13 of November On Monday we were concentrated to European Voluntary Service. Then we had a guest speaker from The Netherlands. She shared her story how she had lived through difficult period of her life. Then she taught us how to make a diary just out of paper. The outcome of our origami work was a gratitude journal where we wrote down some important aspects for us. Then we wrote down different things that we are grateful for on a big paper and passed the sheet of paper. Some sentences were really inspiring and it was cute that people were grateful for their presence in this project and our amazing company. But there was funny sentences as well, it is just adorable that Tibi is grateful for Jesus aka Oskar. Yeah, we had a Jesus with us in the project, an Estonian guy reminded Jesus Christ. It went viral really quickly and I guess Oskar didn't mind that everyone called him Jesus. Later on Buket and our guest speaker (unfortunately I don't remember her name) shared their EVS experience with us. On previous days we also heard Michal and Daniela stories. I realised how important is to have a video of your project, then it is easier to show the environment and activities that you had there. After lunch we had an activity with another guest speaker as well. This time a person from Mladiinfo. Petra held her session in a new room downstairs. We carried all the chairs there and played an active game there. We were standing randomly on the chairs and then we had to make an alphabetical order out of our names without talking. It was a challenge to not fall down from a chair and communicate with our body language. Second round was with our date of birth. After energizer we watched a video about Obama's speech. We analyzed it and Petra made a quick overview of elevator pitch. We also got a task to make a play out of different topics and present it in a different genre. It was a task to express yourself a creative way. I hoped to meet with Adrian (a guy who participated in Estonian youth exchange and lives in Bratislava), he promised at first visit me in Modra, but I received information that he felt sick and maybe we can meet when I visit Bratislava. We ended our Monday with Romanian, Lithuanian and Estonian intercultural evening. We were ready with preparation because we had thought everything throw in Estonia already. In the presentation we made fun of ourself, you know Estonian ironic humor. Romanians used the same way, they showed us impossible situations that had happened in Romania. Lithuanians made a quiz about their culture, they also included Estonians with our national dish kama. Best part of Lithuanian presentation was historical timeline in their songs progress. Kornelija and Šarūnė sang so beautifully that it bough tears to the audience. After presentation we started with tasting local goods. We brought candies, chocolate, kama and black bread with us. Moreover, brochures about Estonia. It was cute to see that people were really interested in our culture and nature. I suppose that everyone liked Estonian sweets and Vana Tallin is a real reason to visit Estonia. For Michal our night was most meaningful. I know the feeling when you see familiar things from your times in this country. Romanians brought a sausage which was a good combination with Estonian and Lithuanian bread. By the way, for foreigners it tasted sweet, which was a surprise for me. Romanians also bought home made wine and their type of rakia with them. And Lithuanians offered variety of cheese. I guess I am addicted to cheese after the project because they all tasted so good, the international evening ones and local Slovak ones. Lithuanians offered also blackcurrant wine, we have same type of wines because in our climate it is expensive to grow grapes. 14 of November In the morning we discussed what is learning for us. We used Dixit cards to open this topic. We picked a card that symbolizes learning for us and then described the card to others. And because of good weather we went outside to play ninja game. Spanish guys are really good at that game because Pablo and Sergio were the last two people in the game. After fun we were divided into four groups to start preparing a presentation about EVS/YE. I was in EVS group and we talked about national volunteering as well. Because there are so many opportunities to work for your community. We decided to introduce ourselves in our own language to present our culture a bit. Then we wanted to ask from them what problems they can see in their community. Our aim was to make them thinking about that actually they have the power to solve those problems. And finally we had a plan to present the voluntary work experience we had. Best way was to show pictures. Our team-work was smooth and before lunch we were already ready. After lunch we went hiking in the mountains near by. It was a great autumn walk and talk session. I have never hiked in autumn time. During my EVS it was so common to wander around and also when I arrived back to Estonia. Mountains weren't too high but it was still better than in Estonia because we don't have mountains at all. It was a time to discover around, talk with others and concentrate to your own wellness. It was inspiring to hear Rada's story that she started running in the morning because of this project. In every morning we had an opportunity to go running or meditate. It is nice that we had those extra morning activities, though I didn't participate on them. While walking in the forest Jirka said an apposite fact. We have got more time because we sleep less than usual. So, actually the week has been longer. It really makes sense, you have about 4-5 hours more time to socialize. In the evening