Alumnae Story
Crossing the Language Barrier

By Wendy Grove
Middleburg, Florida

In 1976, I was an 11-year-old Junior Girl Scout in Troop 3, in Keflavik, Iceland. My mother was my troop leader. During this year, the American Girl Scouts were invited to participate in a Scouting Jamboree with the Icelandic Scouts. This was the first time scouts from the American military base were invited to participate.

We attended the Jamboree and made new friends, learned new skills and were introduced to a new way of scouting. You see in Iceland, the Scouts are not separated by gender, so all the boys and girls participated together.

During the Jamboree, we were challenged to put up tents blindfolded (and the leaders would hide parts from us), complete an obstacle course set up over a very cold creek, and climb an extinct volcano. Once at the top of the volcano, you received a hand stamp, and by showing the hand stamp to the event leaders, you would then receive a Jamboree pennant.

The thing I remember the most was how well all the kids could communicate even through we spoke different languages.