On the 25th of May, six of us went to Panagyurishte, Bulgaria to participate in a project „No more isolation“ with Association Strive! to represent Croatia. The aim of the project was to promote intercultural dialogue, opening up to the world and overcoming stereotypes as a way of social inclusion of young people from isolated rural areas.

Four of us started this amazing experience with sightseeing in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. After two days of exploring the city, we met with all other participants and hit the road to Panagyurishte. We came late in the evening so we started the project the day after.

The first day we had energizers, ice-breaking sessions and lessons of what we are going to do and what is expected of us. In the evening Romania and Portugal had their intercultural night. The second day we had a city game where we were separated into groups and had to tour the city, taking pictures in front of historical buildings. The third day we played some games and had discussions about stereotypes and learned how to dance Bulgarian traditional dances!

The day after we went to Plovdiv and had an amazing time exploring and seeing the city. Here once again, we experienced the amazing Bulgarian hospitality! In the evening it was Croatian and Italian Intercultural night…let’s just say we made an impression with a lot of food and drinks and fun games for everyone to enjoy.

On Thursday and Friday, we talked about isolation and had some group work discussing some questions about isolation.

Altogether, the project was filled with games, discussions, and laughter. Every night we hung out together. Everybody was friendly and willing to make friends. All of us really clicked as a group and were having a lot of fun.

What all of us have learned by being a part of this project is how all of us are different but so similar. We saw how similar Bulgarian culture is to Croatian and how all of our countries have similar problems. We made friends with people and 6 of us became really close as well!

Participants: Vedrana Jerkić, Laura Host, Alen Mušnjak, Inga Knezović, Luka Crnjac & Leticija Iveljić