Armenia welcomed us with hospitality, a tasty cuisine, and a beautiful landscape…
The exchange in Armenia was my first experience with these types of projects. It was a positive surprise, starting with the organisation, number of workshops, and knowledge acquired, and ending with the openness and integration of the participants. The project touched upon topics not only related to living in harmony with the environment but also taught us to get to know ourselves better, ask for help, and minimise the stress of everyday life.
Armenia welcomed us with hospitality, a tasty cuisine, and a beautiful landscape. The accommodation was in very good condition.
As for the LEVEL UP organisation, only good feedback – an online organisational meeting before the start of the project, constant contact during the trip, and an available helping hand for solving problems. A big thank you to our Team Leader Monika, who always rose to the challenge, and thanks to her, the project was at an even higher level!
I encourage you to participate in mobilities carried out as part of non-formal education, because nothing teaches like travelling. Projects provide an incredible opportunity to get to know people from all over the world, their culture, cuisine, and perspectives/views on specific situations. Thanks to this, a person can get to know themselves better as well as other points of view that they have never thought about.
Agnieszka, 24 years old, youth exchange, Armenia – “Trust your inner energy”
During various classes, we learned interesting methods of dealing with stress, compared our experiences, got to know ourselves better..
This exchange was an incredible experience for me.
During the week in Armenia, I learned a lot, not only about the country and its culture, which is so different from ours, but also had the opportunity to meet extraordinary people from all over Europe. Almost 40 people from many different countries such as Georgia, Croatia, Spain, Armenia, Poland, and Romania took part in the “Trust Your Inner Energy” project. The project was devoted to ecology, especially increasing ecological awareness among young people, as well as self-development. During various classes, we learned interesting methods of dealing with stress, compared our experiences, got to know ourselves better, our advantages, disadvantages, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as how to plan our goals and develop in different areas.
I was surprised not only by the extraordinary openness and positive attitude of the participants but also by the fact that even though we came from such different countries, and had different experiences and customs, we could find many similarities in each other and use them to get to know one another better and establish friendships.
Armenia is a beautiful and underrated country with interesting customs and traditions and delicious cuisine. I will fondly remember the time I spent in Tsaghkadzor and the people I met there. I am extremely grateful to the LEVEL UP organisation for the opportunity to participate in this project and I hope that I will be able to use the things I learned during this youth exchange in my everyday life.
I encourage you to participate in mobilities carried out as part of non-formal education, because it is a great way to meet new people from all over Europe, learn new skills and gain knowledge on various topics, improve your language skills, and visit the most remote corners of Europe.
Izabela, 23 years old, youth exchange, Armenia – “Trust your inner energy”
I noticed differences between human perspectives that I hadn’t thought about before…
This was my first project of this kind, and I learned there how life experiences can change one’s point of view. I noticed differences between human perspectives that I hadn’t thought about before. During the project, I met fantastic, ambitious, and inspiring young people with whom I will stay in touch.
I also experienced a few culture shocks, but I’m very happy about that. The differences in food and even the way it was served, the curious way people stared at us because we looked a bit different, the contrast between lifestyles – it was all incredibly interesting. Thank you very much LEVEL UP for giving me a chance, help, and support. I am incredibly grateful for my Polish team and organisers – everyone tried very hard to make this trip special.
I encourage you to participate in mobilities carried out as part of non-formal education because it is an experience that not only provides you with scientific knowledge but also vital life experience – simple as that.
Marcelina, 18 years old, youth exchange, Armenia – “Trust your inner energy”
I am grateful that I could go to Armenia for this project because it was a place I had wanted to visit for a long time…
I didn’t learn much during this project because I was already familiar with most of the activities. The quality of the project was not very good because the organisers did not listen to us and did not want to improve the program according to the feedback we gave them. During the project, we met people from Georgia, Croatia, Armenia, Spain and Romania. In Armenia, I was surprised by how poor the country is, but the Armenian cuisine was very tasty. The local people were mostly very friendly and helpful. As I wrote earlier, the organisers may have been fine, but they didn’t want to change anything and kept telling us they didn’t see anything wrong with what they were doing. The biggest barrier for me was the cultural differences, which led to the organisation of the project being very chaotic. I am grateful that I could go to Armenia for this project because it was a place I had wanted to visit for a long time. The best moment of the project was probably the day we were able to organise our own program and went to visit other cities and places in Armenia in a rented bus. Finally, I would like to thank LEVEL UP for making this project possible and the Croatian group for renting a bus and organising a tour of Armenia on a day off.
