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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Memoirs of Little Aicha: Summer Camp in France

After experiencing the camp life in Algeria, the free-spirited little moi decided to cruise the Mediterranean, and witness at first-hand how the poor French kids spent their summers.

One happy summer day, quite some time agoooo, I was informed that I would have the fortune to be amongst some kids selected by the state to go and spend a few weeks at a summer camp in France. It is not exactly how they put it. We were just informed that we would be going to France on holiday, and who says France says shopping. The first picture that came to my little mind was the Eiffel tower, and then the Eiffel tower, and then lots and lots of shops.

My preparation for this trip was quite different from my Algerian summer camp days. I was going to France yew! I had to have nice clothes because no one would steal them, and then I had to give a good image of my country (beh mayadahkouch 3lia les Français). So, my three sisters who were at Uni then, chipped in using their summer grant money (bourse) to buy me clothes. We decided to go to Algiers. Shops in my hometown did not cater for young teenage girls who failed to grow up fast; you had to be either a child or a woman, you had to choose. If you went to a shop and tried something on and asked for a smaller size, the answer would always be a big NO!!!!! It was my fault after all, I was thin and should have defied my genes and grew fatter quicker. My mum always used to remind me: “I told you, you should have stayed in that volleyball team, you would have put on some muscle and grown taller!”. She was right of course, most of my friends who stayed in the team, undeterred by the psychopath coach that we had, were a few inches taller, and bigger than me.

My sister knew la Rue Disley very well and that’s where we headed for the shopping. My previous shopping trip that year was to Bab Ezzouar in Ramdhan to buy clothes for Eid. There was a big market there where they sold clothes that fit young teenage girls. It was my first time in that Rue Disley, and it was a real step up from souk Bab Ezzouar. After paying an arm and a leg for the clothes, I felt sad that I had used up my sisters’ grants for the clothes; and I promised myself that I would return the favour one day.

Departure day was in August, it was hot in Algiers. The port was full of  immigrés coming or going back, and over a hundred kids queuing up, all excited to be on this adventure of a life time! The ship was grand; it made me think of Titanic. It was the first time I had seen anything like it: a floating palace!
  
A day at sea, and lots and lots of laughs and happy moments later, the ship finally arrived in Marseilles.  After the formalities, the counting, lunching and a bit of sightseeing, we were divided into groups of 8, and each group was sent somewhere. That somewhere remained a mystery up until we reached the train station. We were overwhelmed by how different everything seemed, some of us had never been on a train before, so there was some excitement there. A train, then a bus journey later, we arrived at our destination, which was in the middle of nowhere...There was no Eiffel tower to be seen, no shops, and hardly any people walking around. It was raining and dark, and I could feel each one of us dreading what was to come.

Sleep came hard to me that night. I wanted to cry, but realized that it was silly of me to do that. I was in France, the land from where all that publicité de chocolat, de Chambourcy came from. It could not be that bad…

Things got better. After a few days, we realized that there were not many rules, no lines to walk in, no anthem to sing, no 3-4hr siesta. Well, there was a routine but we did not have to follow it religiously! The continuous sunshine of August, and the beautiful surrounding landscape made it easier for us to adapt. There were about 40 kids in the camp, 8 Algerians (4 boys and 4 girls), and a dozen adults (20 somethings) looking after them; One director, an avid photographer, who did not bring his family. I don’t think he had one; he had a red sports car!

The Camp had three buildings which looked like old chateaux, but were well-renovated inside, there were 4 of us in each room. The rooms were painted in a happy colour, I think it was pink for us girls. There was a nurse but no doctor. The gardens, full of fruit trees, were so big and as there was no fence, we could not tell where they ended. We also had huge sequoias, which were towering over us. Activities ranged from swimming and horse-riding, hiking and mountain biking to caving and kayaking. The siesta was less than an hour and it could be taken either indoors or outdoors. When it rained, there was a game room facility to use with table tennis and table football. Some afternoons were spent drawing wall frescoes. In the evenings, we had murder mystery games, board games, Pictionary, story nights, or quiz nights; there were two parties one to say hello and the other one to say goodbye.

Our sheets and clothes were washed regularly, and I was very surprised to find my clothes washed, ironed, and left on my bed, come sunshine or rain. I had to ask how they could do it when it rained. And it was then that I discovered the amazing mysterious sèche-linge.

