#sweetnovember

One of the hash tags that I am really sick of is #sweetnovember. Well, It would be more proper to say – used to be, because this end of November was the sweetest that I recall, actually it was the best I ever had.
From November 23 ^th till November 29^th I participated in the Erasmus+ project Youth Empowerment (YEP) held in Dilijan, Armenia. First of all, I must say that I am in love with Armenia, which is why I wished so much to visit it again. If last time I explored Yerevan, this time was the turn of Dilijan.

On November 22, at midnight, I and Veronica (another participant from Moldova) arrived to the Yerevan airport where a very kind man picked us up and we went to Dilijan. Kind man because he changed the route especially for us in order to show us at least a bit of the Yerevan’s beauty.
The project presented itself challenging and different from the very first day. Tired, sleepy and quite embarrassed of my not so fresh look, me, along with the other participants, had to accomplish the first task: discover Dilijan. We spoke to random people, found certain locations, took crazy photos and videos and even entered the house of an Armenian family, everything according to the plan made by Mack and Clive. Mack and Clive were our trainers, two guys that put so much effort, creativity and dedication in making our stay not just useful and instructive, but also safe and funny. From all the projects I have participated in, this was the most interesting and hard. We spent lot of time debating and talking about what are the responsibilities of a couch, his role and the difference from a leader or manager, for example. I know it may not sound so challenging and interesting, but believe me it is something special in discussing existential questions with a stranger, answering to them or speaking in front of everyone about your passion. For me, who finds it so hard to trust someone, the outside activities (yes, we had a very nice, cozy yard) focused on trusting exercises were really challenging. However, I managed to accomplish them quite well, thanks to Mack’s insistence and power of persuasion and Jonathan’s great sense of humor and adorable accent – the Danish Viking.

Basically, every day was something new, fun and unpredictable. Yes, unpredictable because Mack and Clive are experts in plot twists. J
Also, we spent a whole day in Yerevan, on our own. These memories I will keep for myself, all that I can say is that it’s been a long time since I haven’t felt so alive.

I will be forever grateful for this experience. I enjoyed every second of it, even the coriander that I hate so much and that was in almost every meal, I am recalling with a smile on my face. Even now it is hard for me to have a smoke outside and not seeing a mountain in front of me. So simple and yet so memorable… I guess for a time I will still close my eyes and imagine it is there, right instead of that stupid billboard.
Yep, it was beautiful. Thank you for everything, especially for the true smile in a photo. Even though I didn’t make any ritual regarding returning, I know I will return, I believe it is meant to be.

Article: Eugenia Vacari

Photo credits: Veronica Ştefaneţ and Yulyia Marchuk