How We Became A SALAD

09.07.2010 







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On the last day of our Exchange we stayed home. Energetic and positive-to-the-bone Romet told us about the opportunities the EU offers to the youth to explore other cultures and meet different people. Some of us shared their experiences and opinions. Later on the participants were made to scream messages to each other while one bunch of people in the middle was trying to whelm the words with loud noise. Fortunately we understood each other well enough so that the noise was defeated.

During the everyday Discussion on Topic, the Greek group made us to face each other with skills of reasoning and debating on the topic ‘Fire versus Forests’. Though, the arguing got quite hot, we cooled off reaching the conclusion that humankind needs forests to survive. 

In need for a sip of fresh air and forest-produced oxygen, we went to the nearby nature again – the Estonian group had prepared an orienteering game including fun questions about the countries in Europe. Did you know that James Bond’s mother was Swiss?

After the little run-around we had to transform our feelings, thoughts and emotions into water. The glass was mostly (ful)filled and the water flew from one bowl to the other. All the good words said spread from heart to heart and overall contentment fell down on us.

In the evening it was time for the Estonians to introduce their eating habits during the Crazy Dinner. So the table was laid with dishes of Estonian cuisine and the tasks were found under the plates. Some of us had to eat under the table, some of us on a window sill, some of us had to show their strength and some of us made us sing “If you’re happy and you know it …”. 

Throughout the evening, the room was filled with laughter, warmth and spirit of comradeship. Soon we headed for hot sauna to dot our “I” in form of the Closing Ceremony.

All in all, we can say that the meaning of the word SALAD in our Youth Exchange’s camp name “All About SALAD” was fulfilled:

S for Self-development

A for Acknowledgment

L for Love and Learning

A for Awareness

D for Democracy

I believe that in the end we, ourselves took the form of a bowl of well-mixed salad. Delicious, full of wonderful surprises and definitely with a scrumptious aftertaste!

Aitäh!

P.S. Don't forget: I never leave the light on when I leave the room!

Gods put a smile upon our faces...

(I`m writing this post with a very nostalgic note, which has conquered my heart due to the fact that our youth exchange has ENDED. Can you believe it? I can`t but I have to... It is really awkward to be at home... and face everything forgotten again.)

On the 8th of July we strolled on the streets of medieval and modern Rakvere. The castle of Rakvere was full of surprises, offering us the chance to shoot with a bow, witness the making of gunpowder, visit shocking torturing chamber etc. 

A devotional (makes me wonder...) monk took us to the brothel, where he introduced the rules of sexual life in the Middle Ages - when, were, who, why, how... The monk was so into the topic that it was able the feel/see the flames of lust bursting out of his eyes. Rain and eating pizza washed off the Medieval ages and carried us again to the world of recycling. Each group had to design a unique costume out of newspapers, empty bottles, old clothes... It had to carry the spirit the of recycling and a memorable event, which took place during the camp. After presenting it to the others Maniac Marko, Gay Sparrow, peel-peel-Kostas-Banana and bottleish Ewelina introduced haute couture to the habitants of Rakvere. Some were dazzled, some were surprised, some were suprised, some were scared.. = we were noticed!!!

In the evening we sailed to the land of Gods - earthly Apollons and Aphrodites filled our stomachs with heavenly dishes and revealed the wonders of Greek music and dances. The auspices of gods and goddesses eliminated the awkwardness, shyness and took the spirit of the team on a totally different level...............

(You are incredible, unforgettable and loving... Yearning has filled me from top to toe!)

Row-row-row your boat...

06.07.2010
On the sixth day God invented canoeing. Although we didnt see Moby Dick and the Sea Monster, not all the boats came to the finish line dry! The slovenians were especially captivated by the pleasures of Estonian chilly waters , which almost reuslted in sinking the unsinkable canoe. On our left port we were attacked by the flying sblood sucking kamikazes and barely survived our trip to the „nearby“ harbour.

Back in the harbour everyine was dead tired, exhausted and hungry.

In the evening we sailed to the shores of Malta to explore their national cusine and culture. Along the way we got to know a new song in five different languages. After the meal we all had trouble with bringing the ship back to the harbour.

The night fell onto the harbour and the sea calmed down, the moon rose onto the horizon and every single pirate and sailor went on a different dream cruise, right behind his eyes.


07.07.2010
After a long night in Malta we found ourselves stranded in the rainforest.Still tired from the wind, burning sun and waves we started our day with a song from the Slovenian tribe.
Una kueko, una kueko, una kua...

