Мой первый журнал SUNRISE November № 1 2018 | Page 36

TRAVELING
“Childhood” Conquers New Horizons
Alyona Novikova
Lyceum BSPU,
Blagoveschensk (Russia)
An incredible thing happened this
summer! They say that no matter how far the
fate brings you, you should believe that it is
exactly the place where you need to go. And
my fate took me to the other side of the world,
to sunny Africa – the RSA. Heat evaporating
every drop of moisture, a cloudless sky,
crocodiles and giraffes... The associations
that came to my mind when I first heard about
the trip were approximately like that. But the
reality turned out to be much harsher: +6 in
the rooms on the campus and +8 outside.
Winter is winter even in Africa. If you look at the
physical map, of course you will be able to see
that when it is July in Russia, it is only January in
South Africa. So that July was a little colder for
me in Pretoria than it would be in
Blagoveschensk. On the fourth day of our stay
on the campus, our group decided that four
camel wool blankets and a thermos flask with
tea did not give us any possibility at all to sleep
without our jackets on. So, without thinking
a b o u t t h e e x p e n s e s , w e h e a d e d fo r
supermarkets to buy electric heaters, as well
as adapters for them, as sockets in that
country are different.
I will remember South Africa for the
numerous exposures to different nations,
cultures and peoples. We communicated both
with the other contestants who had come to
take part in the games the same as us, and
also with volunteers and locals. I would like to
make special mention of Africa's inhabitants. I
stayed in the same campus section with kids
from Namibia. They were charismatic people
with a good sense of humor and a kind soul. It
was easy to speak English, we found common
language very well. Many people were
surprised at how good my command of English
was, and recommended me to continue
studying it. I still keep in touch with many of
them.
What was the most surprising thing?
Of course the world-famous Safari Park. We
rode jeeps like the penguins from the
Madagascar cartoon, and looked around
attentively. Everywhere around us there were
giraffes, lions, hippopotamuses, crocodiles,
zebras. As for zebras, their color pattern was
not black with white stripes and not white with
black stripes. The white stripes had a yellowish
hue. Perhaps the most horrifying reminiscence
was that after noticing the footprints of a lion
dragging its prey on the reddish-brown
ground, we turned off the road into the woods
to see that lion, as the footprints were quite
fresh. Luckily for me, we didn't find it. After the
safari, we had a buffet dinner awaiting us,
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where we were treated to a variety of dishes
including also crocodile and ostrich meat.
As for the purpose of our trip to such a
far-off land, which it took us about three days
to get to, it was the World Choir Games. It is an
olympiad held among the world's best choirs
competing for the champion's title. The WCG
take place every two years in different parts
of the world. Together with the “Childhood”
choir, a participant of which I am, we have
attended almost all the games. Germany,
China, the USA, Austria, Latvia, Russia, South
Africa – here are some of the countries that
have hosted this amazing contest. In 2016, the
“Childhood” choir was awarded the title of the
champion. And the result we got in Africa was
wonderful – the gold medal!
As for safety, there were no problems.
Of course we tried to keep together and not
to go anywhere alone, but nevertheless we
didn't have to worry. Our safety was
guaranteed to us.
Follow Alyona on Instagram:
@_alyonka_ponomareva_
November 2018 №1