YE “Doc’n’vironment”
From 22nd until the 31st of March our Estonian team of 6 went to a youth exchange called “Doc’n’vironment”. Together with us, there were around 30 other participants from Poland, Romania, Italy, and Spain. Our goal was to raise our awareness about the environment and to get new skills and experience with cameras. Combining those two, we learned more about spreading environmental awareness through documentaries.
The project took place in a lovely hillside village called Moclín which is located 35 kilometers northwest of Granada. Although it was a pretty rural place, it had a lot to offer. From the incredible Moorish castle looking into a valley, to the breathtaking views over the olive groves and mountains. Although the village was small and there weren't any urban areas around Moclín, it created an opportunity to really bond with the people and to spend the best possible time together.
Most of us didn't expect it to be so much fun. We made lots of friends and connected to people straight away. Arriving at the project felt like stepping into a reality show set at first - so much was happening. We broke the ice fast, on our first night, we played the guitar and sang popular songs all together. We danced together almost every night and sang some good old tunes. It felt just like we were a bunch of friends back together over a long time.
In our workshops, we mainly focused on two things: how to shoot a documentary and what environmental problems our planet is facing. We learned that aesthetics play a huge role in filmmaking. Also colors, lighting, background, placement of the subject, sound, camera angles, and so on. After the theoretical part, we took things into our own hands - literally. We were divided into small groups, given a camera, and tasked to create fake documentaries that we later showed to everyone to discuss the main parts. We had a lot of fun while filming and all of us enjoyed the learning process a lot.
The technical workshops were led by our very own Estonian participant Alex. He is a professional filmmaker and his contribution was much appreciated. He took time to get to every group individually and made sure that every single person in this project puts something into the film. He was always there to answer every question we had.
During our time in Spain we also enjoyed a lot of fun social activities. Almost every workshop started with fun energizers and social games to get to know each other better and to feel more free with each other. Every night we had a cultural dinner from participant countries after which participants presented their home country and their traditions in different, playful ways. We went hiking and had fun tasks to do like finding local people to learn from them new tongue twisters or some random ones such as making Oliver laugh. During the project, we also had a day trip to Granada to explore the beautiful city and its scenery. Also, fun fact, exploring the city with locals adds another level to the experience.
One of our brightest memories was a day when we went hiking in the mountains. Just 500m from the house, there was a hiking path that took you through some stunning scenery. Through the 10 km long hike, we enjoyed the charms of the Spanish landscape and had an amazing time doing so. We had a lot of fun and made incredible memories during the hike. On our way home, a few Spaniards and Estonians went through a bar to grab a cooling tinto de verano. Doing that, they triggered a chain reaction that led to an epic color festival on the streets of Moclin. Everybody from the project joined us. We danced and sang on the central square in front of the bar. The locals joined us too. At some point, the bartender handed us powder colors and color cannons and told us to have fun. So we did. It was amazing, everybody was covered in powder colors, people were dancing, laughing and having the time of their lives until late at night. It's not really possible to describe the feeling, emotions, and fun we had, but pictures speak for themselves.
We would definitely recommend Erasmus+ to everyone who wants to find new friends, explore cool places and learn these types of skills that you would probably never learn in your hometown. You also learn a lot about yourself and probably realize that other European countries aren't foreign places after all. The only downside to the project was leaving. It was a real tear trigger, but we are already arranging plans to meet some of the people we met on the project.
- Kristjan, Alex, Jaan-Martin, Karmen, Galina, Oliver