We painted our outer shell to reflect our inner self. The masks are no more needed, cause in front of the mask you can see who’s hiding beneath it.

In the afternoon all the tribes gathered to present the problems of their homelands. And a long discussion ended with a compromise after long negotiations. We were pleased and finally filled our bellys with Slovenian delights. Followed by a tribal dance lead on by a acordion





Laura, Bojan and Silver

Don't blow it up, good planets are hard to find!

Monday, 05.07

This time the salad was all about theatre! The Broadway moved to Estonia. We had „Princess, castles and dragons“ as an energizer! After that Marko from the Estonian group showed us how to groove in the Egyptian beat. Which was thurally enjoyable!

Then followed by Mari's voyage to our hidden sences! First we were asked to take into pairs with a trustable person and discover the surrounding scenery through the flashes chosen by our partners. After discovering evey precisse detail, the scenery had changed forever.

After the lunch we had the Slovenian discussion of the topic! It was also about using different sences and skills to discuss problems of our enviroment by learning all sorts of new information and facts about consumption! The message of this workshop was:“ Don't blow it up, good planets are hard to find!“ Don't you agree?!!

We continued to dive into our sences by creating a performance of our feelings created by the theatre workshop. All the sticks and stones were laying humbly beneath our legs just waiting to be given a chance to prove their meaning! Then when all the talent was shown to each other, we had the final discussion of finding the hidden things within us. The sound of silence that was surrounding us took us to a whole new level of knowing how to listen to yourself and others around at the same time.

The grand finale took place when the visitors, journalists and families, came to see us and our accomplishments.

Soon after the sound of silence was beaten by of the sound of music, singing and laughter. Now we are enjoying the last voices of our newly discovered layers.

Day 3 JOHN LENNON - IMAGINE, ORANGE

John Lennon - Imagine (Click me, please!)

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one.

Imagine 24 people conquering Tallinn for today..  and wonder if they can find secret corners of the city. Before that  Silver introduced us to Tallinn and Tallinn to us – Oleviste and Russian orthodox church, Town Hall, the House of Parliament etc.  The conquest continued with thrilling  photohunt, which showed us Tallinn in a different way. By changing our identity to different kind of movie characters e.g Matrix, A-Team, Star Wars we coloured the capital of Estonia with our smile and positivity.   After hunting we filled our empty stomachs with heavenly sandwiches and cakes, which gave us energy to explore Tallinn a little bit more.  The conquest ended with touching the sea...

   At home the Swiss presented their culture and shared with us the secrets of their cuisine (Älplermagronä).  In addition to that they had prepared a workshop connected  with overconsumption of meat. Did you know that some people eat meat 7 days per week and one persons eats 140 gr of meat per day O.o ? We did not...So we had to create our unique recipe without „anything with faces“.  The day ended with discovering the hotness ! (Van`s compliment) of Estonia. The Sauna was legendary......

3 musketeers  forever yours <")))><

Van, Polona, Laura

Day 2 THE BEATLES - ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, BLUE

Across the Universe  (Click me, please!)

Despite the battle with mosquitos, the sun and zombies the first day sounds like „Across the Universe“ from the Beatles and the world seemed blue -  we gathered here from all over the Universe and we were surrounded by blueish hopes, laughters, fears and expectations.  The Universe shrinked  when we played name and getting to know each other games and we started forming unity with an inspiration of Bable. We discovered our inner painters by drawing our  fellow earthlings  with our soul instead of eyes.  The eyes became important when we presented our art - in words At the moment they are decorating the mailboxes and waiting to be filled with happiness. 

 After having  lunch we completed our artistic self by sculpturing our friends` faces and leaving our fingerprint on their cheeks, nose, chin, eyes etc. The massage brought people as well as nature together. The journey of the artist continued with green and yellow spots on our ex-boring T-shirts. So blue became acquinted with yellow and green and they started playing „all about us“ bingo.  When the moon came to greet us we brought our thoughts and feelings together to one conclusion – the day was pure awesomeness. 

 Van, Polona, Laura

The 1st Day

So the fun has begun!

Today our quests arrived in Tapa. The Estonians were greeting them in the train station. After that we took the bus (which was quite full, but we did not mind) and came to the Õnnela Questhouse, where the Exchange is taking place.

We introduced ourselves and had some name games, including push-ups, meows and mosquitos. 

We also agreed on the Rules and Suggestions.

After that everyone had free time to explore the place, rest or make some music (some guys were actually sewing, but this is a rarity seen only very late at night).

Hope everybody had sweet dreams and are ready to jump into action  the next day.

The Estonian Teammembers