As exciting as it gets with Erasmus+ projects, once again, there we were, the Macedonian team all nervously waiting at the airport to finally “touch” the sky, at the end landing in beautiful Italy. We arrived a whole day earlier than the other groups, so we sought to see some of the many beauties Italy has to offer, deciding to visit Milan and its most famous Cathedral. It was glorious, indeed. But with Macedonians you have to have something going downhill, like the train leaving in 2 minutes while they’re focusing on taking pictures with the birds. We like to call our first day the “Fast&Furious: Macedonians in Italy” edition.

The image everyone has of Italy is Venezia, Milan, Verona, Rome. But we saw a part of it that was extraordinary and beyond peaceful at the same time. Our destination, where we had our project “We are EUrope” going on, was San Lugano, South Tyrol, Italy. Ever heard of it? Probably not, but believe us it is worth visiting it. Surrounded by high mountains and clean air, we were accommodated in 4 old wagons: tiny spaced rooms with 5 bunk beds, 10 people sleeping together. It was a challenge, but it paid off. We learnt how to function in a hurry, in a mess, but still at peace with each other.

We brought home a little bit of culinary abilities from cooking national dinners in big amounts (38 people), but also bigger responsibility when talking about household work. The goal of the project, besides the learning and having fun, was to prepare youngsters such as we are that not always Mommy and Daddy will be there to cook or clean after them. Still no one seemed to complain and we all enjoyed our unique stay in such a mesmerizing place.

We started every morning with a language animation from every country involved, learning different words as energizers. The goal of the project was to realize the differences and similarities between European countries. With national workshops and mutual presentations we learnt about protesting (Fridays For Future in particular), how it effects our rights and our needs, why it is important to raise your voice for a better future for Europe. Through verbal and non-verbal communication we understood each other in ways we never thought we would. We put our trust into hands of others, that way we realized not everything is bad and evil, that there is still good in people and there is no need for losing hope in humanity. Many, many more workshops reminded us that We are Europe, that we shall stick together like one in order for us to make this world more peaceful, for a better tomorrow.

Of course, besides all the work, we had fun with the national evenings, learning traditional dances, introducing different types of music and different ways of partying. We even fought for visiting a swimming pool that was supposed to be an impossible mission; at least that’s what we learnt from the project, to fight for our needs and never lose hope. A lot of friendships were made, a lot of stories were heard and a ton of tears were poured out. With big hugs and promises for another meeting, we finished our project satisfied.

Eva Naumovski

Filip Stojanovski

Dimitrina Boskovska

Maria Atanasova

Irina Galevska

Jovan Crvenkovski

Tamara Todeva