Create Your Own Youth Exchange — Italy

Hi everyone,

 

In this short message, I would like to share with you our adventurous experience during the youth exchange in the beautiful seaside town of Giovinazzo, located in the Italian region of Apulia.

 

Our youth exchange actually started a bit unusually – about two weeks before our departure to Italy. We met to finalize all the details and prepare our workshop and intercultural evening. Of course, we successfully managed everything, and two weeks later, we could finally set off on our journey.

 

Upon arriving in Giovinazzo, we spent the first evening at the beach and took part in some getting-to-know-you activities. The first official day of the program was dedicated to team-building and games, which helped us connect more with each other. After that, we moved on to the main theme of the exchange – democracy. Each team had to create their own workshop, and I must say, everyone did an excellent job.

 

A typical day looked like this: breakfast from 8:30 to 9:30, the first workshop from 9:30 to 11:00, followed by a half-hour coffee break, then another workshop from 11:30 to 13:00. Lunch and a subsequent lunch break were from 13:00 to 15:30, which everyone spent differently – some went to the beach, some relaxed, and some enjoyed excellent Italian gelato or coffee. From 15:30 to 17:00 there was another workshop with a half-hour coffee break, followed by another workshop from 17:30 to 19:00. Dinner was at 19:00, and from then until 21:30 we had free time before the intercultural night of one of the teams began.

 

As the Czech team, we prepared a workshop similar to a classic Czech “bojovka” (adventure game), where we had six stations. We divided the participants into six teams, and each team had to score as many points as possible at each station. Activities at the stations included a quiz about democracy and democratic institutions, pantomime with democratic terms, democratic bingo, guessing whether a text excerpt was a hoax or a fact, marking places on a blind map according to questions, and building the tallest human pyramid, which required cooperation, communication, and teamwork.

 

Other teams also prepared interesting workshops. For example, the Moldovan team created an activity in the form of a pub quiz on democratic questions, which was very original and taught us a lot of new information. The Spanish team divided us into four groups, each representing a different political party, and we had to argue and debate on various topics, even if we didn’t actually agree with those opinions. The Italian team prepared a court simulation, and the Georgian team had a game called “Win as Much as You Can,” which trained our loyalty and teamwork among all participants.

 

And that wasn’t all! Since we were in Italy, we also enjoyed a workshop on making tiramisu and took a trip to Bari, where we explored the beauty of the city and local life with our own guide.

 

Regarding accommodation, we stayed in a local monastery, sharing rooms with 3–4 people. The food was mostly Italian cuisine, so it probably goes without saying that it was excellent! I think we all took away many new friendships, experiences, and a lot of new knowledge and skills that we gained or improved during the project. Overall, we really enjoyed this experience and will remember it for a lifetime.