Media, Arabs, culture, fun and so many experiences.
I do not even know how to start. I will just say that everything was so good and lovely that it took me some time to come back to everyday reality and write this article. An article about an amazing week spent in Krakow during the EuroArab Project.
An explosive mixture of people
15 people from all over Europe and 15 people from Egypt. As we say in Ukraine – an explosive mixture. But from the first day till the last minutes of the last day of the project was more than worth it. Maybe the point is that already before the trip we got to know each other quite well. This happened through sharing some songs and social communication online before the event even started.
Feel the magic of Krakow city
This is the magic of Krakow city, or maybe it was just good mood, but Iryna (a fellow participant from Ukraine) and I got out of the bus and already knew that we would love this week.
However, I will not bore you with compliments but will tell you the truth about what was so amazing about this gorgeous week in Krakow.
Lesson about life that will last a life time
As mentioned above, there were different participants from different countries, moreover different religions and ways of thinking. For any single second I did not feel uncomfortable or bothered by any obstacles. For people who are wondering why I am writing like that, just google prejudice of Ukrainians against Arabic people.
Moreover, I was just wondering how the organisers managed to create such a nice atmosphere. From the first day everybody was friendly, helpful, and what is very important – openhearted. In a moment all my prejudice just disappeared. I learned so many new things about another culture, I was amazed about all the things I did not know before – way of thinking, perception of everyday life, philosophy of life, behavior in the life of Arabic people.
The life of Tommy and Billy
No doubt, communicating with these guys – witnesses of Egyptian revolution – gave us a lot of knowledge and real examples of how it worked in reality, how it was for them to be a part of this power to change their own lives, hopefully for something better. Furthermore, what I really appreciated was the nice atmosphere that made everybody feel comfortable to discuss everything, to voice their opinions, and to argue about some topics. You should have seen us during one workshop about the life situation of two guys: Tommy and Billy. The participants were separated in two teams and there was a story: these two guys are friends. Billy works in a jewelry shop and he owes some money to Tommy. Once Tommy came to shop and stole a golden ring from the shop and now Billy is in trouble because his boss will kill him, but Tommy has a very ill daughter and he needs to take care of her.
One team was supposed to defend Tommy and the other one was defending Billy. What happened was that Tommy’s team was so passionate about his defense that if you ever need a lawyer maybe one of the participants from the EuroArab project could help you out!
Program full of activities
It is impossible not to mention all these interesting and efficient city games, amazing workshops in which we had to investigate the streets of Krakow and then put it into interesting presentations. The Polish dancing workshop made us dance, the lesson of Polish history gave us valuable knowledge, and Polish and Arabic language lessons extended our vocabulary. What I enjoyed a lot was the city quest, apart of my very tired legs. Trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau, although it is hard to speak of, is for sure worth visiting and should be visited.
And then of course there is the social program – jazz cafes, shisha bar, galleries, traditional cuisine, and lovely parties at the hostel.
In the end I have one more remark – everybody wanted to prolong the project. Explosive mixture of these crazy, interesting, so different and so cool people has not yet burst. It is waiting for its chance to do so somewhere in Europe.
Written by Lidiia Akryshora, AEGEE-Kyiv