Youth exchange blog: GreenART in Murcia, Spain by Karolin

This youth exchange was my first exchange ever. I was really exited to go to Spain and spend a whole week learning about climate change. Of course I was also looking forward to the Green Art Festival. I didn’t know what to expect yet so when we arrived everything was new. Still, I felt comfortable from the very first moment.

During the project I gave an insight on how Estonians handle climate change topics and problems. I explained how and why we might do some things differently to other countries. I also helped to make decorations and play areas for the Green Art Festival. I also smoothed wooden objects so that people wouldn’t get blisters when playing.

I learned many different things about how European countries wrestle with the topic of climate change. The thing that shocked me the most was, that people in Poland often burn trash during winter to get warmth. My favourite activities were the games we played when we were warming up for learning. I liked discussing problems with people from other countries and getting closer to them.

From this YE the main thing I would like to improve for the next exchanges is, that we didn’t get to learn very much. The schedule was busy, but I wanted to know even more about climate change and I was hoping to hear stories about this topic from experts.

We went to a Science Museum. We could look at fishes and learn about silkworms. I really liked this, because that was my first time even seeing silkworms. This was my first memorable thing about this project. The second would be the cultural nights that each of the countries hosted. I was amazed by Bulgarian sweets and food, Italians made Aperol Spritz, the Portuguese taught us how to dance and the Polish brought different delights. The third most memorable thing is, that every night after dinner almost all of us would do something together. We would go out to walk, talk, or play. The time spent together was really important to me. In the final night we all sat down in a park, talked, played games and said our last goodbyes. I will hold that moment with me forever.

I would recommend Erasmus YE to my friends because of the created memories and friends. Spending a week or even more with new people can seem frightening at first but it’s one of the best things in the world – learning and growing with each other from different experiences. Now I can say that wherever I go, I have a friend who can show me around and we can have a very fun time and reminisce about our exchange. Thank you so much MTÜ Rabarada for giving me this opportunity!