp house located near Banyoles. We have achieved many challenges that our instructors prepared for us, letting us overcome fears and feel really powerful and motivated. Actually, what this adventure has meant to me is disconnection, happiness and strength, three things that I was needing a lot those days before leaving.

It all started on Wednesday, when we left school at 8.15, as every day. We got into the bus and reminded seated for almost two hours, till we arrived to Banyoles. There we ate our breakfast which, in fact, I left at home -sorry, mum- but that really didn’t matter because some of my friends gave me a piece of theirs -thank you Anna and Cristina-. Then, we got into the bus again and we finally arrived to El Collell, where we met our instructors: Cati, Eider, Pablo, Andreu and Pau. We settled in our rooms, which I shared with Maria, and listened to the house rules.

After having lunch, our adventure started. We had the chance of trying to drive some quads. I was the first one trying them and, as expected, I smashed into the secure pneumatics. Luckily we just tried two laps in the circuit…, because I would have smashed many more times if we stayed more time driving quads!

After that we answered a questionnaire so our teachers get to know us better. Even though it was much more difficult than I expected, I finished it and later on, we did some activities with out instructors: archery, laser tag and horse-riding (more specifically we rode mares). All of them were so funny and interesting to try, but, without a doubt, my favourite was riding the mares, because I hadn’t ridden one since I was a child and because we also had the chance of seeing the different animals they had in the house (pigs, rabbits, more mares and some donkeys).

The evening arrived and with it, some free time for us, in which we had a shower and then, dinner. After eating, we went to the forest to play a night game, which consisted in finding three of the instructors who were hidden, only listening to their whistles. I only found one of the three, who was lying on the ground, which for me looked like a body… Finally it resulted to be a person... Even so, I had a lot of fun. We returned to the house and went to sleep.

Next morning, our day started with the breakfast. Then I went to cycling into the mountain, an activity that left all of us exhausted. We cycled until we arrived to a river which was very, very cold. Nevertheless, I jumped into the river and it was very, very funny! Even though it was tiring, it was a crazy adventure for all of us!

In that afternoon, we went walking into the forest by groups. We had to follow a route with the only help of a compass. It wasn’t difficult and we finished it pretty fast. But the best of all still haven’t arrived by then.

That last night, we lost our voices. After having dinner, we went to theatre and we sang in the karaoke. It was the great time there! I went onto stage to sing (or maybe to shout) two songs with some friends: A Quien Le Importa and Yo Te Esperaré. I have to say I had already lost my voice in the second song of the karaoke… Then we went to the disco and we danced for more than an hour to a lot of different songs! Now I see that it has become, undoubtedly, a night to remember.

On Friday, I woke up not willing to leave, and after the morning I had, my desire grew. We went to an Adventure Park where we had to achieve and overcome some challenges, which were scaring to me. We even jumped in tiro-lines there, and it ended up being a fantastic experience! I remember I finished it saying “I have survived!”, hahaha. Actually, with all the security it had, I would have never died there…

We also played some cooperative games to help each other with our classmates and we had a lot of fun! The activities were pretty simple, but we had to work together to achieve them.

Finally, we had lunch and we said goodbye to those adventures we had lived. I cannot put into words how amazing this was! I would repeat this experience once again and again…, because it meant to me overcoming challenges and I felt really motivated, powerful and happy, even though I ended up really tired. I can say it has been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, because you don’t always have the chance of trying all of these activities! I just want to say thank you for letting me live this experience.

Maria Maroto Amigó

1^st BTX “A”