YE “Handle with Care”
From 23rd to 31st of May our Estonian team of 6 went to Northern Italy to a youth exchange called “Handle with Care'' which brought together youngsters from Estonia, Spain, Hungary and of course Italy. The project was about taking care. Taking care of ourselves, of others, of the community and the environment. All activities were closely connected to theatre. We participated in art workshops, danced, learned to juggle, made masks, got to know the world around us and ourselves. Also, we met local theatre artists and even spent the night at the theatre! Every activity was thought through and the participants took it seriously to understand the depth of the topic.
Apart from taking care, we also learned a lot about Italy. Here are some examples:
We had a presumption that Italians don’t speak English at all but actually they do speak quite well.
That they have toilets that are holes, which I don't recommend using when taking a dump.
If you want to keep your figure, don't come to Italy. Italians love to eat pasta and cook it every day. It is very tasty, but there may be consequences in the form of extra kilograms.
We also had many nice memories from the project. Here are some highlights:
Ketrin - I don’t know if it’s the brightest but I want to say that I gave two interviews during the week we spent in Schio. One was for a local TV news channel and the other was for the national TV. Even though almost every Estonian has been on TV here, how many of you have been on Italian news?
Johanna - For me the brightest memory from the project was a workshop where we did trust exercises with a local highschool drama group. It was awesome how I could trust people that I had just met so well.
Oliver P. - One night we took blankets outside and watched shooting stars, I had only seen 1 shooting star before but after that night 3.
Anastassija - Last day of the project. We had a small quest that led us to a fire in the middle of the forest. We fried marshmallows, talked with each other, joked, laughed and listened to stories of our lives. I think this evening will remain in my memory for a long time.
We would definitely recommend going to Erasmus+ projects. It is an eye opening experience and every project is so different. Usually the first obstacle that people face is that they’re afraid they don’t speak English that well. We haven’t met any Estonian participants over the years who couldn’t understand what others are talking about. That should never be an obstacle as you are going there to learn as well.
- Ketrin, Johanna, Elizabeth, Oliver P, Oliver L, Anastassija
