Deep Roots 2020 blog ECO THINKING

Dear Diary: Week 1

Dear Diary,

After arriving in Kazanlak on Friday, we used the weekend to settle down and to get to know each other. It was a time of well needed rest, but now we, the 16 volunteers (unfortunately one of us is still missing☹) of the Deep Roots project, are ready to get immersed into some work and to tackle the challenges of the week ahead of us!

Monday

To start the week of, we did a little scavenger hunt around the city in order to get to know Kazanlak. We visited some famous and historical monuments in the city and took a lot of pictures. In the evening we had a little meeting to talk about our living together. We came up with a cleaning schedule and a system for cooking. Hopefully they work out the way we want them to!

Tuesday

As we almost do every day, we started with some energizer games to begin the day full of energy and in a better mood. After that, we talked about our expectations and fears concerning the next two months for a couple of minutes. After we played the games, we split up into three teams of five to six members each. Then, the senior volunteers assigned a week task to each one of the groups. One of the groups was in charge of journalism and writing, another was responsible for shooting the beginning of the Eco-movie and filming, and last but not least, the other one had to organize some workshops for the Eco-festival. They cooked some international recipes and filmed the process of making them. Then, we had our lunch break. In the afternoon, we started working in our groups till it was seven o’clock. Later, after a break, we began to prepare a flashmob dance for the Eco-Festival with our first salsa dance class. It was a really nice and entertaining day.

Wednesday

Today we received our team t-shirts and after that we focused on building dog beds for a shelter by using old tires and giving them a new look by painting them in creative and colourful ways. In the evening, Carlos, our most pro-active volunteer taught his second salsa class. Really, we are very good dancers! 😉

Thursday

Some of us started into their morning by attending a yoga class at 8am organised and instructed by one of our fellow volunteers, Katrin. Whoever missed this great opportunity to calm their minds and bodies down at least joined the group at 10am in order to start working on our projects in the groups. It was a very busy work day only interrupted by some occasional meals and some grocery shopping.

The evening however was all about dancing: starting with a short salsa class by Carlos to consolidate our already acquired salsa skills, followed up by a class about Hungarian folk-dances taught by Eszter, the day finally culminated in a night out at the graduation party of the graduates of Kazanlak. Today the students who finished high school in Kazanlak celebrated their graduation by dressing up, having a little procession through the city in the afternoon and then in the evening having a party in a night club. To our amusement, Carlos became a little star at the party! Because of his Colombian origin a lot of people wanted to take pictures with him and wanted to know everything about Colombia. It was a great experience to join a real Bulgarian graduation party!

Friday                                                                                                                                                                                            

Today in the morning we prepared presentations about all the work developed in the groups during the week and in the afternoon we shared what each of us has done with the others. One group presented a video where they cooked a French dessert, another one with an ecological content where recycling and environmental care were encouraged and another where they reported the first sensations on arrival in Bulgaria and ecological innovations happening around the world. Later some of us got together for a 90’s music event where we delighted native residents with our original dance moves.

Now all of us are really looking forward to our well-earned weekend after this busy week! We are already making planes for some activities, but we will tell you about them next week!

See you next week

Love

Your volunteers

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