Implentation

On this page, we are going to describe what happened to our youth exchange day by day. All the information about the days was given by our participants, and we thank them for their active participation in our amazing youth exchange.

Day 1: Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Today was the first day of the project, and because of this we had a lot of name games and a lot of ice breaking activities!

The day began with some ice breaking activities, as well as name games and even speed dating. In mixed groups, we used a lot of non-formal activities to learn about each other, each other's backgrounds, including where we come from, and why we are part of this project.

We also did an activity, where we drew each other portraits, step by step by passing a paper around and drawing one part of the face. The end result was a quite funny set of drawings! This was later used for a secret friend activity, where each one of us were given a secret friend, who will give little gifts and nice messages up until the end of the youth exchange!

During the afternoon, we took part in a game called "mission is possible" where, in groups, we were given a set of almost impossible tasks to complete! for this we explored the seaside of pissouri, spoke to locals, found and took photos of cats, as well as finding the best spots around the seaside.

In the evening, we had the formal intoduction to the project, where we were given our roles, such as a photography team, a video team, and support teams. We also made a set of rules that we signed on! While it was quite a tiring day, it was nevertheless fullfiling and we look forward to the next day!

Day 2: Thursday, April 4, 2024

The day started with a look at the fears, expectations and contributions each of us had before coming to the project. We all, in groups talked about fears we may have about the project, such as not being able to learn all the names, or having certain barriers and ultimately methods to overcome them. We also spoke about our expectations, the things we expect to take from the project, and things we want to learn. Lastly, we spoke about ways we ourselves could contribute to the project, through the skills and special talents each one of us have.

After a nice and needed coffee break, we presented, in national groups, the 8 key competencies which was part of our homework! Each group presented it slightly differently, such as a small play, music, a small activity or otherwise. It was very interesting to learn about different competencies the youthpass has.

After much needed rest, we went to the Pissouri square for some treasure hunt activities in mixed groups. It was a lot of fun to talk to the locals and see all the different aspects and history of the village. This also served as great teamwork and learning about each other!

After returning and reflection, we had the first intercultural night and it was by Austria, Greece and Portugal. It was very interesting to learn about all the different countries through quizzes, snacks and music!

Day 3: Friday, April 5, 2024

After the usual top 10 activity to start of the day, as well as an energizer, the first activity, that took place outside was hosted by the Romanian group. Here, we played different games, and engaged in different workshops using different types of emotions as a basis. One of these was pantomyme, as well as a version of it that added feelings while playing a version of broken telephone. It was very interesting, and just as importantly it was fascinating to see how everyone represented their feelings in different ways!

For the second activity in the morning, we looked at the different photos we had sent in advance that represented 5 different feelings. Upon looking at them, and trying to guess what each feeling or emotion each one was, we then represented said feelings in pairs, as we were given different cards and prompts for this. The last step was, in pairs, to talk about thought provoking questions. One of the most interesting questions was "Is there such a thing as "correct" emotion, or is it individual and subjective." Curious!

In the afternoon, we had our NGO fair, where we made our stations using our laptops, materials, stickers and posters we drew, to represent each of our sending organizations. It was very interesting to go around and find out about the organizations of participants from other countries!

In the evening, we had the opportunity to go to the beach! this activity was hosted by the North Macedonian team, where we used finger painting and brush painting, to represent our feelings in an artisitic form on pebbles! On the last day of the project, we will give these colored pebbles to our secret friend, hopefully they like them!

At night, we had our second cultural night, and the countries were North Macedonia, Poland and Lithuania. We danced, sang, did quizzes and saw a lot about the life of people in these different countries. The Lithuanian metaphors and phrases were particularly hard to guess!

Day 4: Saturday, April 6, 2024

After the usual top 10 (this time being the most searched terms on google, apparently "google" being one of them) we then had the opportuntely to be part of a workshop that was based on the idea of communication and its links to emotion i.e communicating feelings. Afterwards, we took part in a "Photo Hunt", where we were tasked to do different activities, based on emotions and sport to represent feelings! We were on a timer, and competed against each other!

After a good rest (with coffee!) we then went on the calmer side, by listening to calm music, and spreading our feelings on a piece of paper with a pen. This then turned into a coloring exercise, where, the blocks that were created were colored in, serving as a cool metaphor of the beauty of the interpretation of emotions!

The afternoon included a cultural trip, where we visited the Ancient Kourion, The castle of Limassol, and the city itself. This was particularly interesting, as we learned a lot about the history, and Cyprus' past!

After coming back home to the accommodation, we got our much needed rest!

Day 5: Sunday, April 7, 2024

The day began with a song writing and producing activity by the Lithuanian leaders! For this activity, we were split into mixed groups and each team was given a different genre of music, phrases and words that had to express feelings and even a center stage and microphone to host this "SUPYFEL event" at! The genres included pop, rock and even jazz. Hilariously, even the leaders were in their own group to do their own production.

It was a very fulfilling activity, as all the other participants were the audience in the show cheering us on. It was very fulfilling and exciting!

The afternoon focused on sport events, also in mixed groups! These were 8 different sport activities, based on feelings and excitement. We were very competitive, and it was a lot of fun. One activity focused on using a board with wheels, and in teams, we were tasked with picking up letters and create words that had to do with representing feelings. Another focused on designing a paper airplane that flies the furthest, which represented unleashing our feelings. It was truly liberating games.

This night was the final cultural night, and it was the countries of Cyprus and Romania. It was very exciting to try homemade and traditional foods from Romania, and to finally find out more about Cypriot music and dances after already spending 5 days in the country.

Day 6: Monday, April 8, 2024

A board game about feelings was not what we were expecting to start our morning with! The Austrian had prepared a board game, played with dice, that focused on the expression on feelings. There were two games, one about emotions and one about feelings and there were winners too! Each part of the board, upon landing on forced us to speak about something that we rarely talk about when meeting strangers, but it was a very interesting and safe place to do so, because we had already grown close to each other during the activities in the last 5 days.

The second activity focused on improvisational theatre, active citizenship and empathy. This is because we were given prompts in quick succession, and we had to quickly identify the emotion one would feel, and how others would react to it. It was a very interesting workshop!

During the afternoon, we had the opportunity to visit the city of Paphos, including the tomb of kings, Petra to Romiou, where Aphrodite supposedly came out from. It's a very interesting city with a lot of history!

Day 7: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 

The last day of the project focused on reflecting on the week! The day started with a rewind on our fears, contributions and to see how well our expectations were met. Turns out, they largely were, and none of the fears came true! All of us contributed, considering every country did an their own workshop, talents were shared, and the fear of miscommunicating or not understanding each other never came true!

Moreover, we wrote a letter to our future selves, and gave it to our leaders. We are to receive this letter in 6 months' time, to see the messages we wrote to ourselves or the promises we made.

The rest of the day focused on dissemination and visibility, and we learned about its importance, and the best way to share our learnings further.

The afternoon ended with an evaluation, revealing our secret friends and a youth pass ceremony! We will miss everybody! Thank you for everything!