I encourage you to participate in mobilities carried out as part of non-formal education because it’s a good experience. You can get to know people from other countries and their cultures, learn something new, and more importantly, open your mind.
Marek, 26 years old, youth exchange, Armenia – “Trust your inner energy”
The project in Armenia was the most interesting experience of my life and I am very grateful for the opportunity…
The project in Armenia was the most interesting experience of my life and I am very grateful for the opportunity. Above all, what I took away from the project was the desire for personal growth and the urge to be better. During the project, I met very diverse and amazing people. Each of them had a different character, which helped me accept all of my character traits, as well as my appearance. A big surprise for me was the huge number of stray dogs on the streets in the city and in less populated areas. I was positively surprised by the landscapes and views and unexpectedly Yerevan became my favourite city. Armenia is a beautiful country, however, full of contrasts. I also liked Armenian cuisine very much. The organisers, both those from LEVEL UP and the local ones, showed that they cared and were always there for us. My biggest culture shock was watching local people on the streets- their lifestyle seems different than ours, which was interesting to observe. We also met amazing locals, who were very helpful and nice. Initially, my barrier was speaking English with an accent, but when I got to know the people around me, the problem immediately disappeared. I am grateful to LEVEL UP for the opportunity to visit this country and learn about its culture. I am very happy about all of the experiences on this project. A funny situation, that I remember well, would definitely be making hand-made souvenirs in Meghador, which I was not very successful at. The trip to that town was fun and, above all, it was the best day of the project for me because we could closely observe the lives of young people in Armenia. Thanks to the organisers from LEVEL UP I felt comfortable, they helped us with the travel reimbursement process, and checked whether everything was okay. I would like to thank the organisers for their help and for choosing me for the project, Monika and Marek for taking care of us, and the Polish participants for the nice atmosphere.
I encourage you to participate in mobilities carried out as part of non-formal education because it is an amazing experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life. By meeting new interesting people, and seeing new behaviours from different countries and cultures, you grow as a person. Moreover, the Erasmus program is interesting, and you take away something different from each class.
Marika, 20 years old, youth exchange, Armenia – “Trust your inner energy”
LEVEL UP, of course, performed impeccably as always, making the entire Polish group feel taken care of…
Unfortunately, I didn’t take away much from the project. The organisation that accommodated us and carried out the lessons was unfortunately unprofessional. I also didn’t learn anything new. My best memory from the entire exchange is the day off, when we rented a bus and drove around the whole country all day, which let us visit amazing places. The Armenian cuisine was a surprise for me- it seems like a combination of Turkish and Russian food. For dinner we were served borscht and compote, but the most popular dish was shawarma.
There were however more things that surprised me: the music, culture, and traditions are a European-Asian mix – truly something incredible. Unfortunately, I will not have fond memories of the Armenian organisation. Communication with them, or rather, a complete lack of it, was my biggest barrier to overcome during this project. The funniest situation during the exchange was when I suggested that we play a game that I had invented myself – I will never forget the joy I had brought to our group, and there was no end to the laughter. What I am most grateful for is that I was able to come to Armenia a few days before the project and meet my friends and get to know the country better on my own.
LEVEL UP, of course, performed impeccably as always, making the entire Polish group feel taken care of. Most of all, I would like to thank Justyna for her help and coordination of the project.
I encourage you to participate in mobilities organised as part of non-formal education because you have to remember that not every project is such a failure. My first project was also pretty bad, but thanks to the fact that I did not give up straight away and kept going on projects, I learned what badly and well-organised projects are.
Monika, 25 years old, youth exchange, Armenia – “Trust your inner energy”
