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.
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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. 18 of July The topic of the day was project development. We finished our booklets, set needs and objectives, defined problems. We focused on the needs for our chosen projects then the aims and objectives using the NAOMIE method. Erasmus+ aims and priorities are now understandable for all of us. Last intercultural evening: Italy, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco brought exotic flavours to our everyday Estonian cusine table. Almontaser used again his artistic skills and made henna paintings for us. We all were really excited and the line to henna painting was long. 19 of July We got to know the application form and inclusion dimension. It was intense work to fill in the application form. Luckily we had experienced grandmas who checked our progress and gave some advice. In our team everything went smoothly until Nefeli's computer gave up. We filled in the timetable what we want to achieve with our project and presented it. Our jury voted based on our presentation. Every team passed the Vardi National Agency. After hard project writing task we had a free evening just to relax. Secret friend game has gone wild. Participants worked hard to trump each other on the secret friend game. Balloons, hugs, flowers and much more... There were many secret envelopes with surprises. Some days even huge posters. I loved that game a lot. It was nice to make up new gifts for my secret friend and receive clever ones as well. I am really proud of my treasure hunt game. I left different hint all over the house. As I heard later Milda was pleased ☺ 20 of July Energizer Honey Bunny was easy until you had to go in the middle of the circle. We presented our ideas and made DEOR. We ended our morning session with making posters about how we are going to promote our experience in our organizations and how to include people with fewer opportunities also into those projects. We discussed with learning buddies how the project had been gone to fill in our youth pass. Net out of our thought. In the evening self evaluation and meeting expectations. valuation and farewell party. Secret friend ceremony. It was my best (and first) secret friend game ever. I was pretty certain that my secret friend is Kristi. I got hints that she/he must be Estonian because I received a magnet written on Estonian and even though my SF said that her Estonian frind helped her I was pretty sure it was just a trick. I also made a list of secret friends that others have. Because I had to handle many secret friend gifts. But Heleri bamboozled me. I was sure that her secret friend is Youssef because I gave him two times gifts from Heleri. She is a good player and have good friends that help her during the game. Anyway, I felt a great love and got amazing gifts. 21 of July Bus trip back to Tallinn. Emotional goodbye at the airport. But luckily some people decided to extend their vacation in Tallinn and stayed for some extra days. It was nice to host so many international people in my homeland.
14 of July It was a France independence day, definately more special day for Morgane than us. But weather smiled to us all, it was a sunny day at first. What is better than sharing love on a beautiful day with a hug game. But we also did serious job. Our topic in the morning was non-formal learning. Ufuk led us through non-formal learning aspects. We stuck labels outside on the wall to categorize formal, non-formal and informal learning. After that we had an Erasmus+ Kahoot quiz. Questions were about EVS but also about everything that was related with Erasmus+ programme. In the afternoon we had a World Cafe - my best part during the whole project. We had 4 different tables with different topics. We discussed our ideas while we were served by charming waitresses. The menu included list of delights. Because weather changed so quickly on that day, Michal said golden words "You can have 4 seasons in 1 minute". A day ended with Romanian, Bosnian & Herzegovinian, Greek, Lebanese, Portuguese intercultural evenings. Lidia surprised us with a puppet theater. The play that she made was so comic and informative. Every evening we had a dancing marathon. One song was totally epic, but it was catchy. 15 of July Morning started with reflecting walk with our learning buddy. Lidia introduced me a job shadowing opportunity which is also a part of Erasmus+ programme. Youthpass and 8 key competences are like a shoe and socks – they are always together. Each of 8 competences was an isolated island where we had to solve a task in a limited amount of time. For example we had to learn a new language, calculate or draw. I don't remember the exact date and topic but suddenly I was in a group with Bili and Vincenzo. So, we had an opportunity to talk about Bulgaria. Bulgaria was the connection point for us and it was nice to share emotions with people who understands you. In the afternoon we worked on the inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities. We tried to put ourselves into their situation in the groups. It is really hard for them to enjoy life as other do. Fortunetly, Erasmus+ is dedicated to them and ready to help, our job is just spread the information. In the evening we had an open space session. Four experienced members of our group led a session. Billy's session without any extra ressources was so simple but at the same time so funny. It is a good example of life that you don't need much to be happy. Intercultural evenings by Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland. Nika demonstrated her culture traditions by predicting future. All she needed was a candle and water. It was soo exciting. I wish that Estonians knew more about their traditions too. Because we have a rich history. 16 of July In the morning Ufuk introduced us main points of preparation on of EVS volunteers. Thanks to his highlights we made four different booklets on mentoring, support, preparation and guideline to fill in country booklet at home. It was an intense work we did those hours. After the lunch a lady from Viljandi came to talk with us about her experience with volunteers. Their organization is working with disabled people. She told that volunteers had got a great contact with their customers and also life here hasn't been too hard for them. In the evening we had a sauna night in the real sauna. This sauna house was located in the middle of the forest and there was a lake near by. I went with Nika to lake swimming at first and then to the warm sauna. I wasn't brave enough to go swimming after sitting in the sauna. Moroever, temperature outside was so low that our wooden houses weren't too warm. Thats why I enjoyed hot environment a lot. It was amusing seeing People from Middle East testing their limits. After the sauna we played some board games. On the objective game Kristi said she is a killer, she definately is a killer in Jungle Speed. You need to take care of her nails while playing this 😄 17 of July
We took off eralier than usual. Our way led us to Maarjaküla. Billy had been there already and was familiar with directors od the place. They made a tour for us and we talked with people who live there. Inhabitans have even their own garden, they are living in families and get all support they need. Taevaskoja visit was cancelled because of the rainy weather. On our way to Tartu we discussed with our learning buddy what we have learned already. In Tartu there was organized a meeting between our organizations and potential volunteers. Many youth visited our event to gain some more information about EVS and hosting organisations. It was surprising, usually young people are modest and don't want to take in this kind of events. We made another Facebook live to promote it. Aftre that we had a free time in Tartu. Because I was the local one I had to walk with them on the city. I wasn't familiar with the town at that time, so we just walked around in the old town and found a hipster shop. Afterwards we went to bigger shopping centers. It was a good opportunity to buy gifts to your secret friend. Evening ended with pizza night in Taverna. I love this place selection of pizzas. And then we had a long bus ride back to Vardi. Luckily I was chosen to be part in an EVS partnership building activity which took place 11.07-21.07 in Vardi, Estonia. EVS is a cherished topic for me. I couldn't imagine before that my EVS experience in Bulgaria would change my life so deeply. I became more active in social and political life in my community. I am really proud that I took the risk and moved to a strange land. Now my mission is to help future volunteers in their path. That's why I participated in that mobility of youth workers, to learn new methods how to promote EVS. 11 of July Before the official start to our project I had a task to check everyone's presence before departure by bus from Tallinn. For my surprise they all were in our meeting place before me. And you know, Estonians are always earlier in the appointment, so it really was a delighted surprise for me. I think that participants at that point had already adopted the Estonian culture. At least it made my life so much easier and our journey to Kivi Turismitalu started without problems. I shared Estonian candies with everybody because it is so important to show the best part of Estonia to foreigners, our sweet factory Kalev's products are good examples. In the bus Ibrahim came to talk with me which was nice because I was sitting alone and reading a book. From that point I started to communicate with other participants more openly. When we arrived to Vardi our supporting team was already waiting for us. Actually Heleri gave us a biggest surprise during that project, she was pregnant. Obviously she was carrying a baby last time when I saw her in spring as well, but then I couldn't suspect anything. So, we had an extra participant in this project as well 😊 We were divided into rooms, my roommates were Lidia from Portugal and Nefeli from Greece. In that evening we discovered amazing nature around our house with Lidia, so many small froggies and a precipitous cat. Later we made social games to get to know each other more. It was a good start for a project. 