Below you can read the reflection of Zita, a member of the Hungarian team.
A week in Paradise
When I applied I felt like doing a kind of experiment: I have never been to such an exchange and it would be something new. As the date of my departure approached, I started to realize that maybe I wasn’t fit for this kind of thing so I felt more and more scared about the whole week before me. Fortunately, I was wrong.
Those seven days of the exchange felt like we were all in a kind of bubble taken out of time and space in a totally new world, away from everything that is happening to us in “real life”, away from all the worries and obligations we have to face every day. I felt absolutely free and relaxed among all the smiling faces and the nature surrounding us and I am absolutely grateful for every day, hour and minute I could spend there. It was a whole new type of energy in the group I have never experienced before.
The workshops and presentations were great, in that one week I learned more new things than I otherwise wouldn’t in probably half a year. I liked that there was a balance between theoretical knowledge (for example permaculture), practical knowledge (for example forest walks), and also a lot of personal and interpersonal links between all of these (yoga, dances, talks). The knowledge and skills I acquired at the exchange gave me a whole new point of view.
I just hope I will be able to share all this knowledge with others so that everyone can experience that great feeling of being connected with people, nature, and everything around us.