On the 18th of March Association FOR YOU organized an intercultural event at Yo-Ho-Hostel. Volunteers and interns, who are part of our new project Get Ready! Varna European Youth Capital 2017, presented their countries and prepared delicious meals from their national cuisines. We think, that it is very important to share international experience and to spread information about your own country while living abroad. In the future, we are planning to hold more events “Taste and Share!”, which will be complementary to “Varna European Youth Capital 2017” events and will promote volunteering and international experience.

During the international event, it was possible to get to know more about Cyprus, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, Belgium and France. Laura, the volunteer at the association FOR YOU, made the first presentation about her country Lithuania. We learned, that Lithuania is the geographical centre of Europe, that the second religion in Lithuania is basketball and that the country has its own ‘gold’ – amber from the Baltic Sea. Besides this, the country has very nice green areas and is very flat – the highest hill is just 300 m above sea level 🙂

The presentation continued with Miranda from Cyprus, she is a volunteer at the office of Varna European Youth Capital 2017. We learned that Cyprus is very beautiful and sunny country, which hosts a lot of parties and festivals on the beach, and it is the birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In addition, the country’s beaches are rated as one of the cleanest in Europe and you have to drive on the left side of the road.

Assia, who is a volunteer at the Alternative Space Hale3, is half bulgarian/half german, so she explained about her life in Germany, Hamburg. She told more about her passion – roller skating and showed a nice movie about this sport. Of course, as the biggest difference between Bulgaria and Germany, she mentioned sunny weather in Bulgaria and more strict life in Germany 🙂

Daria, who is a volunteer at association FOR YOU, prepared some very interesting facts about Poland. She reminded, that astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and nobel prize winner Marie Curie was born in Poland. Also she explained that Pierogi, or Polish dumplings, are one of the most recognizable Polish dishes outside of Poland, that Woodstock rock festival, an annual free rock music festival in Poland, is the largest open-air festival in Europe, and the car Polski Fiat is the most iconic car of Polish manufacture in the world 🙂

Sonia from France, who is also a volunteer in the office of Varna European Youth Capital 2017, spoke about some true and false cliches about France. She also got into wonderful french food: wines, cheese with a special smell ☺ and pastries. She introduced her small hometown city Villerupt and her one true “love” Strasbourg, where she studied for 5 years.

The twins from Belgium Jan and Joeri, who are interns at association FOR YOU and Mapache Bakery, shared some secrets about their homeland. That there are 3 official languages, that the small blue creatures called ‘Smurfs’ were created in Belgium and that they have one of the biggest music festivals in the world – Tomorrowland. Also, we got to know about their native town Deurne which has a lot of parks, green areas. And of course, they can’t forget to mention the different kinds of beers, chocolate and french fries.

During the presentations we had a nice break so that everybody could taste the national meals, which were prepared by the volunteers: pumpkin soup from Germany, sweet cake from Cyprus, pierogi from Poland, fried dark bread snack (kepta duona) with cheese sauce from Lithuania, bacon pie (quiche) from France, waffles from Belgium, Ukrainian potato pancakes deruny  and of course home made banitsa from Bulgaria:)

After the presentations, people had the opportunity to check out their international knowledge in an interesting quiz about all the countries and of course, the winner got a tasty prize – a box of chocolates, which they shared with all the participants.

In the end, everybody was full of new information and improved their knowledge about other countries. So we achieved the goal – we tasted other cultures literally and metaphorically ☺ See you next time, and don‘t forget to taste and share everyday…