31 of July We started day with reflection on a previous day. We talked what went wrong on hiking and what was good. Then we had first part of Pizza workshop. We were into teams and tried to follow the recipe. Fortunately we had enough Italians who guided us. In the afternoon we had a strategy game outside organized by Bulgarians. It needed cooperation and good memory. Also, one reaction game, when you needed to be quick and feel people around you. Then we continued with second part of pizza making. We needed to make a perfect circle, Alfonso was best of it because he is working in a pizza restaurant. But when we realized that round pizzas don't fit to square pans we just gave up and tried to fit dough on them. We made different flavored examples. Night ended with dances outside. I followed the party from other side of the glass, I felt sick and thought that deep sleep is the best cure I can have. 1 of August First day of August we had a second field trip in Tartu. We visited beverage factory A. Le Coq. We had a tour inside a factory and museum. Later on we got to know their assortment of products. After lunch in the old town we had free time to explore more the city and have a Sugar Hunt. Sugar Hunt task was to photograph advertisements inviting us consuming sugar. When we went back to Mammaste Germans started preparations for their intercultural night. Actually German dishes felt like Estonian food. Oh, and that drinking game they introduced. It is an insane game and really sporty. Usually those games don't need so much effort from you. 2 of August I don't remember was it on that day or days before (probably last opportunity) when Alessio made a short course about shooting proper videos. Anyway on Wednesday we needed those skills because we needed to record videos that make people give up using that amount of sugar they are doing today. Because mafia game was popular during our exchange our group decided to create Sugar Mafia story. Recording progress was funny but at the end we managed to make a video. During the evening we shot even more. Birgit and Berit got an idea how to widen the awareness of the dark side of sugar. So, foreigners speaking different languages was pretty influential I guess. Because most of the Bulgarians left the project one day earlier we needed to sum up the project while they are presented as well. Alessio had made great surveys about our project. Those questions were great and answers even better. Patrick, "Are you single?" and perfect circle jokes were accurate. 3 of August Last day was weird, it went quickly. In the morning we revealed our secret friends. Bulgarians left and it made project end real. We had Erasmus+ introduction and they told us how it is possible to write projects on our own. After the lunch we went back to lake to discuss new project ideas. Easiest part was finding partners because we wanted to include mainly our project countries. This time the weather wasn't so warm and lake water neither but it was nice to relax on the beach. After Põlva visit we cleaned the house and presented our project idea. We had a last sauna night but before we made a sugar scrub. This cocoa powder, oil and sugar mix was amazing skin smoother and it smelled irresistibly. We had a great time and celebrated Birgit's first successful project when randomly fire alarm started working. Nothing was burning but the system played a trick to us. Allar was ready to save us with fire extinguisher. Our farewell party was long and full of dances. 4 of August I had to wake up early in the morning. Usually I don't eat fat for breakfast but I was hungry and ate last evening's dinner. Sadly normal food wasn't left, only vegan pasta. But hellyeah, it was the pest pasta I have ever eaten, it was so tasteful. We left the place with Spanish. It was a shitty weather once again but taxy picked us up and soon we were in the bus station. My bus ride to Tallinn was sleepy. Moreover, I had a cought and I felt really exhausted and down. Spanish people left in Airport and I could't have a proper opportunity to say goodbye to them. Anyway, soon I was at home and rested from intense period. I thought that I have now free time until university starts but life had another plans 😃 Thank you for capturing those days Alessio. Thanks to him we have a lot of high quality photos. Thank you Berit, Monika, Viktoria, Julia, Lennart and Romet as well. I used your photos in my blog as well. It is worth mentioning Birgit's effort on that project. Without her we wouldn't have "Oh My Sugar!" project at all 😊
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27 of July We had a field trip to Aakre jam factory and after that free time in Tartu. The weather was pretty gray and rainy. But while driving by bus it didn't matter for us. When we arrived we tried to do sync translation to a speech the owner had. Somehow he was obsessed with me and it was kind of annoying. By the way, he is cooperating with my relatives. Small Estonia, what more I can say. Before our tour we got white plastic bag coats and hats. Everything needed to be sanitary clean. After tour we got an opportunity to taste different jams. They even make jams without adding extra sugar and some jams were even super healthy. They figured out new types of jam cooperating with scientists. I couldn't resist eating more and more jam. After tasting experience factory got many new customers. So, that's why it was hard to leave the place. But we had to, because our next stop was in Tartu. We had an appointment with scientists who had done some sugar experiments on harvesting plants. They talked about experiments they have done over the years with sugar and plants. After the lecture we had a free time in the city. It was still rainy and recycling people used their jam factory plastic bag coat against the rain. Like me 😁 We were split into different groups. Some people preferred to stay in a coffee shop. But our group firstly visited the botanic garden. It was a first time for me there. I am not keen to Tartu, so I haven't explored it much. I guess this place is amazing with sunny and warm weather, then it is really good to enjoy time there. Then we went to a coffee bar in the main square. We watched the photos that Alessio had made. There were some pearls, when you zoom in you can see funny moments captured. On our way back we got news that Ezio and Romet have got new phones. Back in Mammaste we had a Slovak intercultural night. They made a quiz about Slovakia. We had to sit on top of