we had a Spanish and Czech intercultural night. Spanish people went to the shop with huge bags hours earlier. And they cooked hours in the kitchen. Their presentation was interactive. They showed us how people from different regions act, they sang and read a poem for us and they guided us to impersonate bulls. We were running of the bulls to imitate San Fermin. It was definitely the best activity we have had. It was such an out of box thinking. And of course, we enjoyed their culture while drinking sangria. Czech people tried to challenge us with tongue twisters. It was kind of impossible to spell those sentences. After presentations we got to know more about Czech beer culture. And Kofola, it is still not sure what kind of origins this beverage has because it was invented in Czechoslovakia. So, both Slovaks and Czechs think it is their one. Spanish people offered a tomato sauce and a pie they prepared before. And night ended with Spanish songs, as usual... 15 of November After breakfast we caught a bus to Modra centre. After driving about 10 minutes we reached the destination. The high school looked like an average one in Estonia. At least from outside. Students weren't too excited to see us, but this is normal reaction for European youth. You can see tourists in every big city and while you are travelling you meet many foreign people. I was kind of nervous before our presentation. It was weird because I have done it before as well but then in Estonian. Our first class session was great. Students were pretty talkative . . . I have seen Estonian pupils, so, yeah Slovak youth were pretty great ones. This class in general was more active than the second one. There was no teacher in the classroom which made atmosphere more free. Our second class was more modest and it was harder to make them talk. In general it was an encouraging experience to have those presentations in Modra school. It was educative for both sides, for us and for students. After school session half of our group went to Bratislava and half of the people stayed in Modra. It was a sunny day once again, a great day to discover the capital city. First of all we went to the castle. From there it was a beautiful view to Danube river and to the city in general. We went to the castle garden, it was kind of impossible to stay in the shadow. Even though it was sunny, it was very cold. From there we headed directly to old down. We visited St Martin's cathedral. It was a disappointment from me, it looked so similar to Tallinn's churches. And I have spent already too much time there and have seen so many similar things. But at least stained glass was more powerful than in Estonia. Then we walked on the defensive wall and had a free time in the old town afterwards. I had many deja vu moments while walking there. It was an anxious feeling. I really felt that I am in Tallinn, but this wasn't the place where I wanted to be at that moment. I found a big shopping mall and bought 1,5 kg sweets for my family and friends. The main reason was the cheap price 😆 After compulsory souvenir shopping and I even visited one more church. In the main square they prepared for Christmas market. I couldn't meet with Adrian even this time, his health had gone even worse and he couldn't leave the dormitory at all. It was a pity, but that how life goes. I have been in the same situation when I couldn't meet with my Turkish guest because of my health conditions 🤒 We needed to meet in the square but we were missing Kertu and Mari-Liis, after minutes of confusioness we found them and went to the bus stop. It was a traffic jam period and we missed one bus while searching for lost Estonians and another buss took its time. And when it finally appeared it was totally packed. Somehow we press ourselves into the bus and when it was our stop, we just ran to the Modra bus. It was just matter of minutes but we made it. Thanks to us even two local ladies made it to the bus. We arrived about an hour before dinner, so, perfect timing. It was worth of running to the bus. I used this time to pack my stuff, it was hard to leave the place. I was so used to my cosy room and quiet environment. On the last dinner they offered a pumpkin puree soup, I call it a voluntary soup now. Last/first time I ate it I worked as a volunteer in Tallinn Freedom square where I stuck balloons. After hard work they offered this delicious meal. But before farewell party we had a Slovakian and Greek international evening. We were already into a Slovak culture all this week long but they showed us some more informative videos and taught us how to dance grazy polka. Greek people introduced their culture via presentation and of course we danced their traditional dances. Greek people made tzatziki and offered muesli. It was the same good one I bought from Cyprus. After gastronomy experience we had a last party together. Last oriental dances with Vaso and last opportunity to sing in Spanish. Many people went to sleep quite early but people who were still awake started to play a dangerous game. You suffer if you are in the game and you suffer if you are outside of game. Hhaha, actually the situation wasn't so mad, it was rather funny. 