04.03.2013: Kissing rabbits and getting closer

The second day start had very interesting energizers, followed by video interviews made by the participating countries. We also tried to express the violation of human rights with short role plays by different groups and then we met a true historical witness, who presented us her personal experience during the time of communism and now. The day ended in a cultural evening hosted by the Latvians.



The energizers

Still sleepy, we started with some warming up activities. Because normal gymnastic exercises are too mainstream. We had to be very agile and at the same time creative. The task was to pass  the ball using every part of our bodies, except our hands and arms. In the other game we had to pretend that we were holding an imaginary bunny, which we were kissing on different parts of its body. After that we had to kiss our neighbors on the same parts, which created an atmosphere full of awkwardness.


Presenting the interviews
Every country presented the video interviews made in preparation for this project. While the Latvians interviewed different teachers, the Bulgarians also asked people on the street about their experiences and opinion.The German video presented a story of a man imprisoned because he tried to escape suppression in the former GDR.

Role play games
We were assigned a task to think of situation, in which human rights are violated and had to express these ideas in a role play.




Discussion with historical witness
We heard a touching story of the life of a former teacher, who had the dream to travel to Great Britain. She explained the difficulties connected with traveling in the socialist countries. Unable to cross the border, she had to go through many situations in order to make her dream come true. She had to make her way through many authorities and documents until she finally got the permission to travel to Great Britain.



The Latvian evening
After a little building game with some sticks and snacks, Latvians gave us a sneak peak about their country, their culture and their delicious food. We were warmly welcomed and have been given some awesome bracelets, which were in the color of their flag. They showed us their traditional dances, festivals and panorama views of the capital city - Riga. We had a nice singing lecture in Latvian music, played some games and overall had an awesome time.


But the highlight of the whole day was definitely the best dance performance ever made: