7th day!

"So … it is the last day. I am already feeling the bittersweet sadness of saying goodbye to my good friends. But no thinking about that, we still have a wonderful day ahead of us: the day of the performance. I am really excited and nervous at the same time. After breakfast we rush to the Hopner House to run through the scenes and go over details. Do I remember everything correctly? I don’t even have time to think about it properly, because we go out to the streets to sing, dance, fool around and, most importantly, invite people to see our show. Time flies and already it is quarter to 1 and we have to go back and start letting the audience in. We gather around for the last energy circle and after a proper energizer we all go to our places. 

I have to hide in a bench, so the next 20 minutes I am lying on the ground, under a bench, trying not to make any noise. I hear people gathering and mumbling. Someone has chosen to sit on the bench I am hiding under. I start to laugh: they have no idea that someone is giggling under their chair. What a surprise they are going to have! I am even more excited now. Then Renate starts to introduce us, the audience remains quiet and the performance can start. I hear the first mosquitos buzzing, and then the others, they buzz around for some time and then it is my time to shine. I knock heavily and feel the surprise of the audience, when the mosquitos come and help another one out from a bench people are sitting on. 

The next 20 minutes pass quickly: the clowns do ridiculous things and joke around, the dancers perform their routines and amaze people with their grace, the singers sing with their heart, closing their eyes and enjoying every note. Everything goes so quickly and already it is time for the last song where we all go to the stage, dance and sing altogether as a proper team. I feel good, see that everyone is enjoying themselves and smile as much I can. It is done! We have put on an amazing performance! We get really good feedback which makes it even better: we were able to make people smile and give them something to remember. 

Now it is time to eat our Subway sandwiches, shower and rest for a bit. At 5 p.m. we gather for the final evaluation. I know this will be a sad one. Firstly, we take a seat somewhere comfortable and close our eyes. Renate puts on some music and with her soothing voice tells us about the week and all the activities we have done together. I go back in time and think about the week myself. It has been a busy one. Oh how busy! We have done so much together: starting from the first day of introduction and name games to today’s performance. In between I have had so much fun, 17 strangers from different countries have become my good friends with whom I have shared a lot of my life and ideas. It is weird to think that a week ago I didn’t even know their names and now I am sitting here and feeling sad about leaving them tomorrow. 

Renate stops, we come back to the present and gather around for the last circle. Everyone thanks the others for this wonderful project. I also want to thank everyone, especially Renate, because without her we would not be here. I have definitely grown as a person and learned something from each of them. 

Then it is time to go out for our last dinner together. We dress up and go to Lendav Taldrik in Telliskivi. The food is good and the people are even better. As we are tired, we go home quite soon after trying to find a place to dance. But it is a Sunday and we all must pack our things. So the last evening is a quiet one, where we share photos, tell our last stories to each other and try to get some rest for the next day. Even I must rest, although I live close to the youth center. But saying goodbye needs energy. When I lie on my bed before sleep, I once more think about the day and the other participants and how thankful I am for this experience. Amazing!"

Liisi from Estonia