During my time in the camp, I forgot about the Eiffel tower about the shops, and about the cities that I was expecting to visit. A couple of days before our departure, we were taken to the nearest city, ate McDonald, and did a bit of shopping. Time not permitting, I could hardly buy anything, and thought of all those requests I got before my departure and that handsome sum of Francs that was to be returned almost untouched.

When the three weeks came to an end, we had to say our goodbyes. We were told that we Algerians had made life a lot more enjoyable for the kids. I enjoyed my time in the camp mostly because there were people from my country to make it fun, to make jokes about everything, and to make life a bit less serious in the Camp. It was great to be there but I don’t think I would have been happy without them.

Judging by the red eyes of some of the kids who stayed up until midnight to say goodbye, the red eyes of some of the people who were looking after us, I understood that friendships could be knit between different people of different cultures and languages, within a short time. 


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Memoirs of Little Aicha: Summer Camp in Algeria


Going to children Summer Camp or Colonie de Vacances was a rite of passage for Algerian children, a way to taste freedom, and explore new places, away from the overprotective eyes of parents.

Like many children, I was unlucky enough to be posted to one of these. At the age of 7, my dad decided it was time for me to follow the family tradition and be let free to go to the amazing place that is camp. Of course, the previous years I had always envied my sisters who used to come back looking very dark, I mean very tanned, and who would tell endless stories about their time there and how great it was. 

So in preparation for the big day, my dad would take me to his company’s doctor who used to run multiple tests to make sure it was safe enough for the camp to let me in! Four times, four different camps, one story…

The big day is here,  my sister and I would be up early enough to beat the sunrise, my mum would have prepared our luggage, which would consist of ancient bags containing our worst clothing, so that it would not get stolen. My mum always made sure however that a tooth brush was included, for in summer camp you had to have a toothbrush. My dad would accompany me and my sister who was two years my senior and was a feisty fighter, so no worries about getting bullied, I who had always looked younger because of my small stature, was an easy prey for kids at school and I expected it would be the same in summer camp which had at least 300 kids (i.e.my child mind estimation).

When it was my first time, I could not be happier; but, when dad dropped us at the bus station and I saw all the other kids, I could feel my heart pounding off my chest, fear took  over, and the excitement disappeared. Kids I did not know; they did not look friendly, and they were all older and bigger than me was a sight that made me tremble, there was no going back though; dad had already paid the fees. When it was time to leave, dad would kiss us on the cheeks and wish us a happy holiday and then go to work.

The coach rented by my dad’s company was always old; it had a horrible smell like old motor vehicles did in those days. You would be lucky to find a new taxi or a bus in Algeria in the eighties. We used to be round 30 (always a child’s estimate), accompanied by a few adults whom we would later call moniteur for male and monitrice for female. The journey was never dull; as soon as the bus starts moving, singing would start and the moniteur who would have a derbouka would make the atmosphere very jovial. Two or three hours later, we would reach our destination (a coastal town in Algeria). This is the condition for any summer camp; it had to be in a coastal town, and a few hundred meters away from the beach.

My first day in the camp was full of confusion, all these people from different corners of the country, speaking dialects that sounded foreign to me. Some of them looked very different to us, they were black; it was the first time I  met someone Algerian who looked so different to us, I later learnt that they were from Tougourt a town in the south East of the country. After having lunch, it was time to divide us into groups of 11 just like a football squad; sometimes it was 12, if there were left-overs. The aim was to put people from different towns in one group, a way of getting people to know one other. Girls were put in separate groups to boys, which was great relief because as a child, I never liked  boys just like any female. By the end of the distribution! I realized that would be sharing a tent with another 21 girls, we were two groups per tent. The tents were big enough for 24 beds, including those of the monitrices. Being with twenty one girls whom I had never met in my life  was enough to bring tears pouring down ; I started to cry and demanded that my sister would be in the same tent as me. One moniteur could not stand it, and he decided to go hunting for my sister, tent by tent,  in that rather big camp. The search had nearly ended when we headed back to my tent and we realized that there was a tent about 50 cm away from mine, my sister was there and they decided to put her in the same tent as me.