16 of November We left Modra in the morning, fortunately not too early. Last breakfast was pretty quiet, not many people were up by that time. In this blue mood we left the panzion and went to the bus station. It was weird, when we walked out of the house and realized that we can speak in Estonian again, no need to translate your thoughts anymore. After arriving to Bratislava we took another bus to the bus station. We arrived other side of Danube but we had plenty of time, so, we enjoyed the time we spent by the riverside. Oh God, I have chilled in different spots and states of Danube so many times. Danube is like my friend who I visit in different countries and hang out with it 😁 Bus station under the bridge was pretty odd, probably if you arrive at first to this bus station the first impression is not the best one. Why do they even need more than one bus station, the main one is excellent and should serve all the bus lines. In Budapest we went to the city centre. I supposed to meet with my friend Arpad (a guy from an Estonian project who lives in Hungary) but I couldn't find the exact place where we should meet and then my phone gave up working and started uploading the system. So, it was impossible for me to take a contact with him. It was a faith that I couldn't visit my friends in their environment. Instead of meeting my friend, I discovered the area. They already had Christmas marked and the square was decorated with lights. I heard scary stories about Budapest metro conditions but I were lucky, two times I used it I got a decent train. I saw tiredness of Estonian participants faces. This condition after long travelling after a week full of activities was reasonable. In Hungarian airport it was a weird coincidence to fly with Finnish people. Estonian, Finnish and Hungarian are all Finno-Ugric languages, so, we heard languages that sounded like Estonian. In Helsinki airport Oskar thought to check out invalid life and tried wheelchair transportation. Tho, it wasn't nice act at all. I gave to my Estonian group members back envelopes with postcards of Slovak monuments from different places all over the country. In our pre-meeting I gave them a task to write down the expectation about the project. It is useful because if you write something down and believe in it usually happens. By the way, I haven't opened my envelope yet, for me the project isn't over yet. By faith we sat next to each other with Oskar in Helsinki-Tallinn flight. We discussed about funny safety card design. Figures were contradiction to physics rules. In Tallinn it was cold and my way to home was pretty slippery. Thank you Mladiinfo Slovensko, Kertu, Mari-Liis, Ester, Martina, Lucia, Šarūnė and Ema for great shots. Hopefully you don't mind that I used those visual materials for my blog. Thank you Seiklejate Vennaskond for being my sending organization. Check out their projects here.
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This time I had a really special task on the youth exchange. I was a group leader for a first time. Fun fact is that I was the youngest one in the Estonian team. We had a meeting with almost the whole group an evening before their departure to Budapest. Meeting was held in my really awesome university room. But in the same time, thanks to my awesome uni I couldn't start my journey a day earlier. So, I followed them on Friday. 10 of November My day started early in the moring when I went to the airport and had a quick flight to Helsinki. I guess Tln-Hel and Tln-Riga flights are the most pointless ones I have ever had. Thanks to different time zone I won an extra hour and arrived to Budapest still in the morning. I discovered the city centre and walked to the bus station. I met there with other Estonians who had already spent one day in that magnificent city. While waiting our Bratislava bus we had a great imagination about how the city got its name. We created a connection between Russian language. "Brat" "i" "Slava" (brother and Slava). In reality the name situation was more complicated. I have never travelled before being so sick as I was that time. Oskar comforted me and said that at least I have something to remember from that trip. But actually we were surprised how great the bus was. It was like travelling with Lux Express, media screen and hot drinks. Only weird thing was the travel assistant. In Estonia you have more independence during your trip, you can take drinks by yourself and don't need any assistant for that. Bus was on time but as a normal thing it made a random stop before Hungary-Slovakia border. Throwback to my Balkan trip in 2016 😆 For my surprise, because I had no imagination of Slovakia, Bratislava bus station was really modern. It was a good first impression of the country. There Buket already was waiting for us with Lithuanian team. Bus ride to Modra was interesting because it was dark and bus was packed. On the back of the bus I noticed three Spanish persons sitting, I was pretty sure that they are also from our project because it can't be just a coincidence that three foreigners are going randomly to Modra. And I was right, they were also from our project. Walking to our accommodation place was pretty confusing. In the dark walking uphill you try to understand what surrounds you but it is very complicated. I noticed many private houses with fancy gardens. And I need to mention Modra Harmonia bus station, in the dark it is creepy as hell 😬 When we arrived Chech people had been there for hours already. Then we had our first delicious dinner and played some name games on the training room. Training room seemed really cozy and kind of Estonian. In the false fact game I was pretty clever, I knew what to write down to bamboozle people. At the same time I am not the best guesser myself, didn't gain too many points. During the night all missing participants arrived as well. This time I shared my room with two Spanish girls 🇪🇸 11 of November In the morning we played some more name games and got information about our hosting organization Mladiinfo. We all received a Mladiinfo notebook to write up all ideas we get while the activities. We wrote down our expectations about the project and we improved our