12 of July We started another day with more name games and teamwork activities. We had to do mission impossible with lots of tasks. Even though they seemed pretty hard ones, we managed to do almost all of them. There were also task to put a lot of T-shirts and socks on you. I don't know why but I agreed to take this task. I swear that this sock task seemed impossible, but at final I handled it, 30 socks and no blood running in my veins anymore. My personal favourite task was the one when guys had to polish their nails. Vincenzo looked really fancy. We got a lot of visual materials about our daily program and project aims. Kristjan and Helen made an informative timetable for us. We made blog, reflection and feedback groups. All those groups in general helped us to develop the project itself. In the afternoon we made a poster about our organization and we introduced it to others. It was a really special project because it included so many different countries. I am pretty sure that I have never met people from Jordan or Lebanon before. Project countries were Portugal, Romania, Spain, Morocco, Jordan, Ukraine, Georgia, Greece, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia and United Kingdom (Wales). I am so glad that this project gave me an opportunity to met all this people. It was a really good foundation to a project building networking. In the first evening we had already intercultural nights: Estonia, France, Egypt and Wales. I went to a local shop to buy needed products for this evening. Our way to shop was really funny, we went with bigger group and they all wanted to take pictures surrounded by Estonian nature. Because there wasn't a special road for pedestrians we had to walk on the main road. But it wasn't a problem because there wasn't too many cars. Because people had an opportunity to eat Estonian food every day I struggled what to prepare for them. But I offered some more candies, kvass, Vana Tallinn and kama. I taught them useful Estonian words and phrases and demonstrated how to dance Kaerajaan. Billy's presentation about Wales was nice, he really knows how to make fun. France sweets tasted good as always and I was positively surprised when I tasted Ibrahim's banana dessert. It was so delicious that I couldn't stop eating it. In that evening group of Polish people arrived as well. They came here by car which sounds like an insane act. 13 of July
On Thursday we had even bigger mission impossible task. We went canoeing. It was totally insane, I was scared and most of all Taline, she was totally frightened. Two more Estonians joined us. Fun fact is that I knew Uku before thanks to his blog. So, Uku and Kadri wasn't completely strangers for me. And they both were friends of Helen. On our way to the canoeing start point we passed by a village where is my summer cottage. I was so happy because this region is my second home. But back to the canoe trip. We got instructions and headed into water. Navesti river wasn't too difficult but still, for beginners, it is still a task. At first it took time to get used to how to lead that boat. And I kind of hate nature, actually people. If branches are in the river why they don't clean them. I know it sounds ridiculous when you are on the shore but you have a new perspective on the river. Next Clean Up day I probably organize an event to clean Estonian rivers 🤣 On the other hand, all those natural obstacles make the canoe trip interesting. We got stuck with Almontaser and Nika for several times but those moments make you communicate with each other more. Distance was quite long if you have no idea of time and the distance you have passed through already. It was cloudy and at some point chilliness hit us. I sang in Estonian to calm down all those Estonian fairies and other creatures who live in the forest. Everyone in my canoe contributed and fairies heard pretty multilingual performances. I don't know did it help or not, but at least we finished our journey without getting wet. Tho, water was quite deep on some points. It was such a relief to walk on the land again. It is uncomfortable to be immobile on the same position about 2 hours. We were lucky, but Billy's, Morgan's and Eugenia's canoe tipped over. They were soaking wet and even though that we didn't have direct contact with river water, nature's wish was to make everybody wet. It started raining and our way back to the bus was pretty quick. We planned to have a picnic at riverside but because of the weather we ate our wraps in the bus. Pretty rational decision and quite Estonian. Just eating without any extra activities while enjoying the nature from the window. While we were eating Youssef showed us funny videos they made during their canoe trip. It was such a pity that nobody from our canoe didn't bring a phone or a camera to capture this adventure. But no reason to be sorry actually, others got amazing shots and it is a risky business after all. After bus-picnic we headed to Soomaa wetland. Rain was even heavier and most of the people didn't want to join to this walk and talk activity we had planned. We tried to reach the observation tower. We just followed one path and hoped to see the building, but nothing. So, we turned around and walked back while enjoying Estonian wonderful summer-shower. Back at our accommodation place, we ate kringel and enjoyed hot coffee and tea. Moreover, warm sauna was waiting for us. Uhh, this sauna experience was so needed. All middle-east guys visited sauna for the first time, it is such a pleasure to introduce your culture to foreigners. I guess they kind of liked sauna. We also have another blog about our project as well. It was a few weeks after our Cyprus project when Heleri told me that Stelios is coming to Tallinn. It is a rare moment, because usually people don't find their way to Estonia. So, via Instagram story I followed his trip closer and closer to Tallinn. And on 25 of October he arrived. I had university lecture in the morning and after that I met with my friends from Bulgarian EVS project with Heleri as well. But on my way to meet with Anna and Mustafa I saw a guy who really looked like Stelios. I wasn't sure and it all happened so fast that I didn't have a time to react. His face expression reflected coldness and tiredness. So, I wrote to him and yep, it was Stelios who I saw. Anyway, after few hours spent with other guests and few hours studied for my exam. I met again with Heleri and Stelios. It was dark already but we still took a city walk. Main buildings were lighted so actually everything was beautiful. We visited some sight platforms but because it was super windy we decided to go inside a room. It was kind of too early for the bars, so, we visited a shop bought some stuff and went to my university while we were in old town anyway. After few minutes walk we were there in warm environment. Heleri and Stelios were facinated by my university chilling room. An old iMac made a real buzz. Heleri turned it on with her static electricity and we were a little bit concerned about the situaton, but after few minutes computer went to sleep mode again. Stelios had an opportunity to taste gingerbreads, yes Chistmas season has already started in Estonia. Actually, the most important thing was that Saku drinks were represented. We listened to music, chit-chatted until Laura arrived back from her lecture. She didn't find the right place at the first place, but somehow she still managed at the end. When I waited outside for Laura it was snowing. Grazy stuff but it was Stelios secret dream to see snow here. After making my uni more Cypriot (Stelios wrote to the blackboard "Cyprus loves you Agros") we left the house. Actually I also bought a piece of Cyprus to this room after my trip. I put a cruciform figure magnet on the fridge. Anyway, then we went to Hell Hunt to eat something and talk more. Because it was snowing the topic was snow in Cyprus. Yes, it is snowing in Cyprus as well time to time. Because Laura moved to Tallinn and we hadn't met after the trip we had a lot to discuss about. Heleri's and Laura's conversation went pretty passionate at some point, and yeah they talked in Estonian, so, Stelios was pretty confused. I have been in the same situation in Spain, but it is a good language lessen tho 😄 When we went outside again there wad already a lot of snow. So, we definately had a fun in the snow throwing snowballs and screaming like children in the old town. Only Heleri wasn't so excited, she hates snow. Me too in general but first snow is enjoyable. Me and Laura went to a bus to drive home. Heleri and Stelios continued their pub crawl, actually I guess they visited only one bar. One thing that seemed odd to Stelios was Estonians habit to pay only with a card on the shop. On Thursday I met with Stelios and Heleri right before their leaving. I recommended an eating place for them and also went there. They had walked a lot in the city with that weird weather during the day. I accompanied them to the bus/tram stops and said goodbye. Heleri had to take a car ride back home and Stelios had to reach the bus station to go to Lithuania. It was nice to have a guest from other country visiting us here in Estonia. Maybe the season wasn't the best but at least Stelios got an overview of life in Estonia and a lot of cool memories. Hope to meet you again 😊 28 of September A day of Urania bought us to Nicosia, to a capital of Cyprus. First of all we went to a House of The European Union House in Nicosia. We passed the security control, in Estonian House we don't have so restrict rules, but the situation in Cyprus is a bit different than in Estonia as well. There was a man who thoroughly explained us how work in European institutions look like. I really loved his presentation, he was so free to talk about that topic. Then we visited an archeological museum. Mighty experience as well . This visit made me feel better about my university. I got so much information and saw ancient works in real life. I was so fascinated that Laura had to scream over the museum my name to remind me that we have to leave the place. We also had an access to art museum. Really modern museum full of Cyprus art. Then we walked directly to the city centre and ate souvlaki once again. I would say that this place food tasted better than in Pafos. Then we went to a city tower from where we had a great panaorama view. There we also had a history lesson about the city. Then started our free time. One thing that you notice in Cyprus is cats, they are everywhere. Most of the people went directly to the Turkish occupied side. Well, yes everything looks like Turkey but your mind just remind you all the time the fact that you are still in Cyprus. Anyway, we visited the market and the mosque. We had to dress up before we went in. Me, Laura, Eva and Helena got new long skirts and scarfs to cover our heads. It is hard to adopt different customs, I really don't understand why you have to cover your head in the church. We are not used to this kind of thing at all, so we acted really carefully with Laura. We had a fear that scarf falls off and then we are in the trouble. Interior of the mosque wasn't something special, I expected more. Back in Cyprus side we spent our time in shisha bar. Fun fact, our tobacco mix was called "Bora Bora". I thought that from capital shops you can find everything, but nope. From the centre they didn't buy Martini Asti, which is a pity. I wanted to celebrate my birthday with Asti. Moreover, I saw this drink in Larnaca's small shop, so, my hopes were high. But now I can say that it wasn't even the worst scenario. We ended our evening with epic karaoke night. It wasn't the best idea to sing Estonian songs because others didn't understand. But night ended with even more difficult songs like "The Phantom of the Opera". 