Interview with Mustafa 1. Have you met with somebody from our project after it ended on August? Unfortunately after the project i only got a chance to meet with Görkem and Heleri (other than Anna and you obviously) 2. What countries have you visited after the project? I couldn't travel a lot after the project because my sister got married this summer and I needed to be there but this winter I went to Sweden, Finland and Estonia with Anna 3. Most important thing that had happened in your life since end of our project? I met with my lovely girlfriend during the project and we started to live and travel together. We even met with each other's parents so that was a life changer for me. 4. Describe your most memorable situation from our project. Since it was one of the best 2 months of my life I've had lots of memorable situations so it's really hard to answer to this question but I guess road trips with Tsvety(Sama) and rakia were especially memorable 5. What to you think about Bulgaria? It was a really lovely country. At first it felt so empty but then when I started to wander around it was really cute and people were so nice. 6. Write a small summary of our EVS project in your point of view. Most of the things were really positive with all the good and bad memories (even the work). It was really nice so, in my point of view our EVS project was really cool and I'm thinking every young person should do an EVS. Interview with Anna 1. Have you met with somebody from our project after it ended on August? Other than my boyfriend Mustafa who I am currently living with, I have met Görkem who is one of his best friends and who has visited us and vice versa a couple of times this past year. And of course Heleri together with you a month ago back in Tallinn. 2. What countries have you visited after the project? Straight after Bulgaria, instead of flying back to Estonia, I got on a bus and travelled to Turkey, where I have been living ever since. Last October I took part in a youth exchange in Georgia and I also visited Sweden and Finland last month when I was back in Estonia this autumn. 3. Most important thing that had happened in your life since end of our project? Well, as I mentioned earlier, I met my boyfriend during the project and moved to Turkey. I’m pretty sure nothing can top that! 4. Describe your most memorable situation from our project. I don't know which would be the most special one for me but it was definitely interesting to hitchhike for the first time, to bake a garlic-birthday cake with Mustafa which left me with a bright blue mouth from all the food colouring in the frosting (unfortunately I can't make a cake without eating one third of the ingredients in the process). 5. What to you think about Bulgaria? I think that it’s an interesting place. I really like mountainous areas and Bulgaria has a lot compared to Estonia. There are also some cute towns and ancient castles with a lot of history but I disliked the more popular areas like the beaches near Varna that only seemed to cater to a certain type of tourists. 6. Write a small summary of our EVS project in your point of view. Before going there I tried to avoid forming some type of a mental image of the experience that I'm going to have to avoid being let down but I actually really enjoyed it. All the people were very nice, the work was way better than expected. I visited so many new places, had so many new experiences and can honestly say that it was a life-changing experience and I am very happy to have been a part of it. 7. Feel free to share something else with other project members It was a great summer. Tallinn Diary
In October I received from Heleri information that Anna and Mustafa are coming to Estonia for a longer period of time. I was totally excited about that news. I am always happy to meet with our project members and it is even better to host them in my homeland. We arranged a meeting with our only project couple and with Heleri on Wednesday. It was a busy day for me. I started my day in an university lecture. After that I headed right away to a shopping mall where we supposed to meet. On the way I passed by Stelios (a Cypriot guy who also came to Estonia to visit us with Heleri after a youth exchange) This kind of things can only happen in Estonia. To be honest, I was pretty nervous before the meeting. So much time had already passed and they both hadn't been active in social media since that time. So, I didn't even know how do they look like. But in Tiger shop I had no problem identifying them. They came back early in the morning from their Finland trip and were pretty exhausted. It was the coldest day in the autumn so far and Mustafa was wearing a leather jacket. It was sad seeing him actually suffering in Estonian weather. At least he had gloves and a hat given by Anna's mother. We also waited for Heleri and started our walking tour in Tallinn. Firstly, Rotterdam quarter, then scandalous Linnahall and hipster area Balti Jaam. We visited Baltic Station Market, it is a modern market from where you can find everything. Funny thing was that even for Heleri those places were something new to discover. I also had an opportunity to show my amazing university building. Actually, more the location of the university. Then came the best part, we went to the best pancake place in Tallinn. Kompressor is located in Old Town and prices are also good. Mustafa tried kali and mulled wine and he didn't say bad words about them. It is a good sign because Mustafa is picky about food and drinks. He even admitted that Kompressor was probably one of the best places in Estonia where has been eaten. I am pleased that my guests enjoyed my city (even though I don't live there actually) I leaded them to the tram station where they took a tram to the coach station from where they went back to Pärnu. Maybe we are modest grown-up people by now because we didn't take any selfies or photos together at all. Which is a pity of course. I took quickly a few photos of Anna and Mustafa on our way to the bus stop. And because I am the local I didn't photograph surrounding. To see what Tallinn offers you need to visit it on your own and I can be the guide 😉 I had a plan to meet with Mustafa and Anna once again during the Halloween but then I got sick and unfortunately I couldn't make to this appointment. Anyway, it was nice to meet them and talk about our lives.
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Interview with Heleri 1. Have you met somebody from our project after it ended? Yes! During this summer, in June, me and one of my best friends decided to award ourselves after graduation with a trip to Rome, Italy. There I met Quirino and stayed with him for a while. I believe he showed me different, non-touristy, side of Rome and I had the chance to taste homemade wine 😀 Plus, I do want to mention you, Eleri, as well, because, in my point of view, we have had rather one unusual encounter. I mean, come on, ending up in the same project in Cyprus was significant and pure awesomeness. 2. What countries have you visited after the project? After the project, I guess, I unleashed my inner traveller. One month after my arrival to home I packed my bag and went to United Kingdom, for youth exchange. In November saw Stockholm again. In February I visited Milan, Italy, and like previously mentioned, I visited Italy once again in summer, but during this trip I also visited Germany for two days and ended up seeing Lithuania as well. I think this summer I didn’t even experience the shitty Estonian summer, because in July I went to another youth exchange in Spain. Right after that, thanks to my work, I had the chance to visit (Latvia, Lithuania), Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, that even twice. And finally, I saw mysterious Cyprus. 3. Biggest thing that had happened in your life since end of our project? I’m not afraid to interact and communicate with people anymore. Before the project I was rather shy, conservative, and due to that I had missed lot of opportunities. I also changed my environment by sharing an apartment and surrounding myself with foreigners - mostly Erasmus people – and thanks to great support I finally graduated from university. All together, it has been eye-opening and emotional journey of self-discovery. 4. Describe your most memorable situation from our project. I am unable to pick one situation. I loved all deep conversations and contemplations with others; hitchhiking; learning the history; drinking Rakia; even working was okeish in some days. It was very different from my typical Estonian life. But, one of the most memoriable was definitely my first flying experience. I was little bit anxious, but Eleri helped me a lot 😀 5. What do you think about Bulgaria? When I think about Bulgaria now it just seems so far and it stirs up various emotions. I definitely dislike Bulgarian food, sorry. I love the nature, the mountains, it is just so rustic. Locals are very kind, even when they don’t speak English that much. Overall, it is not how I imagined – I thought It was more Soviet type of country (like my parents) before seeing it myself hahah. Still, it has a lot of developing to do – poverty is visible in all over the country. Except touristy places: e.g people who only go to Varna, they don’t see Bulgaria 😄 6. Write a little summary of our EVS project in your point of view. All the participants taught me something new, opened a path to different perspectives and I miss them. I had never ever experienced so much emotions in Estonia. I firmly believe I experienced all emotions there is to experience – from pure happiness to total sadness. Sometimes I wasn’t even capable of understanding what was going on. Perhaps I will never fully understand it, but every young person should crab this type of opportunity. It doesn’t even matter that we were tired all the time, had siestas, got bored, had some dramas and so on, because all the good things override negative ones. It’s worth it. 7. Feel free to share something else with other project members. I’m glad that I met the people I met and I wish you all the best 😀 Tartu diary Actually I have met Heleri twice since our project. First time we saw each other was in the winter, I don't even remember the month. I visited Ahhaa science centre where I had a meeting but after that I had a free time. Heleri picked me up with her cutie green car. We headed to her apartment, usually there were 3 persons more but all they were out of the town or in the hospital 😆 So, we had an empty flat. I brought a souvenir from Latvia, I guess it was a biggest mistake in my life. In the morning we both didn't want to hear about word "honey" anymore. I am really afraid of Heleri because everytime we drink together I'll be so drunk. She really influences me somehow. Because we only had one night and rough morning we didn't have a change to do something special during that time. And after that experience I hated Tartu even more! Cyprus diary It was pretty unexpected that we ended up in Cyprus together. I applied for a youth exchange in Cyprus and got approved. At some point there was one available place and I blandished Heleri to apply as well. Unfortunately she didn't get that place. But fate had other plans because one of the participant cancelled her participation and Heleri got a place. Life is wonderful if you can travel for free with your good friend. So, we met again