Project diary

Day one

  The road was interesting - we took turns changing seats on the bus, which helped us get to know the entire group of project participants. They talked to each of them for 5 minutes.

The first place to which  they arrived was a skansen (open-air museum) in Kashuby. We visited interesting old houses brought here from different places. There, the employees of the open-air museum taught us how to wash, iron, and make brooms in ancient ways. The glass painting master class was interesting. Everyone independently created a souvenir in the Kashubian style (Kashubians are a nationality on the territory of Poland). By the way, our task during the preparation of the project was to develop the logo of our group. One of the participants during the master class created such a picture, which everyone immediately recognized as a symbol of our project.

On the way to Mikoshev, we listened to Polish and Ukrainian songs - it was a battle of preferences!

After a long trip, they talked a lot at the hotel in Mikoshevo - together they made badges on which they wrote their names in two languages. It was interesting to learn how your name sounds and is written in the language of a neighboring state. Acquaintance took place with the help of exciting games.

At the end of the day, everyone briefly described their impressions on a small piece of paper. The hotel is great, and the food is great!

 

Day two

  The day started with a morning workout, which was conducted by 4 participants (2 from each country). Everyone liked the banana dance and the Ukrainian song-game.

After breakfast we went to the sea. We couldn't contain our emotions - most of us saw the Baltic Sea for the first time and were enchanted by the landscape. True, it was cool, a strong wind was blowing, and many brave people jumped over the waves with joy. On the beach, it was nice to play volleyball together with new friends, as well as collect pieces of amber and interesting shells.

After a delicious lunch, we met for interesting classes where, divided into 3 teams, we created funny portraits of the participants. Also, each person represented himself with the help of symbol drawings, and the partner tried to decipher the drawing.

At the end of the day, there was a disco, during which the DJs changed and everyone had a blast - no one expected it to be so much fun!

 

Day three

  Finally, in the morning, the Internet was turned on, which made everyone happy, and we could contact our parents and friends.

Today's morning exercise was very exciting, because we learned a super dance with a constant change of pairs.

We were very interested in collecting medicinal herbs in the meadows and stories about their use. Until now, we have taken many of them for ordinary potions. Part of the group, which was not interested in medicinal herbs, made banners and invitations to joint classes addressed to residents and people vacationing in Mikoshevo.

The weather suited us - there was no wind, and the sea looked like a big lake. We set up camp on the beach and invited vacationers to joint activities. The most popular was the "jeweler on the beach" - project participants helped both younger and older people make pendants, bracelets, and hair ornaments. We didn't want to go back to the hotel for dinner.

The evening was full of impressions - first  we talked about ourselves with the help of multimedia presentations   (some of them were very interesting). When it got dark, we met by the fire and sang Ukrainian and Polish songs alternately to the accompaniment of the guitar and the clarinet, as well as our favorite songs in English together.

The day was concluded with a conversation in our "tribal" circle. 

 

Day four

  A fun start to the day - we danced the "Macarena" together. Both groups were pleasantly surprised by the fact that the project partners also know this dance! And we also perfected our favorite "Belgian dance" (a dance we learned the day before), which  became the anthem of our meeting. We also invented a new word similar to "charging" and "energizer", made up of half-Ukrainian and half-Polish - "rarushka".

Before lunch, there were serious conversations and work in groups about negative and positive qualities that affect life in society: family, peers, community. We tried to determine which qualities are the most important and help to build a community, and which hinder the achievement of harmony. As a result of this work, posters were made, on which we wrote in two languages the most important qualities chosen after a heated discussion: love, tolerance, honesty, sincerity, kindness, respect.

Then we prepared for the performance on the beach - from everything we could, we created our costumes and animal masks, which we chose as a symbol of our personality on the second day of the project. They also made noise instruments.

After lunch, we took advantage of the weather over the sea, which one could only dream of. But time was short. We also resumed jewelry master classes, which the day before were very pleasing to us and everyone who was on the beach.

The day ended with a disco - participants took turns presenting their favorite musical compositions. It was great.

 

Day five

  Today, we relaxed from early morning by doing yoga. Two participants carried out the charging and demolition. For many, yoga exercises were new, but everyone coped with them.

After breakfast, we "carnivaled" to the beach, where we danced in our costumes, reflecting the culture of "our tribe". Many of us made creative and very interesting masks. On the wooden platform in front of the entrance to the beach, the girls looked like models on the catwalk! Dances in the tribal circle gave us a lot of joy and positive emotions. In particular, our favorite "Belgian".

The wind was a bit of a hindrance, but we managed to lay out a large sheet of paper on which everyone drew something about themselves or their impressions of our meeting. We were very impressed by such joint drawing.

After lunch, we went for a long walk to the mouth of the Vistula River and the Mewia łacha ornithological reserve. It seems to have been the last sunny day this week, because it rained in the evening. It doesn't stop us now, but tomorrow we are going on an excursion to Gdansk!

In the evening, the Ukrainian group surprised everyone with a performance in embroidered dresses, which looked great. Polish friends even envied us a little... The presentations, which the participants presented in turn, raised the mood. They were accompanied by bursts of laughter and applause. A disco was spontaneously organized "by itself".

 

 

Day six

  Today we have to come early for breakfast (unfortunately) because we are going on an excursion to Gdańsk. The weather did not inspire optimism from the very morning, but during the drive it cleared up a bit and, being in the Old Town, we enjoyed the weather perfect for walking around the city. Polish friends were happy when they saw with what delight the Ukrainian group looked at everything around, because Gdansk is actually a wonderful city. During the game "Gdansk - an ancient city" we learned a lot of interesting things about the history of the city and its ancient traditions. In order to continue the state of enchantment with the city, we decided to expand the program and sailed by boat to Västerplatte. Today 01.09 is the anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, and therefore a lot was said about the heroic defense of this place.

After the river walk, we arrived at Oliva. In the Museum of Ethnography, we were treated to classes where they talked about the Kashubian culture and demonstrated ancient everyday life items of this region. After that it was time for our own handicraft. On wooden blanks: angels, hearts, circles, we drew ornaments stylized as Kashubian patterns. We received wonderful souvenirs. It's interesting - during visits to the open-air museum, many of us were in no hurry to pick up a brush, saying that we don't know how, etc., but here everyone immediately got down to business... The museum workers were so satisfied with the work of our group that they took pictures of us - we have a double photo confirmation. Another point of interest was the Kashubian language. Ms. Angelica, who conducted the classes, is  Kashubka by nationality and uses certain words that others could not understand.

On the way to the bus, we went to the cathedral basilica to see the unique interior of the church and the famous  Olive organ. 

At the end of the tour, a surprise awaited us - we received t-shirts  with a printed logo of our project, which we created on the first day.

It was a day full of impressions! After dinner, we put on new T-shirts and had a final meeting at our hotel. It's time for summaries: we filled the tree of our affairs with ratings, each participant also marked the dishes he liked the most - together we chose the best. Each of us received a thank you for participating in the project and a souvenir from the head of the Zgezh district. But that was not the most important thing - the most important thing is that we don't want to leave Mikoshevo... Everyone happily thanked the leaders, teachers, participants and each other. Everyone claimed that although they miss home, they would like to take new friends with them and not part, and tomorrow morning is the end... We ended the meeting at 11.40 p.m. - surely this is not pedagogical?

 

Day seven

  The weather cries with us. All the time she helped us, as if she was happy with us, and now she is also sad. While traveling by bus, we discussed the processing of the project results. Everyone promised to write their own commentary, and some promised to collect all the feedback to submit it to the report and publication that had already begun to be prepared.

On the way we had lunch in Toruń. Zarazom had another opportunity to walk through the beautiful old town of Poland. We felt like children who were shown candy, because we were only  2 hours in Toruń. But the weather favored us again!

When we arrived in Zgezh, a team from the local TV channel "Cenrum" was already waiting for us. Not everyone wanted to speak in front of the cameras. Nastya, Ada and Claudia saved us. We will look forward to  the video plot, which should be broadcast on September 6.

And the inevitable time of farewell came - this moment was not a pleasant one... Many tears and promises that we will continue to keep in touch with each other, and  also hope that in a year we will meet on the next joint project !