drawing skills by sketching people around us. The results were hilarious. It was a nice and sunny day outside and we had an activity toilet paper game outside. It was funny to see how ambitious some persons were, at least we got to know a lot of information about them. Everyone had a personal cup with a name label. One label reminded me a number and not only for me. Actually it was "Zois" instead of "2015" and we made so much fun out of it. Then, suddenly The Dress topic came up. And still, some people see black and blue, others white and cold. After years nothing has changed. After the tasty lunch we went to the shop. I like the variety of products they have there. My biggest problem in Bulgaria was lack of variety of goods. Village was small but still some people got lost and ended up in a vinery place where they tasted different types of local wine. In the afternoon our training room had changed a bit. Mattresses which were next to wall in the morning were now laid down. Of course people took an advantage of it and enjoyed resting there. But still we had to start with our activities. We were divided into our national groups to discuss about our culture. What is good, weird and bad in our community. I really liked how Ivanka made parallel between this task and EVS experience afterwards. Because even your country habits might be odd and also different countries culture, so you should adopt different habits as a natural thing. At the same time we got information about different countries. Estonian and Greek culture might be really different but we have some similarities with Lithuanians. Then we discussed what non-formal organizations we have in our country and what values they have for youth. At first it was hard to write something down but in reality there were so many different types of organizations. We talked what reputation voluntary work in general has in our country. Finally, we tried to find values what we want to achieve and tried to figure out how we should do that. It was a Saturday night and the club was only 500 m away. So, we thought, why not to visit that place. It was surprising how normal the club was 😂 We even got an orange glowing armlet. Lighting was excellent but the music there was not my cup of tea. Kertu really enjoyed the music but when they started playing Slovak old songs even she was disappointed. 12 of November
Morning was gray like our mood. Most of the people were sleepy from the party but everyone participated actively in the activities. We had a harvesting circle, we looked back to a previous day and set the goals for the next days. Our missing participant from Romania arrived as well. Actually I didn't even know that we are missing a person because there was some kind of trouble with Romanian participants, they couldn't send 5 persons to the project. So, we only had two Romanians. But Tiberiu fit to our group smoothly. This morning the games we had were different from my previous experience which was nice because usually everything is familiar to me already and it might get boring. We used our actor skills to peek into unexpected situations you might face to. People were pretty modest but we still had nice situations. Then we played a number game to improve our group work and velocity. After kind of energizers we made groups to solve a problem they gave us. We got roles to protect our point of view but the same time find the compromise. At lunch we had a really plentiful meal again. This time I ate something familiar from Slovak cousine - potatoe pancakes (Zemiakove placky) - I have made those at home as well. The recipe is quite easy and the result tasty, I received the recipe from a youth exchange in Estonia where were Slovak participants. Great example of intercultural learning. But food in Penzion Na Luke in general was plentiful. Every lunch we had a soup + meal which is insane. Every day we also had fresh fruits and some bakery desserts. I guess I'll never have enough of Slovakian food, I ADORE this food there. On that day the dessert Buchty na Pare was great. Actually I guess that dessert has Polish origins. I guess I'll celebrate my birthday there and I don't care how all my Estonian family members and friends reach the place 🤣 this food orgasm is worth it! Because all the participants didn't fit into the main house, some people lived in the private house. The way to the house was adventerous, there was a creepy doll on the way. But house itself was great, made us (people in the main house) even a bit jealous. It was a funny phenomen in Slovakia, in every evening it was raining. Every evening it reminded us that it is autumn outside. At daytime there was even a sunshine and all the weather reminded me September weather in Estonia, it is hard to believe that was November there. Though, in the evening we had a living library session. The guy who talked about social business was really into the topic. He was very inspiring, Šarūnė got inspired the most I guess 😊 Dushan personal approach tore us out of the comfort zone and made us think about how we can reach our dreams. A guy from national agency talked us more about what criterions are important to apply for a project. A Macedonian guy David shared his experience he had when he did an EVS in Slovakia, by now he is really living there. So, EVS changed his life completely. Lucia told us about how to create a youth exchange through informal group. This evening we partied at home. Grazy dancing and at some point my scarf got a lot of attention. Guys loved that fluffy, warm and pink item. At least it was pretty useful while playing limbo (at least this how we call it in Estonia) 😀 |
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