4 - 14 February 2005 Krakow, POLAND

First day of our arrival to Poland we visited the Auschwitz concentration camp. The horror could still be felt in this place of death. We all felt sorrow for the people who lived there. Our mood changed dramatically on the next day when, we went to Krakow and began sightseeing. All of us had a great time, walking on Market Square, visiting the palace on Vawel hill and of course some typical national pubs.

The rest of the exchange took place in Raba Wyzna, near Krakow. Local folk carnival was held there.

The people from Bulgaria, Poland, Norway and Portugal brought a breath of fresh air in this event.

All of the participants in the exchange spent a whole day in preparing national dishes typical for their countries, which were put on display afterwards. Presenting the countries as well as dancing help for the integration of the multi-cultural group. We had a number of workshops, dedicated to the disappearing handcrafts e.g. wood carving, weaving, pottery and glass painting.

Beside the work we also had a lot of fun. We went skiing and that was maybe one of the greatest places which even the people who had never skied before left with positive emotions. Some people like our friend Pedro had a few difficulties about staying upright but after all we had a great time together. We also had a one-day trip to Zakopane turned out to be a real disaster for our leader who lost his camera and others just didn’t know when to stop buying all sort of things (guess who?).

The parties organized by our hosts with the participation of Zubrowka & Krakowska as well as the singing of different national songs also helped for the integration of the participants. The pub Siwy Dim became favorite place to the Bulgarians where the song Iovano Iovanke was played with accompany of the club’s band.

On the last day of the exchange, the participants received diplomas for the great work done during the exchange.