Dates of the event: 04- 12 September 2018

Place: Guardamar del Segura, Spain

My first Erasmus plus experience started one day before the official start of the project, on 3rd of September, when I was in a group with two other participants from Croatia and we headed on our way from Rijeka to Trieste where we met with the rest of the Croatian team. In the evening we had our flight to Valencia where we also spend the night, so the next day we could meet the rest of the participants on time. Organizers picked us up from the Valencia airport and we were transferred by bus to the place where the project was held – Guardamar del Segura.

The first thing that surprised us was the number of people that went to the place of the project. Two projects were held at the same location and at the same time. That was really cool because we got a chance to meet even more people than those who were the participants of the Who run the world project. Our project had participants from Germany, Belgium, France, Czech Republic, and Spain and the participants from the other project were from Turkey, Malta, Portugal, Iceland, Norway, and Romania. You can’t get bored with this amount of diversity!

At first, when the bus left us, we were all a bit unpleasantly surprised by the accommodation, but the palm trees that were planted all over helped to give a Spanish feel to it. A friendly reminder is to not trust the pictures in the info pack, but keep in mind that it doesn’t really matter if the energy of the group is positive. Unfortunately, the food did not help to make the first impression better, but luckily the supermarket was near! After first logistic stuff, we started to get to know other participants and the organizers. Although we managed to remember a maximum of three names, everyone was friendly and open-minded and with a great sense of humor. After the first activities, we all gathered in a big meeting point outside and started chatting and playing games, of course, accompanied by the Spanish traditional drink Sangria. Mingling lasted until early morning and we were all excited to get to know each more and to see how the project will turn out. Also, to be honest, we were quite excited to go to the beach or just to chill by the pool because of the obvious side effects that occur after a night of tasting traditional drinks.

Workshops were fun, creative and interactive. Everyone had an opportunity to express themselves, show their abilities and present ideas and opinions. All workshops were based on group work in mixed (non-national) groups what, in the beginning, was a great opportunity to get to know other people better as well as to boost language skills. The main task of this project was to create a board game so don’t be too much surprised when soon a new, gender and/or equality related board game becomes a best seller. Just wait to see some of the great ideas we had…

All in all: the project was a complete success on every level. The participants gained a valuable insight on the gender equality all over the globe. It was educational, fun and personal. The schedule was very intensive and crowded (at times too much), but it was interesting and engaging.

Participants: Daniela Špoljarić, Dora Huzanić Mišek, Goran Vučković, Helena Zrinski, Anamarija Ridl, Igor Barać