July 12 (Day 6 at the camp)
By Denis Bogdanov

Today started as usual: Misha woke up earlier than everyone else. As for Max and Ivan Alexeyevich — I don’t know, because I woke up after them. Those who wanted to, handed in their clothes for laundry.

At 8:45 we went to morning exercises, where we learned that Misha and Dasha are in Group 4, while the rest of us — me, Maxim, Ivan, Sofia, and Katya — are in Group 5B.

After breakfast, our squad “Sueta-86” (Hustle-86) headed to the bus because we were going on an excursion. Our familiar guides Bayan and Sofia were there. Forty minutes on the road, and we were at the foot of Mount Olympus! There was a cable car station there. Near the building was a small pond with fish, but we didn’t go to them — we just admired the nature and breathed in the mountain air. For the first time during all these days, I actually felt like taking photos.

After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, we started our ascent. We were glad we came on a Tuesday, not on the weekend. There were 25 people in the cabin, and the adults didn’t really let the children get a good view.

Dasha was very scared, especially when we passed the support pillars and it felt like we were falling — but she bravely held on, and we held on together with her. Many of us were scared at those moments! At the top of the mountain, we agreed to meet at a certain time. The mountain offered a great view of the surrounding peaks.

I don’t think this is the highest mountain in Turkey — 2,365 metres. I should check that. In the distance, huge mountains could be seen! The Turks believe that this is where the ancient Greek gods once dwelt (and where are they now?): at the bottom, near the boarding area, there’s a model of the mountain with Zeus, Poseidon, and Pegasus, and at the top there are also two large statues. I think the Olympian gods are actually from Greece. There was a Wi-Fi network on the mountain, so I was even able to call my mother, and I told Elena that she could use the internet.

Dasha was scared throughout the entire trip — she held Maxim’s hand and walked with him everywhere. Later, Dasha and Misha had a snack at a café, and Misha treated Dasha to macarons to cheer her up. One of the stalls sold very tasty ice cream — I had two scoops. Dasha and I went to a souvenir shop and bought gifts for our parents.

On the way back, Dasha felt a bit carsick, but everything went without incident: Ivan Alexeyevich’s candy and a motion sickness pill helped. Katya also admitted that she was more afraid of the winding mountain road than even the ascent itself, but she made it through.

Misha and Maxim fell asleep on Ivan Alexeyevich’s shoulders. We were half an hour late for lunch, but they fed us and sent us off to English class. Dasha and Misha were with us because they had missed their own English lesson. Michelle, our teacher, asked us questions from a quiz we had already done before, so Katya found it easier to answer — but now we had to answer quickly, within 30 seconds, and Ivan sometimes translated for us.

Before afternoon snack, we were thinking about our performance number, because today all the squads had to introduce themselves and present some kind of act. Later, everyone went to the pool — only me, Misha, Elena, and Maxim actually swam. The others played near the pool, under the canopy. Misha learned to dive perfectly like a “bomb” and not sink underwater.

After dinner, we went on stage to present our number. It seemed to go pretty well. We clapped the loudest for ourselves. Then we wanted to rest, but soon the disco ruined our plans. Afterwards, we had our reflection session. Everyone noted Dasha’s courage, and Dasha thanked each of us for our support. Misha and I figured out whose bed was messier and whether it’s okay to take other people’s things — especially candy. It’s not.

I think the day went well — I enjoyed the trip and the Turkish ice cream.