Life at VANT: February
My February by Denisa
Even though February is the shortest among all of the months, there were definitely important occasions for youth centre, especially two – Valentine’s day (or as it was understood in youth centre – as a friendship day) and spring break.
Before the actual Valentine’s day came, we spent some time making heart-shaped paper chains and thinking (and rethinking) what can be my own event dedicated to that day. Me and my colleague agreed on organizing Valentine’s day cooking class together. It wouldn’t be proper Valentine’s day without something sweet!
In spite of the fact that my initial choice of recipe was lava cake (because what would be nicer than delicious warm chocolate cake with a bit of ice cream on top?!😹), truth was that it would be overly complicated for youngsters unfrtunately…so we ended up with hot cocoa, heart-shaped tiny cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies.
I was positively surprised how eager were youngsters to prepare them (they were looking forward to tasting and eating part!😏). Fortunately, we just divided the tasks among youngsters and they were very helpful. My other own event took place on the last day of spring break – I have already noticed that doing ,,short cooking classes” is a safe choice for me.
This time I thought of smoothie-making event, since smoothies are in my opinion easy to make, sweet and healthy at the same time (what is pretty much needed by the sweet-tooth-driven younsters) and in order to actually teach them something new, we also made homemade granola the old-fashioned way – put the mixture of oat flakes, cinnamon and whatever seeds and nuts we were craving back then, into the oven.
That is all! That is the end of February. I will see what will the upcoming March bring, since it is also the month of my mid-term training.
My February by Ilia
This month started on an emotional note. I found out that my Georgian friend, another volunteer from Pärnu, was going to return home earlier than planned. I went to Pärnu to say goodbye and helped her at the airport since she wasn’t feeling well. On my way back, I stayed a day in Riga and explored the city a bit. Visiting the library there was really nice. It was beautiful and peaceful.
At the Youth Center, we organized a Valentine’s Day movie night in my movie club. We watched The Theory of Everything about Stephen Hawking and after the movie we talked about unconditional love. It was a meaningful discussion for the kids and for me. In the middle of the month, I had my midterm training near Viljandi. It lasted four days.
I spent time with my close friend from Spain and met other volunteers. We talked about our plans for the Youth Center and had a three-hour hike in nature, including walking on a frozen lake, which I had never done before. We also had a team-building evening at Merlin’s house. It was really fun. We had a quiz with different topics, ate homemade pizzas and just enjoyed spending time together. It felt friendly and relaxed, and I enjoyed feeling closer to my colleagues.
Finally, during the school holidays, i organized an intelligence quiz for the kids. It was fun and engaging, and the kids really enjoyed participating. Overall, this month was full of meaningful moments and activities. I feel grateful for all the experiences and the people I spent time with.
