The story of Anton Velev:

A long time ago, far far away in Romania, there was a secret place in a small village called Milcoveni, where people from different countries gather and spend a magical time. Me, a typical teenager, who is always ready for an adventure, experienced time which I won't ever forget.
The place may not have fulfilled some of my expectations, for example, good food and not so abandoned village, but I would say that if the conditions there were better we wouldn't be so close to the people there. Each of our days there was full of amazing games and activities. I couldn't imagine that it is going to end. I am a sociable person and I really enjoyed every moment there. My favorite moments were the one around the campfire. Everybody was chatting with another person from a different country. We were drinking beer and enjoying every second there.
Even though there were people of different ages, it was really hard to feel it, because everyone felt at the same age. The coordinators, which I strongly love, made us feel like one. I strongly recommend going there, not because just to participate in a project, but to make friends, understand more about other countries and people. This was an unforgettable experience, which gave me knowledge, relationships, it made me grow in behaving with different people and the most important thing I learned there was that even you are not the typical person, there nobody hates you for that and you feel like one with everybody.

Don't go with expectations there, go with the will to do a lot of things out of your comfort zone. This was my first youth exchange and if I have a chance to go on another one I will because this one was amazing.

The story of Boryana Dzhivdzhanova:

Hi, my name is Boryana and I happened to be the group leader of the Bulgarian crew during the Youth Exchange “I act, do you?” We went to Milcoveni, to spend there 10 days, learning about civic action and volunteering and sharing culture, stories, and memories with 39 other incredible people from Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, R.N. Macedonia, and Greece.
We spent the first 2 days getting to know each other, playing some games and enjoying the end of summer together. After that, the activities started tackling the topic of the project. It turned out that there has been a little misconception and some of the participants, including myself, thought that we were going to approach the topic through performing arts, especially theatre. Slightly disappointed, we found out that that was not the plan... However, our amazing organizers gave us the freedom to take over some of the sessions and partly moderate the program by organizing our own workshops and activities. This way, the lovely Miglė from Lithuania and I were given the chance to run our own improvisational theatre session and everyone loved it.
Every evening the national teams had some time for reflection followed by a group meeting for the group leaders and the facilitator of the project. Being part of those made me feel responsible not only for myself but for everyone else and I really believe that I had developed my leadership and interpersonal skills. Also, our feedback and efforts to rectify what we considered faulty, were actually getting results and we were making the change that we wanted to see.
During our 10 days in Romania, we also visited Reșița, we made a cleaning campaign in Milcoveni which included a dance flash mob, creating a Garbage Monster and getting the local children involved as volunteers. We also had fire camps almost every night and cultural evenings where we shared food, music, dance, history and had a lot of fun with all of the participating nations.
In the end, the time has been well spent, we met new people, saw new places, made new friends and learned things about ourselves, about our own personalities, our countries and also about everyone else and how to coexist and live together. And... I dare to say: We actually became better in real life.

The story of Maria Draganova:

My name is Maria, and when we arrived our Bulgarian group was a little bit shocked because we were in a calm small village. Everything there was so different from our daily routines. Time there had stopped and at the same time, it was running. The people were so kind, nice to each other and interesting like in a fairytale. Everyone had something different to show or say - I can say that there were a lot of open-minded people. I loved everything there - the people, the place, homeless cats and dogs and even the kitchen ladies (they were a little bit sulky all the time). I met new people, new cultures, new ways of thinking, so many English accents and so on. Most of the nights we had a campfire. Who wants to be there was there and was open for new conversations. There was nice music and sometimes dances. I like that not everything was 100% organized and we had the freedom to make it as we will like it. I am not a person who can talk or write just to have something written. I like math so I like to say the main things generalized. If I can I will go again on a project like this without a doubt. I miss everything there. Thanks for the nice two weeks living together, beautiful people. I hope to see them one day again.

The story of Krasimira Karastoyanova:

This project was my second time in Romania, in this particular venue but it was just as exciting as the first time. The venue is nice and I love the atmosphere in Milcoveni in general. It’s the most peaceful place ever. The activities are extremely fun to do! Another thing I love is the community. During the two weeks, I spent there, I met so many different people and somehow we became a tight-knit group! Don’t be fooled, this happens in every project! We danced together, laughed together and most importantly we shared knowledge and life experiences. In my opinion, those project are the best way to broaden your mind. It shows you all the cultural differences and it also teaches you how to embrace them. You also learn many new things in a fun way. I learned two different national dances. One Lithuanian and one Romanian! I also tried food from different countries and came to the conclusion that Bulgarian cheese is the best cheese!

The story of Elitsa Babucheva:

Let me tell you about my experience in my first Erasmus + project. It all started really randomly. My cousin told me about the project and I signed up without thinking much about it. We got accepted and after less than a month we were going to visit the Romanian village-Milcoveni. I didn’t know anything about it neither about the project. I didn’t know what we were going to do there even though I’ve read the program about it. I haven’t been to such a project before. Before the project, I wasn’t very into talking to new people or being involved in doing something with them. I had no clue that my comfort zone would be cracked in such a way in this project. Every day we had different activities dedicated to educating ourselves on different topics, communicating with people and working with them. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it so much. I had the chance to learn new things about myself and the people. I discovered things about other countries and met a lot of new people. I’m very thankful that I had the chance to participate in such a project and I hope I will have the chance to do it again. Everybody should use their chance to try to participate in such programs.

The story of Reneta Chakurova:

Hello, I am Reneta and this is my experience in Milkoveni, Romania. I have gone there with some of my friends who live in my hometown. There were three more people from the Bulgarian group who I met on the first day. We traveled all together with a minibus and talked to each other the whole way to Milkoveni. We soon became friends and that made my time there even better for me. In the next few days, when all of the participants arrived, we started getting closer and making friendships. I really enjoyed most of the activities there and the way we were educated on a certain topic while having a lot of fun. Although the weather was rainy and cold, the camp was full of spirit and life because of the young people there. What it gave me is that I learned a lot about other cultures, made friends, shared experience, became more open-minded, gained self-confidence and travel experience, had a lot of fun and a really good time. I had an amazing time taking part in the project.

The story of Kalina Popovska:

The experience was really good and the memories unforgettable. At first, I was shy but at the end of the project, I didn’t want to go home. Of course, we had our difficulties and differences but we got through it. Now I’m much more comfortable talking in front of other people because of the activities in the camp. The most important thing that I have learned is that we should learn to listen to each other and that everybody’s opinion is significant. I improved my English skills and learned also a few words in other languages. I’ve also met lots of different people and developed my teamwork skills. At the project, I stepped out of my comfort zone. The intercultural night was also great. It was nice learning so new things about the other countries I’ve never heard of before. I’ve liked the most the nights in front of the fire where we had the best time ever. I would definitely sign up for another project soon.

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