LIFE+ | Kayaking, Biking and Conversation - An intercultural and challenging experience in Svishtov

I’m Giulia, an intern at ICDET. The intern Katia and I went to Svishtov with the aim of meeting the interns of the Institute Perspectives, to share with them a day of adventure and mutual knowledge. The day started with the kayaking experience: we with all the other participants crossed the Danube in two or alone, according to a free choice. Participants who decided to collaborate faced different challenges: firstly, it was the first time kayaking for the majority of them so the experience required a necessary collaboration.

I found myself collaborating with a Spanish guy; initially finding the balance was not easy but later we coordinated and we succeeded, especially thanks to the use of English as a common language that allowed us to communicate. After 3 hours of kayaking, we arrived at Vardim by biking. The biking experience lasted also 3 hours and in my opinion it has been the hardest one: the gears didn’t work and my bike was quite old. Furthermore, a long bike ride is not properly indicated for my delicate complexion!

Of course I learned my face needs a sunscreen with higher protection! In Vardim, before saying goodbye, we had a moment of reflection held by Ahmed Kuytov, the responsible for the Danube Survivor project. He asked the group which word we would have used to describe the entire experience. He defined this experience “challenging” but he concluded saying that we are all winners from this experience and that the satisfactions allow us to test ourselves newly in future.

This has been a unique experience to improve communication skills, to enjoy the beautiful nature of Bulgaria and to prove yourself.

Thanks to this experience, it is also possible to get in touch with new cultures while having a challenging sport experience surrounded by nature. For me it was also an opportunity to receive information concerning the education in Bulgaria, which is a topic I am interested in for my project with ICDET.

I talked with some interns and volunteers of the Institute Perspectives and I discovered that they are dealing with projects about education: someone is going in the schools raising awareness on important issues such as respect for nature, with children this can be done through the teaching for example of how to plant a flower. Other volunteers spend their time playing with children left to themselves, making a relevant contribution to their quality of life.

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Giulia Ciccarelli, intern@ICDET