in Tallinn coach station. We travelled together to Riga at first. I finally had an opportunity to hand over her youth pass. In the bus they offer free hot drinks. I was drinking my cocoa when suddenly bumpy road appeared and all the seat and my pants were all covered of it. Terrible, I feel so sorry about the bus company, I did my best to clean that mess there. In Riga we went for a small walk to the old town. Riga is a quite small city and similar to Tallinn so we didn't expect that we can get lost but we did. We were so certain that we made a small circle on the streets and we suppose to end up a place where we entered to the old town. But nope, actually we were pretty far away from the bus station. We used map and locals help to find our way back. Fortunately we made it to our Vilnius bus. It was deep night when we arrived and we weren't certain about using Taxify or not. But Heleri tried and luckily there was a car near to us. Driver was a local guy but still spoke English, so we had a small talk with him. Ride from bus station to airport was ridiculously cheap, only 2€ Airport was so empty that even security control didn't work. We waited a bit, then we passed the control and found a cosy sofa where to rest. We did our best to sleep but it was too cold and something disturbed us. In the plane we also tried to sleep. I am not sure when did I sleep but I felt that I have rested at least 3 hours. Out of plane we were pretty confused where to find a bus to the city centre. It was quite early in the morning an already super hot outside. Another confusing factor was the left-hand traffic, you have no clue which side you have to stand to get into the bus. Actually it wasn't difficult at all and now I know the airport pretty well. We did zig-zags in the city when we finally arrived to our destination point. We had a breakfast almost in the first place we saw. Costlone was full of cafes and bars. It reminded me Almeria a lot. I ordered a sandwich and ice cream. We thought that takes less time to prepare but hell no. It took quite a long time to make those two sandwiches. At least ice cream was really-really delicious. Then we went to the beach, we were rebel and didn't want to pay for a chair, so we just put all our things on the sand. Then Heleri noticed that she has lost her scarf. Really random but I also lost my scarf during the project. Larnaca's beach is literally amazing. Water was crystal clear and really warm. I felt like Aphrodite and understood how those myths came up. We did shifts to keep an eye of our bags. We had funny moment when we did a photoshoot inside a water, classic in our case. Coast guard members watched us and one of them passed by and commented something in Greek, it was so random but so funny. Because I saw how he scanned over Heleri's body. All day under the sun was harming for me. I was lazy enough to not put sunscreen on me and I saw results in the evening. My back and shoulders were totally burnt and ass as well, Bulgaria vol 2. We discovered city and Heleri bought a new scarf. Then we met with other Estonians, at least I wasn't only sunburn Estonian, Sten was my soulmate. Bus trip to Agros was the best opportunity to get to know other Estonians. We conquered back seats of the bus and started tindering. At some point situation went way too funny. Tiredness took over us and everyone tried to sleep a bit. Fortunately we shared a room with Estonian girls, so, me, Heleri and Laura were in the same room, Bulgaria vol 2.2. This time Heleri was more humane and during our conversation didn't leave me or didn't swich of the lights. Our room became a centre of Estonian community. Guys spent even way too much time in our room. Classic influence Heleri has to me got confirmed in the first evening. So much drinking, grazy dancing and it all ended in tears and with blanks in my head. I am kind of happy that Laura captured it all. It reminds me what happens if I drink too much. It was like the situation when I asked for Anna to capture my condition in Bucharest. Our village Agros concentrate to roses. We visited rose factory and it all reminded Bulgaria. This factory also makes rose candles, Sveshtari vol 2. We waited for the Bulgarian intercultural night a lot, rakia tastes still the same but nothing can beat homemade rakia, industrial one is not so valuable. During our projects we visited Pafos, Limassol and Nicosia. We even walked to Turkey, actually Northern Cyprus, which is occupied by Turks. And highlight of the trip was my birthday. I really felt love around me. It was a best birthday in my life and I definately enjoyed every moment of it, Heleri made it even more special. More about our youth exchange you can read under subject "Projects". After official project dates Heleri went with other Estonians to Ayia Napa. I heard rumors about wild life there but I wasn't there and comment it. Photos made by me, Heleri, Laura and Diana. |
AuthorJust another confused youth. Archives
November 2017
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