29 of September It might had been the most important of our project. It was a day of the 10th muse Erasmia. In the morning we created a poster about our vision how Erasmia should look like and what values she represents. It was a fun task and results were really creative. We also brainstormed about new project ideas. We got a lot of support from our mentors. Now is also a good time to mention how awesome Diana and Andrea were. The way how Andrea always messed with our names and made up new words like "bollogna". I am not sure this is the correct way how to spell it but it sounded more or less like this. And amazing Diana from Latvia. It is nice to share moments with people who really can relate to your culture. And Vasilis has done a great job planning this amazing project. After end of our sessions we filled in our travel reimbursement documents and packed our bags. Then we all went to our final evaluation party. We published our secret friends and secrets in general. Our secret friend game was really nice. Once when we walked back from our lunch place I talked about it with Czech girls. I mentioned that probably my secret friend is a Czech, though it was just my guesswork. Actually this situation was really cringe because it was hard to say what gifts I have done for my secret friend if your friend is next to you. So, I was really careful to not spoil myself in front of Klara. I got hints from Terzka that led me to a thought that she is my secret friend. She told me in our Pafos day trip that she likes my shoes and wrote the same thing to my envelope. Also, she paid a lot of attention to me all the time, which I am grateful for. Secret friend ceremony was funny as always when someone tried to trick their secret friend with fake hair and other attributes. We had a youth pass ceremony and moreover all the girls got a mirror and all the guys got a luggage name tag. I was about to leave the place to pack some final things when surprise-surprise they switched off the lights and brought out a cake with a birthday song. Heheee, I didn't expect that. I was a bit confused because candles on the cake were 30, but I turned 20. Later they explained that the reason was Erasmus+ 30th birthday and it was a good reason to combine those two things. I can't complain about it because it was my date of birth and I respect Erasmus+ project a lot. By the way, the cake was really delicious. 30 of September Yay, my birthday started in a private bar. They opened the place just for us. Now it is time to talk about the sparkling wine again. I visited local shops at the day time and literally bought a last bottle of sparkling wine. We opened it just seconds after midnight, thanks to Gustavo. I am afraid to open this kind of bottles but if it is really needed of course I can handle the situation (Kyiv 😋). But this last bottle of sparkling wine in Agros tasted as good as Martini Asti and it was way more cheaper. Eric was kind enough to make me special coctails. Music was good and DJ Lorenzo picked great songs. It was so much love around me during all the time and all this dancing and photos. I'll never forget this birthday. I guess it is the best way to celebrate your 20th birthday. Best location, adorable people around you and great feeling inside yourself. I am grateful for my Estonian team who made a birthday present for me. A good wine and roses stuff are always welcome. And those videos that Laura made, wonderful idea. I love people who think out of box. Vittorio gave me earlier literature about Modica's art history, which really was significant for me. It was hard to see people leaving and to leave myself as well. But I am used to being and travel alone, though, it is not worth it at all. My bus from Agros left 4:30 am with Italian team and Stavros. Driving by bus back home was full of emotions. I saw Giulia's tears and it reminded myself last year when I had to leave Sveshtari, probably it was my most emotional night in my life back then. First project departure moment is the hardest one, on next projects it is getting easier. I spent some time together with Italians before I passed through the gates and was ready to start my Kyiv adventure. When I was waiting for my flight one lady came by and made a quick survey about my time in Cyprus. So, the next tourist analysis you see about Cyprus, keep in mind that it consists my contribution as well. If I already told about emotions then I have to mention that my parents birthday messages for me made me so happy again. Support from friends is important, but from family even more. I also sepnt nice time in Kyiv, tho, there was colder than I expected. At least it was a nice test for getting use to with Estonian weather. To get a good overview of my birthday, I made a video about it. Enjoy 😜 Special thanks to Manolin who made a video about our project. And thank you Vasilis, Diana, Laura, Manolin, Chantell, Klara and Janre for sharing your photos with us. They were so great that I'll take the change to use them in my blog posts as well. I tried to use my own material as much as possible but you just captured some moments when I was too lazy to bring my camera out. Thank you Continuous Action for being my sending organisation. Find out active offers for youth exchanges on their webpage. PS! Agros is deep inside my heart ❤️ 25 of September We started our week with Youth Pass introduction. We discussed about 8 key competences. We were divided into 8 groups to make a small summary about our key competence. For me it was easy breezy because I learned all about youth pass when I did my EVS and after that I have had other projects where we have discussed it as well. Funny thing was that I was always in the group with same people. For example Laura, Giulia, Rebecca and Alija were always in my group. In the morning session we discussed about Erasmus+ possibilities. How to apply in different projects and stuff. Also, EVS was a topic, if you still didn't understand what EVS is you can contact with me and read from my blog what life I lived in Bulgaria during my service. We also made small presentation about our sending organization, in our case it was Continuous Action. After morning activities we walked again to our resturant. Funny thing about our meals was that locals don't like to recycle. We didn't have ceramic plates and cups, everything was plastic. And to cover everyone's needs they served pasta, potatoes, rice etc. all together in one meal. Really popular was a lemonade. The real lemonade from lemons and oranges not a Limpa 😝 Because the day was dedicated to Melpomene and Thalia the topic was Tragedy and Comedy. We were divided into groups once again and we had a task to act Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. This play was full of Greek names, it was such a struggle for me. It took time to get the idea of the plot and at the end we decided to act it as authentic way as possible. We used bedsheets to dress up like ancient people. The same idea that some people used in Banquet for Muses. I commit that our play was pretty boring. I loved other acts about Hamlet. They were so funny and Janre's outfit made my day. And other group passionate performance was also enjoyable. In the evening we had a second part of intercultural evening. We prepared for the night a lot of sweet stuff, chocolates and candies. To get full experience of Estonian food we made black bread with mustard. People's reaction was priceless. We offered also Estonian non-alcohol drink kali and of course Vana Tallinn liqueur. Before coming to Cyprus I visited tourist information point to get some brochures about Estonia. Our presentation was plain, just to give a general overview of our country. We ended our presentation with wife-carrying competition. It made a buzz in our audience but in the end I hope that everyone liked it. Presentation about Cyprus showed us a side of a Cypriot life. Helena's dancing skills just bewitched everyone. Spanish dancing style is unfortunately way too hard to imitate right away. We saw magnificent places in Greece and tasted many delicious snacks. Everybody loved Vana Tallinn and some people drank it too much. Epic night again. This time I also got the experience to handle Laura at night. 26 of September Early in the morning we started our trip to Pafos. We made a first stop after 5 minutes of driving in Agros mineral water factory. We had a small tour there and free water bottles 😀 The factory looked like a mix of Saku Läte and Saku Õlletehas. I live only 100 m away from Estonian biggest water factory. So, from my tap you can get high quality water as well (actually everywhere in Estonia) Sten and Janre struggeled in the bus trip. In the mountains curvy roads it was hard to sleep and guys were really sensitive about everything. Bad side of Vana Tallinn. Our next stop was in The ancient theatre of Kourion. Archaeological site, I am in love with that place. Beautiful theater and ancient ruins and mosaics. Those ruins were conserved perfectly by the way. On our way we passed by the Aphrodite's rock. It was one of the sites in my "I want to see" list. It was a nice beach but without that myth this place wouldn't be so special. Irony of life. Then we finally reach our main destination place, European Capital of Culture Pafos. We had an appointment with mayor of the town. We waited for him in front of the municipality house, there was also the main square. I would say that the centre of the city is pretty minimalistic. I was glad that we visited Pafos because I really wanted to visit it before coming to Cyprus. In general, many my wishes came true. My dream trip. We had a lunch in a traditional place where we tried souvlaki. It was a huge portion of food and it took time to eat all of it. In the bus there was always a radio playing, so we got brainwashed from Greek music. Here is a one example. After lunch we visited the Tomb of kings. Another archaeological site with perfect location. I can imagine working in this kind of site next to a sea, what a wonderful archaeologist life. So, I appreciate a lot ancient people's thinking to base their tomb on just exactly that location. This site wasn't conserved so perfectly, I saw many mistakes. I did a small informative lesson to my compatriots talking about different types of columns. Then we went to the seaside and visited all together an Old castle of the town. From there it was a great view to the city and the sea. Then we went to enjoy free time we had. Unfortunately there wasn't a sandy beach and Spanish people were pretty indignant. Instead of sand there was a rock from where you can jump in the water. Many participants used this opportunity but not me. I prefer just swimming. This time water wasn't so warm as in Larnaca and not so light blue as well. On our way back to Agros we made a stop in Limassol. We had a free time to walk around the city. This city is full of Russian maffia and I also saw many Turkish people there. At least I got a new scarf with good price, because the tourism season is about to end I got a discount. It was getting dark and city lights made the atmosphere mystical. I liked the city and it was sad that we didn't have more time to spend there. On our way back we tried to sleep but it was difficult as always. During the dinner we practiced different languages because it was the European Day of Languages. We had a sheet of paper full of words in our project countries languages. Most of Estonian words were incorrect, don't trust Google Translate if you want to speak Estonian. Klara is a natural talent in Estonian but I need at least 3 years before I am courageous enough to speak Czech in public. 