First Day - the shining day!

*(post will be updated soon with pictures & extra information!)

Hello the ones who Share & Care, hello people of Vidrike, hello Otepäe, hello EU, hello World !!!

The startup of the project was amazing - just like we expected and even more!
Before we will give you short overview of our first day we would like to thank our wonderful positive minded vigorous participants from 10 countries, excellent organizers and our great host Vidrike Puhkemaja with delicious foods and outstanding personal.

So, let's see how the day started, what we learn, how we learned and how we startup the next day - full of mind expanding games and assignments. There is no ending of days for us as it's all one continues learning experience with not fixed endings!

We kicked the day off with some fun energizers and proceed to the innovative name games that help us to break the ice in really first day. There is reason why these games are called icebreakers. It's essential to have effective icebreakers so project can startup with trustful and harmonized atmosphere - like we have!
Organizers proceed with planned daily agenda - introduction of the project, presentation of training goals and set up some common collective regulations/house rules to prevent any accidental misunderstandings in days to come.

After coffee/tea break we go more in to introducing the participants and take deeper look in to our Expectations, Motivation and Obstacles that one might have. Everyone wrote on slipper what are their main hopes and concerns/fears for the project. It It will also give good overview to everyone what are group/individual concerns and if there is anything one can help with - they can. Hopefully most of the Obstacles or fears will be dissolved with in first days, with so positive and self supporting group we cant see reason it not to become true! :)

Yammy!
After tasty lunch break - emphasis on 'tasty' as the ... really know how to please their quests with healthy and well served tasty kitchen we started to prepare to the trip to Otepää.

Armastus käib kõhu kaudu!

("The way to the Love is via the stomach" / "Love Viva La stomach" )






Discovering the Otepäe!
Little about Otepäe:
Otepäe for a small city as it is (2000+ lovely inhabitants) has many attractions for different taste but as we all learned from locals it's known most for an
annual FIS Cross-Country World Cup and as a great place for vacation if one appreciates the taste of pure nature and it is near by one of the Estonia most beautiful, legend rich lakes Pühajärve (Holy Lake). Otepää is also not to far from the Estonia highest hill - Great Egg Mountain.

But let's see now, how our assignment went!
Around 2:30 we all went to discover one of the Estonia pearls Otepäe. In groups of 4 people we had some 20, easy and fun tasks to fallow . From one side, it was great opportunity for us to get to know local people and city history. From other side we was glad to share information about our project and introduce Youth in Action program to youth. We was also getting a lot of info about local people's option and concerns about EU. In general, people in Otepääe was open-minded and show warm feelings for our project and for the EU programs like that, specially the younger generation as the older ones had some concerns about EU politics. Of-course there was sometimes some small difficulties to explain all the people about or doings as for 5 groups we had only one person who was able to understand Estonia but this was one of the points of the task - try to communicate with other cultures in EU.

... more details coming soon!

Then we got back to to Vidrike guest house and fallow up to the day.


* Sauna Party in Vidrike Sauna

The day ended with sauna party - sauna vas just awasame.. .and party, well, pictures talk more then words: