Matterhorn Mayhem: Off the deep end ???

So we've started to settle in and are trying to find some sort of routine, though that 's proved to be quite the challenge. We've been teaching for 9 consecutive days and hiking/climbing 7 of those.

My "normal" schedule consists of the following:
6 am - wake up and pack my backpacks (both school and hiking) for the day's lessons/activities
7 am - breakfast; usually consists of granola, yogurt, and bread with peanut butter and honey/jam. Wish we had more options, but that's what they're serving, so I do what I can to pack as much in as possible to start the day off full.
7:50 - morning meeting. We discuss the day's events/activities, learn a Word of the Day in German (because Zermatt speaks Schweizerdeutsch, High German, some French and a bit of Italian), and discuss the weather - the weather determines whether or not we'll be out in the alps, hiking and climbing, or down in town playing soccer in the rain or board games.
8 am to 11:20 - Classes, periods 1-4. We each teach 4 classes (I'm teaching French 1 through French 4), one study hall, and have a planning period (which is 6 full periods for the students). However, the classes are broken up into a set of 4 and 2 by activities period.
11:20 - We depart for our activities. Each day is numbered 1-4, designating which group is doing what activity. For me specifically, I lead a short hike (~ 3.5 hours) with 4 kids on Day 1, have a solo hike/time to myself on Day 2 (WAHOO!), lead a long hike (~ 4-4.5 hours) with 4-6 kids on Day 3, then co-lead rock climbing with roughly 10-12 kids (for ~4.5 hours) on Day 4.
4:30 to 6:10 - Classes, periods 5-6. Luckily I proctor a study hall during period 5, then have my planning period 6th.
6:15 - Dinner
7:15 to 9:45 - Study hall, which we all proctor/use for lesson planning, grading, etc.
9:45 to 10:15 - The kids prepare for bed, and the teachers on duty (duty rotates every three days) go room to room at 10:15 to conduct room inspections and to check for lights out.
Afterward we usually finish any grading/lesson plans, try to socialize a bit to relax from the long day, and put ourselves to bed around 11:30/midnight.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: While this all sounds rather normal, the tricky part comes in when each day the schedule of classes rotates so that none of the afternoon classes remain always after activity period. The first day we started ran classes 1-6. The second day, however, started with 6, then 1-5. The third day started with 5, then 1-4. And so on and so forth. So not only are the activities changing on a daily basis, but so are the schedule of classes. Additionally, our hiking groups change every week, as do our dinner table seatings. And to make things just a tad crazier, we throw in trips on the "weekends" (which can actually take place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday ... as they did this past Monday/Tuesday) to hike in the mountains and stay in overnight huts, travel to France, Italy, other parts of Switzerland, and so on.

All in all, it's been amazingly wonderful, and everyone is getting along rather swimmingly, but I have to admit, I. Am. EXHAUSTED!

Below are some pictures of my "long hike" day, and of the overnight trip we just took, staying between two peaks in the alps! Hotel du Trift is the hut that we stayed in for one night, and it is nestled between two peaks that are just a few miles outside of town. Once the sun disappeared behind the peaks we gathered around tables outside, wrapped in blankets and sipping hot chocolate, to listen to the story of the first ascent of the Matterhorn. It was SUPER chilly, but definitely worth it!

*** Sorry the pictures are all jumbled and awkwardly aligned. I'm having trouble working with the blog program. It doesn't want to cooperate. :(