27 of September Day of Terpsichore which meant a lot of dancing. We started morning with fun energizers and then headed to a restaurant where we presented our national dances. Estonian team presented Kaerajaan, it is the easiest dance but we still argued which is the best version to dance it. Probably our performance was horrible but at least you got an idea how this dance looks like. Spanish team represented 3 different dances. First dance was still out of my range but next two ones were great. I guess every children in Estonia can dance Macarena and Las Ketchup since kindergarden. Czech Polka was funny because the song is popular in Estonia and Estonian lyrics are totally silly. But it was nice to dance it and it was also quite easy. Greek Zorbas also was funny and Stelios is a master of dancing it. After lunch we made pairs to make a dance on a topic they told us. Janre cheated a bit to dance with Eva. My dancing partner was Melania and our topic was a tragedy. It all started with choosing a right music for our performence. In the end we chose a song Pursuit of Happiness from a movie Project X. Our story was really contemporary. What happens in the club if you drink and do drugs. I used my digital competence tho solve the task. I downloaded a song and edited it. Throwback to my puberty years when I was really into a photo, video and music editing. I am really good at faking being drunk, it also helps on parties when you actually don't want to drink. Vittorio's and Stoyka's dance was so lovely. It totally touched our souls. They really deserved to win the competition. It all began for me in the summer when I applied for the project. I really wanted to join in this project because the timing and the topic were perfect. So, in the end of August when I got approved for the project I was more than happy. I guess all my Villardi flatmates saw my excitement. Greetings to my "rahvuskaaslased". Our Estonians' team was firm when suddenly our group leader couldn't participate in the project anymore and one of my best friend Heleri got an opportunity to take part in. It was magical because only weeks before I wished her happy birthday with more epic trips together and it all got true. So, be careful what you wish for because you might get it. At least I got a company with whom to travel to Cyprus. We worked together with Heleri in Bulgaria, we shared so many emotions there and she definately made a Cyprus project also better for me. 21 & 22 of September It was a busy day for me. I supposed to have a full day in university before departure but I was too tired to go to my first chemistry lecture and last lecture was cancelled. So, instead of 4 lectures I attended only 2. Oh well, what to say, at least I got time to make a presentation about Estonian art cultivating Europeans consciousness. I met with Heleri in the bus station. I hadn't had seen her since winter time. So, it was a cheerful reunion. We randomly had picked seats next to each other and practically all our way to Riga we chit-chatted about life. In Riga we had way too much time to just sit and wait in the coach station. We went for a walk in the old town and we got lost. It is already a second time this shit happens with me this year in Riga. Fortunately we got out of the street labyrinth and found a right direction. Some more hours of sleep and we arrived to Vilnius. It is so nice that baltic bus companies offer free hot drinks on board. In chilly and raining evening it is so cosy to follow city lights and drink cocoa. We ordered a car through Taxify and only paid 2 euros for that. Vilnius airport was pretty empty but it was good for us, we tried to rest in Samsung corner before our flight to Larnaca. Larnaca's weather was amazing. At first I thought that I am in North Africa, the nature looked like that. Already in the morning it was super hot. It was pleasant surprise that the bus driver spoke excellent English. So, first impression about Cypriots was great. City centre bus route was pretty messy but we ended up in a correct location. We had a filling breakfast and headed to beach. Uhhhh, this water. I am in love, I realized why Cyprus is Gods' island. This beach was AMAZING, I really didn't want to come out of water. Nothing from my previous experiences can beat that swimming there. We tried to visit some sights as well but it was freaking boiling outside and hard to move around. We split with Heleri. She went shopping because she lost her scarf in the morning and needed a new one. After that we met with another part of Estonian group. We went to a cafe and suddenly it was already a time to meet up with others in the bus station. We saw other groups but we were too Estonians to go and talk with them. We sticked together also in the bus. One more common line that connected us was sunburn skin. Mine and Sten's situation looked pretty bad. I can say that I am kind of used to have a red skin on vacations. After hours of driving by bus we had our first dinner all together and we met