each other, it turned out really funny. On culinary side Slovaks prepared potato pancakes for us. They were delicious even though they do like pretty moderate. And we drank Kofola, it feels like mix of kali and coke to me. 28 of July It was a nice sunny day again. We started our day on a sporty way. We challenged doing different exercises. It was a nice task developing cooperation. Later Bulgarians organized some discussions for us. For and against statements about sugar. We needed to present our opinions to others. It was kind of debate. In the afternoon we made a poster about our country eating habits. Each national team made a typical menu relied on their compatriots habits. For us it was easy to design the poster. We stuck snack papers there and because we were in Estonia it was easy to find Estonian products. It was educating analyzing national menu influence to our health. After the workshops some people were really tired. And when you walked through the house you saw many people sleeping on the couches. Usually we spent free time playing UNO, Double or mafia. We even played double in our own language, so it was a real Tower of Babel. In the evening we all got wet because we played a really funny wet towel game. Actually water was refreshing and the game itself made us cheerful. After the game we just had a water war. Then it was important to run as far and as fast as possible. That evening we had a Bulgarian national evening. Bibby and Alina gave us a magnificent performance. Their voices were great. Audience was charmed and applause was loud. Then we tasted shopska salad and banitsa. I missed Bulgarian food a lot and eating it once again in Estonia was special for me. Last part of the night was odd. Lennart had interesting stuff in his car. Shisha was kind of normal thing but dinosaur costume was something I didn't expect. 29 of July We had more games in the morning, for example ninja game. All the players who played it for a first time were really confused. I literally didn't know what I was doing. Spanish team introduced us what a healthy menu should look like. Then we discussed about that topic we had to answer the questions they had made for us. It was once again an opportunity to gain points for your team. Sugar Bae gained some points for sure. Then, when we knew how a healthy menu should look like we tried to make one on our own. It wasn't something fictional, we made it for our hiking. We had some rules to follow, for example the price and amount of the stuff we want to carry with us. It is unusual to prepare something for cooking outside in the forest. So, we had to cooperate to figure out what would be the best meal to prepare there. Finally we thought that it is nice to make wraps with chicken and salad. Moreover we had different groups who were responsible for food, for entertainment and for navigation. Because two Bulgarian participants were from art university, Alina one day created a balloon-man Patrick. And people, especially Spanish girls demonstrated their art skills on Allar. He agreed this behaviour. In the evening we had an Estonian cultural night. We started with preparations pretty early. Birgit fried black bread and guys made sprat breads. Uhh, this disgusting smell. I am not friend of Estonian food but I prepared kama. I think it is the best part of Estonian cuisine. Romet had a nice quiz about Estonian language. Before that we showed some videos and had a presentation about my homeland. We wanted to make something active during our cultural night as well. So, we made a wife carrying competition. Me and Lennart demonstrated how Estonian position looks like. Now, when I have seen photos of that moment I can read people's reaction. At first it seemed funny for them, but then they got scared. Probably not because they were concerned that I would fall, just because they had to do it as well. After activities we went to a dining table. For my surprise people liked sprat breads and "Terviseks" was the main word people used when they drank Vana Tallinn. We ended Estonian night traditionally in the sauna. 30 of July In the morning everything went greatly, we packed all the stuff we needed and started walking. I was in the navigation team, but we had many members and I had a really interesting conversation with Zuzana, so that's why I didn't pay attention where we are or who is even leading us. Yes, navigation team failed and we got lost 😅 But feedback we got afterwards was not so tragic, people enjoyed the extra time and overall it was useful to lose more calories. On our way we saw a snake. It was a viper, Estonian only poisoned snake. Car smashed it but snake was still alive and angry to us. On those moments you hate how life works. This snake died because of people. Anyway, soon we reached our eating place. There was an open-air kitchen. We started cooking and having fun at the same time. People dressed up as sumo wrestling competitors. They were so funny and their moves were limited. After moving around we were so hungry that we needed extra food. Thanks to Berit car it was easy to go to the shop and later everyone got fulfilled. There was a huge Estonian type of swing near by and we just couldn't miss the opportunity to try it on. For foreigners it seemed creepy but I enjoyed it. We had also a critical moment because Julia fell from the swing Alfonso's quick reaction saved her from tragic consequences. Hiking in Taevaskoja was easier because we had a marked path. Time in Taevakoja was amazing, this place itself is so beautiful and peaceful. For some reasons cold river water seemed tempting for us. Soon most of the people were in the water. Then we had some open-air activities. Somehow we even survived squat challenge. It was longest 3 minutes in my life probably. Then you had time for yourself in the forest. We had an opportunity to find a quiet place where to reflect our feelings and write down the information we got in our diary. I also used this time picking blueberries. I am addicted to fresh berries and I can't lose an opportunity to eat them. On our way back we visited punker, sadly it wasn't preserved. Anyhow, people who came with us got a short Estonian history lesson. On our way back weather turned bad and it started raining. Typical Estonian weather. That evening we enjoyed Spanish dances and food. By the way, every evening we read out secret message box. And during the night Patrick got some improvements. Probably he grew older because he got glasses and some extra wrinkles.
