Let's get right to business as there is loads of catching up to do!
So April 16-18 was my first "solo" impact weekend as coordinator, and also trainer for the village leaders. I was slightly nervous, just that everything would go smoothly, but thanks to a great practical staff, wonderful trainers and extremely involved and outgoing trainees - it turned out to be a VERY good and successful weekend. I had a great time. Unfortunately no pictures from that as my camera was broken... :(
Also, my friend Einav (which I will refer to as Einav #2) was visiting me and was supposed to leave a day before the impact BUT the volcano had her stuck in Sweden so she came to the impact and kitchen staffed. It turned out really cool because Eve (Jokinen) who was also kitchen staffing and Einav #2 were both leaders together in a village in Germany last summer. So it turned out really fun, funny and all other kinds of words. Here's me and Einav #2 in Stockholm.
So after impact was over we came back to Stockholm and stress began about the upcoming ETG (European Trustee Gathering) which was hosted in Sweden this year. Because things were very uncertain with the volcano, we didn't know until the very last moment if there would be an ETG or not. It was quite stressful. At the same time, not knowing what's going on with Einav #2 as she was pretty much stuck in Sweden. Finally last Wednesday she decided to go by ferry to Riga (where she had a connecting flight to Israel). It was funny seeing her off at the port (felt very 1950's...) but she told me it was really cool - she had her own room, and slept really well, and even joined a dance class in the evening so all in all it seemed like a unique experience for her, and definitely makes for a good story.
So Thursday I had to wake up super early to check if my flight to Copenhagen was going or not (the ETG was near Malmö) - it did go so I set off to Denmark.
I got to see my dear Ea (who's name you should already begin recognizing from previous posts). It was the 3rd time I've seen her in one month which is pretty cool. I stayed at her place and we just hung out and began planning the Conflict Management session we were planned to do at the ETG. I also got to meet up with some other Danish CISV friends (like Vinh, Simon who i was leader at village with in 2003, etc).
On Friday it was off to the ETG site near Malmö. Quite stressful again, renting the car, driving down, doing all the food shopping... it doesn't sound like much but it is SO MUCH WORK! i felt exhausted and my feet were really hurting. But at the end it all turned out well. We had a great small group of trustees so it was very cozy (around 22 participants - here they are in the picture).
My conflict management session with Ea went really well and it seemed like the trustees were very interested in the methods which is great because it will all be in the handbook (in the making!).
(Ea and I planning)
We had a really cool experience when Gunni, who is from Iceland, surprised us with a real rock he got from THE volcano (after hiking there). It smelled really funky, but was super cool. Of course everyone took loads of picture with our ETG celebrity - the volcano rock! I was no exception...
Sunday it was back to Copenhagen - i was SO TIRED... I think I started imagining things... But after a very good sleep in on Monday, I had another nice day in Copenhagen and usual great, creative, motivating talks with Ea.
Then Tuesday it was back to dear ole' Stockholm.
By the way, just to illustrate how I've gotten used to the Swedish way, it was sooooo weird for me in Copenhagen that you can take your beer outside of the bar, that you can smoke in some of the bars, that you can buy beer in the supermarket, etc... haha.
And this weekend I'm probably moving to a room more in the center (close to the office actually). It's not a done deal yet so I don't want to jinx it so if it happens I will tell more about it in the next post.
Till next time!
E.
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