with Eric, one of the local supporters. At first when we arrived to our hostel it looked like a hospital, long corridor and white walls, darkness makes everything so creepy. It was a good news that we were all together in the same room with Estonians. It is so much easier to communicate with your compatriots in this case. 23 of September First day was dedicated to Clio, a muse of history. Actually was first part of the day full of ice breaking games. Second part of the day we dedicated to history while doing tour in Agros. We started with classic name games. Name + adjective and ball games. We also played games to get to know each other more like asking questions from each other. We also met another supporter Stelios from Cyprus. It was great to have small breaks between our sessions to munch all the delicious stuff they offered us. We all got a present from Cyprus ☺️ After that we started with a mission impossible. We had 15 tasks so solve in 60 minutes. For example, we needed to create a logo of the project, timetable and also stupid tasks like collecting 50 different socks. Somehow I am used to handle with socks, so, I took responsibility to take care of that task. At the end I even had way too many socks. We didn't manage to solve all the tasks but this is normal. I have never completed a mission impossible in 100% Before lunch we had to collect a name tag from the tree and find the owner. It helped us to learn names. On the tag there were most important contacts, this is something new and really professional. Our restaurant was about 700 meters away from our accommodation place. At daylight it was nice to see the whole village. I personally enjoyed every walk to eating place and back because it was charming to walk in Cyprus streets. We only had a breakfast in our sleeping place. But in general I really prefered to keep eating and activity life separated. After lunch Janre made a tour for Estonians because it was his 5th time in Agros. We walked up- and downhill and enjoyed beautiful views and all the nature around us. All the grapes and kiwis that just grow in the gardens. Insane, totally insane. Cyprus is a paradise. Second part of the day we started in our hostel. We chekked mission impossible tasks and played a funny card game. Then we headed to a Agros tour. We visited rose house and degustated different products they are making. It all reminded me Bulgaria and our lovely Sveshtari. Our next stop was sweet factory. The technique they used was pretty interesting and unique, at least for me. We made quick visit also to the sport hall and elderly care home. Then a meat shop, so many different flavors. We got an access to the local Orthodox church. It was great for me. I explored the interior and was facinated by the art there. A priest also told about the history of the place and showed us the chapel full of icons. They preserve really old and valuable piece of art and I love it. During our tour it went dark and cold so everybody enjoyed the time spent inside a room. Finally, we saw how they prepare traditional Cyprus delight lokma. Then we headed back to hostel to prepare ourselves for the Banquet for muses. Spanish team was most prepared for the banquet, their white outfits were pretty authentic. During the banquet we made gossip, secret and punishment(read Spanishment) box. Somehow the free wine we got made us playing a drinking game. Eric rules were pretty simple but effective I would say. Then we went to one of the three clubs in Agros and next is a history. Huuh, it was an emotional night and I lost my scarf. I don't know why Cyprus needs Estonians' scarfs. It was really interesting to watch Laura's snapstory in the morning. 24 of September On Sunday, a day of epic and love poetry, dedicated to Calliope and Erato. We started our morning with stretching exercises and some more ice breaking games. Later we made common rules to make atmosphere more cozy. We also presented our home work about Estonian art. That day I wore a Bulgarian T-shirt and got only good feedback from Bulgarians, they really appreciated my act which was so lovely. In the morning we had a world cafe about epic and love poetry. 5 different topics to discuss about in your group. The topic was linked with my university myths seminar topic and it kind of prepared me for my studies. During our second session we had to write a real epic poem. We were in international group, so we included ideas from different countries in all together. Spanish Laura was a great leader to lead us to the right track to complete this task. She is an excellent youth worker, this job really fits to her. In the end of the day we had our first international evening: Italy, Bulgaria, Malta and Czech Republic. Italians introduced their magnificent region. Bulgarians were fully dressed in their national clothes, it was so marvelous. It was such a cute gesture when Bulgarians gifted me a rose oil. I got so much information about Malta. And in Czechia presentation I saw a castle where I have spent a night, now I know the name of the place where I stayed (Valtice) By the way, we got famous. Publication of our project in Cyprus news accociation, the biggest news network in Cyprus published a photo of us. Click here And some more publications here and here - the article is the same but the publications are different.
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AuthorMy connection with Erasmus+ projects. Youth exchanges and training courses. Archives
January 2020
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