Saturday, July 18, 2009

Bilingual Poste Bilingue!

Je me suis levée un peu plus tard que normalement, mais la ligne pour le petit-déjeuner était courte. Alors, quand je suis arrivée, beaucoup de Shads mangeaient encore. Nous avons discuté de notre prochaine activité et de la Nuit Multiculturelle.

After breakfast, we made our way to the activity room, wondering what our second design challenge would be: CATAPULTS!!! We were divided into six groups and began our quest for planning and building the most efficient catapult for launching green army men the furthest distance. Of course the groups first went to the computer lab, most likely Googling best catapult design or optimal angle for catapult. After ten minutes, my group had our basic idea and started to sketch the design, taking into account our limited supplies.

Après des heures de couper le bois fragile (ou briser par accident), coller, et construire le catapulte, les groupes ont décidé de tester leur machine avant la compétition. Mon groupe est allé dans un couloir et a commencé à lance les petits army mens qui ont perdu leur tête ou bras à cause de la collision avec le sol. Mais enfin nous avons trouvé quel angle de les lancer. Puis tous les groupes ont choisi un nom et la compétition a débuté.

I was surprised by the various designs. All teams did well. Next, we had two hours to get ready for Multicultural Night. As I was part of the Bollywood dance to the song "Jai Ho", I spent part of my time practicing with the other girls. Soon we were walking to the boudoir. The meal was delicious, including couscous, chicken, poutine, and brownies.

Now for what we were all waiting for: the show. The entertainment included the Tanzanian national anthem, Korean dance, Korean song, Chinese lessons (tongue twister), an interesting educational presentation, and the Bollywood dance. The night ended with a DANCE PARTY!

There is less than a week that remains of Shad, but I know that I will see some of the Shads from my hometown again in summer; in fact, we’ve already made plans of what we can do! Being at Shad Valley has really motivated me to do more activities, to push my boundaries, and to get out of my comfort zone. To top things off, my vocabulary has improved exponentially: innate, conventional, instigate, quintessentially …thanks to my wonderful Shad friends.

Sara Sassani
Shad Valley Laval
Hometown: North Vancouver, British Columbia