Summer camp '02
Thirteen is a lucky number indeed: Especially when there are 13 people sally forth in order to explore Lake Baikal. The plane tickets were in the mail box one day before departure, and concerning the demands of Sascha's first aid kit we took the cake: one sawn finger, two huge blisters, a scalded foot, and a stomach flu, which paralysed half of the team for two days. But otherwise...? As lucky fellows we more than once despised the anti-self-determination pill, which is often supposedly necessary in Russian regions. And Sascha reckoned that this wonderful summer was especially made for us anyway.
The only water that we saw for 3 weeks was the deep blue of Lake Baikal, in which we immersed regularly. While the big flood was befalling our hometown Dresden, we headed to the pebbly beach with our sleeping bags, where we counted shooting stars before falling asleep. Before sunrise and sunset we often overcame 500 meters of altitude at the edge of the bay Salif Begul in order to dangle our legs and enjoy the view. Even though we didn't allow ourselves to miss the mealtimes. At least not until the end, when eating unexpectedly turned into work after all. There was just too much of the yummy zwieback with raisins and the hot compote made of dried fruits, and of course not to forget the Kasha, which we increasingly gave our own flavour.
When we returned to Irkutsk after 10 days at Lake Baikal, we were shocked by the information about the flood in Dresden for a short time, but an ample picnic with melon and smoked cheese submontane the Angara was able to quiet the minds. In any case it didn't help to keep thinking about it and thus we rather scaled some rocks in the taiga without rope and double bottom, and discussed philosophies of life every evening at the campfire and even while searching a pocket knife in the dry leaves, in order to be absolutely prepared for the Russian Banya in Irkutsk, where we gobbled the last melon of the Russian summer.
When we returned to Dresden, which was effected by the flood, each of us was given a sandbag, and we got ready to examine our homes and to help with the clearance work. It was an unforgettable summer that held us together, even though we inevitably dispersed into all thirteen points of the compass afterwards...