23 of July It was my first youth exchange ever. To be honest I applied because all the participants countries seemed really nice and I had nothing better to do in the summer. I have visited all the project countries except Slovakia, so I had a pretty good overview of many nations already. I have never thought how far one point in Estonia can be from your home. But bus trip from Tallinn to Põlva took more than 3 hours. From Tartu two Germans sat in front of me. I thought that it is not normal that Germans are in Põlva bus, they must be bounded with our project. So, I asked are they also going to the youth exchange. Yup, I met with Mara and Dario from German team. Mara already knew Birgit, our project organizer. So, she knew who we have to look for in the bus station. I also met Kristjan there. We met in the previous project. We had a lift to Mammaste and had to take care of potatoes, to clean and peel them. Otherwise we would have starved this night. Hhaha, this time we got lucky because Spanish team already dealt with the food. In the first evening we talked to each other and somehow the topic went to a Despacito song. Spanish people translated the song. And we searched the Estonian and German versions of it. Somehow "Tasakesi" became the most popular version. Maria and Laura even started learning the lyrics. During the evening more and more people arrived. But last men standing were Estonians. Me, Allar, Kristjan and Lennart were up way too late. I don't even know how we had so much to talk to. 24 of July Morning was really peaceful. It was a music all over the house organized by Alessio. On that day we played name games that Spanish team had prepared for us. We started with balloons. It was difficult to break the balloon if you are afraid of it. So, I used a branch to break it. Inside a balloon there was a name of one of the members. With that person you had to talk and share facts about your life. After that you had to introduce this person to all the others. My partner Laura decided to mention that I am single, like it was certainly the most important fact about me. I guess this "are you single" topic started from there. Then we round games, where you had to remember someone's gesture and imitate it. Then name games with ball of yarn, so in the end we had a dense net. In the second part of the day Estonian team introduced the project in general. We had a quick overview about the timetable and everybody got involved to the group work. We divided ourselves into different groups to organize our life a bit. For example, we made cleaning and breakfast teams. Then Romet organized a pillow game, everybody enjoyed it. We ended our session with social games. Then we went wandering around to find the closest shop. In the evening Bulgarians finally arrived. 25 of July In the morning we played some more name games to get to know each other more. Games with ball and a bed sheet. This time I wore T-shirt with my name on the back, I thought if people can see my name it is easier to remember it. And those funny games to react quickly and silly at the same time. For example to be a washing machine or James Bond. At some point we went really physical. We held our hands and made a real mess and tried to solve it afterwards. because it was super hot outside. Burak introduced the best activity ever for us, a massage. Summer arrived to Estonia for a couple of days. So, after lunch we went to a local beach. I didn't know that in Põlva there is a sandy beautiful beach. It was refreshing to swim in the lake after walking there, because it wasn't so close to our accommodation place. Most of the people played a volleyball. In the evening we had a mission impossible organized by Germans. We had to write a song and make a sugar logo with organizers. In the evening we had an Italian intercultural night. They had educating presentation about most of the gestures they have in their language. Everyone knows that talking is only one part of Italians communication. 26 of July
We started our morning really actively with sugar islands game. At first it seemed an easy task but if you lost your attention for a moment you already lost one paper sheet (read: island) you needed to jump on the papers or squeeze yourself into a smaller group. It was nice to hug each other and I have to mention that we really had physical exercises. Then Slovak team introduced different body shapes and reasons what might cause it. We made international teams and started to compare in different tasks. But every great team needs a logo and a name. Our group name was SugarBae, we got inspiration from famous Turkish cook. Then we watched some scary videos about unhealthy lifestyle. Afterwards we had to make a food pyramid into our international team. If your team's pyramid was close enough to the exact one you gained points. By the way, the real correct food pyramid doesn't exist. We did a quiz to gain some more points for your team. Because the weather was nice we had some more outdoor activities. We played "grab a flag game" with Italian flag, actually I don't know how to call it but it seems pretty reasonable. On the second part of the day we made warning videos about the sugar in our everyday life. Those videos based on sugar experiments we made to figure out how much sugar products consist. |
AuthorMy connection with Erasmus+ projects. Youth exchanges and training courses. Archives
January 2020
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