The beds were older than time itself, made of metal boards. The mattresses had stains everywhere, and smelled horrible, but the sheets were thankfully clean. The routine starts the second day and it was the day all the kids suddenly realize that mum and dad are not there and it is custom that we all decide to cry our eyes out and then be comforted by either seniors who enjoyed being there or moniteurs who did make life enjoyable and were all comedians.  

7 o’clock, we all wake up and make our beds, then we would walk in a line, one behind the other…Everyday, down we marched in a line like ants, to the restaurant, led by the shortest youngest girl in the group. Before entering the restaurant it was custom to salute the flag and sing, not just the national anthem but all sorts of nationalist songs and other meaningless songs. If there was one thing we learnt in camps it was singing, and sing we did. After the choiring, we finally head to the restaurant which was made of concrete flooring and sugar canes for walls and roofing, it was very nice, especially in comparison to the rest of the camp. Breakfast was always a bowl of milk with chocolate. It was supposed to be hot chocolate, but was rarely hot, occasionally warm, and mostly tepid; and piece of bread, which is quarter of a baguette cut in the middle and butter and jam for a filling.

By the time breakfast is finished, it is around 8:00; we head back to our tents, change into our swimwear and wear flip-flops and head to the beach, in a line but this time walking in twos. The beach was usually a few minutes’ walk away from the camp, we would pass by restaurants and see some tourists mostly French Algerians. Once at the beach, we also sing all sorts of songs, one of which mocks socialism; (Algeria was ruled by a socialist party, and was very influenced by Russian and Chinese thinkers-the country was on the brink of collapse but little did we know at the time). There was also a song about the agricultural revolution of Houari Boumediene. After all the singing we are finally left to go and swim. Security was very tight and we were never allowed  to go beyond a line which was a few meters into the sea. This meant that we never swam but just splashed water. We spent at least three to four hours, until lunch time. Come mid-day we would be led back to the camp where we are washed and then dressed and readied for lunch.

Outside the restaurant, we sing, and sing until lunch is finally served. The food varied but it was mostly soups and sea food. I had never eaten fish, except for sardines, before going to summer camp. I did not even know the names of the fish we were served there. Fish for most Algerians who do not live in coastal towns means sardines. It was the only fish that we saw or ate in my town which was a two-hour drive away from the sea, it is now one hour after the construction of the highway, but fish is still scarce.

When lunch finished, it was time for siesta, a very long punishment, from 2 pm to 4 or 5 pm. We were not allowed to chat, laugh or play, we had to sleep and if we did not, there was another form of punishment. Once we decided to defy the system and our punishment was the cleaning the whole camp. It was harsh. Add to that the naming and shaming by the director of the camp who would always bring his family to camp and put his kids in a separate tent.

Following the siesta, it would be time to go to the forest. Funnily enough, there was always some sort of woody area near the camp. The best was in Jijel. During our time there, it is singing again in preparation for the evening galas. I don’t know if it was part of national strategy in the eighties, but there was so much of it. By the amount of that tebrah we did in camps, I am quite surprised we do not have a Pavarotti, or a Charlotte church. Well, it is not like the singing we did was to train us to be proper singers; it was to fill the rather long hours of summer…

Two weeks, sometimes three was the length of our stay in the camp.  They seemed like a life time for me. I missed my parents, my hometown and my street; I missed the freedom of playing outside. During this time, we would get one or two visits by our parents. Only those who lived nearby had their parents come to visit them. Luckily I was one of them. I had a lot of pride when my dad used to come and visit me and my sister. My sister never cared much, I, on the other hand, felt that a visit from dad meant that I was important, by what logic? I don’t know. When my name would be called out, to go and see dad, I would stand up and take a long walk of pride, sometimes I would get applauded! My dad never missed an opportunity to show us that he loved us as kids. His visits meant a lot to me. I would talk about them for the few days that followed and would show off the stuffs he bought me which were chocolates or biscuits.

Two weeks later, a few shades darker, a bag of dirty clothes heavier and a ton of memories richer;  it is time to head back home. The mother would be waiting with a bar of soap ready to disinfect us at arrival.

Painful Wonderings

  As I took my seat on the train this morning, I looked out of the window in the hope of catching a glimpse of the sun. Not to my surprise, ...