United We Stand for our Heritage Erasmus+ Youth Exchange brought together 37 participants from 6 countries to Rakican and Murska Sobota, Slovenia from 13-21 December 2023. The Youth Exchange aimed to promote the cultural identity and heritage of the countries involved, which included Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, and Croatia. During the program, participants took part in workshops and activities to learn about the different aspects of cultural heritage and came up with solutions on how young people can contribute to its preservation and promote good examples among their peers and beyond.
Let us find out what it was like to experience the youth exchange by following Ivan Todorov and the Bulgarian team on their journey.
The first day with the early morning catching of the airplanes and changing buses in the constant rainy day in Slovenia was not the expected initial welcoming but this just left more space for improvement. In the darkness of the night we arrived at Rakican castle and after a short welcoming and registration, we were shown our rooms for the coming days.
On the very next day, the participants from the different countries met and the short way of getting to know each other and befriending started with a rush of ice-breaking and name games. Of course, it was not very plausible to assume anyone learned even a third of all the participants. Even though it was great fun, some remaining tiredness from the last day traveling was still in place, however, some well-placed energizers during the day solved the problem.
In the course of the day with activities aimed to let the participants relax and get to know each other we were getting more and more the group feeling and dynamics. After some introduction of the plans for the next few days, we were divided into groups for the specific tasks in the program and even though it was getting late the excitement was growing because the peak of the day was yet to come – the cuisine market. As expected it was a blast of cultural information and tastes, with everyone presenting the flavours of their national cuisine. The day ended with tasting national foods and drinks in the cosy atmosphere of the casual chat of the newly forming common group of mixed nationalities.
On the third day, our first trip and visits from the program were coming. After breakfast and a fast instruction, we headed on foot toward the nearby town – Murska Sobota, with a list of tasks for each formed team. Most of the tasks were taking pictures and shooting some short videos so it was an exploration experience in its roots. With curiosity and fresh morning energy we were checking task after task. Following the morning activity we enjoyed the sights of Murska Sobota and learned more about the local history, culture and famous people. The Bulgarian national team members seemed to be bestowed with the trust of their groups as they were responsible for delivering the final results from the exploration game and the tasks linked with it of most game teams. In the afternoon we visited a youth center in the town and proceeded with the pre-defined from yesterday’s groups. The national team was divided into different sections working on decoration, production of gifts and creating positive messages. It was an interesting and useful activity as we gained new art and craft skills and had a great time socializing even more with the other national teams. Time flew away way too fast and we finished our activities in the youth center and returned to Rakican. But the day couldn’t be over without the following national evening of Estonia and Poland. We all listened and watched presentations and videos about the two countries, danced traditional dances and laughed a lot.
The fourth day turned to be a pre-Christmas excursion to Ljubljana where we enjoyed a briefing about the history and culture of the capital city and we took part in a tour through the most significant sights of the city, after that everyone was free to explore and merge with the atmosphere till the evening when we transferred back to Rakican. But at the end of the day, we were met with a lot of new information about our hosting country and a new view on the historical and cultural merits of Slovenia.
And the fifth day came and passed so fast. We continued exploring the local traditions and culture as later we even learned about the tradition of competing in traditional gingerbread production. The group started early with a trip to a nearby village and a visit to a home production facility for traditional gingerbread cookies. There we learned about the regional traditional production of gingerbread items for consumption and decoration, gathered some information about the family recipes and the ways we could try on our own when we would be back in our countries. Then we moved to another production facility – a chocolate factory. It was an amazing experience as we witnessed the creation of ruby chocolate pralines and learned about cacao production and the usage of typical ingredients from the surroundings used for flavoring. The afternoon was spent in a nearby sport and recreation park where a part of a former international Expo in Milano was rebuilt. The day ended with a night full of laughter and songs while the participants were commenting and discussing the experience from the day during the karaoke night.
To be continued…