Chew The Future 2014.

Hey there!

So I recently came back from a youth exchange called "Chew The Future" which was based in Italy. I got the amazing opportunity to go there with most of my mates and meet people from other countries but also to get to know Italy a bit better. It was all based around environment which I didn't know that much about really but was willing to learn. After about 13 hours of travelling, trying to get to Caldirola, Jacob, Aishling, Niomi, Mikey, Andy and I got into a quite big ski resort in the middle of the night.

I was absolutely terrified of meeting new people and participating in all the activities that were ahead of me. Yes, I did sign up for it but I am not the biggest participator out there and the thought of mingling with strangers scared me a lot. However I got to my room, (I got into the same room with Ashling!) saw 6 other girls sleeping there, and went to my bed straight away. I was super hungry and badly needed to pee, but I was very tired and lazy after the many hours of travel. Just as I was about to sleep Aishling came up to me and said if she can sleep in my bed tonight as she cant do it. I asked her what's wrong and she said that she went to the bathroom and there was no toilet. There was only a hole in the ground. I couldn't believe what I just heard. A HOLE IN THE GROUND I HAVE TO PISS IN? I got kind of angry as I like my toilets, but Aishling said she can sleep alone and I proceeded to sleep after that. 

The morning wasn't great. I got up at 6 with a very sore tummy, needing to pee badly and with only 3 hours sleep. I proceeded to go to the bathroom and I saw the hole in the ground toilet. I managed my way around it but I wasn't pleased at all. However thankfully we found normal toilets later on that day and I never had to piss in a hole again. Phew! I proceeded then to go to breakfast which wasn't something I imagined it to be. I'll admit..I didn't like the food there at all. Yes Italy should have the best food but in the ski resort it was just awful. I barely ate but I was alright. 

The day basically consisted of icebreakers and cool games.

I admit, I wasn't the most pleasant person for the first 3 days. I complained a lot about not wanting to do anything, and that I was tired and that I want to be back home, not really appreciating the  amazing opportunity I was given. One day our leader came to our room and talked to me and Aishling about participation and that we shouldn't be complaining all the time. We cried but we got it all out. From the next day on, we nailed participation and didn't complain as much. 

We also went on a hike! It was so tiring but we got to the halfway point in which we could chill while the brave ones went on the tipy top. It was the first time I encountered a pug there and it was amaaazing :) Pugs are adorable. I got a bit of a tan there and also when I was going back to the ski resort down the hill I managed to slip and get mud on my lovely, bright, yellow shorts. Oh me.

After games, t-shirt making and all that jazz in the ski resort we packed our bags again and off we went to Tortona where the second part of our exchange was. We were situated in a monastery for a b&b however we spent most of our time in the youth centre which had an amazing stage must I say. Our rooms were glorious. No more 8 girls per room but now only 2 girls per room. Glorious. I got an amazing roommate who's name was Liuka and she didn't snore! A snoring roommate was my biggest nightmare but she didn't and I was super happy. The first day of the stay in Tortona we may have talked until like 3am. May have. 

Tortona is a beautiful city. If you ever get a chance to go, I recommend it. The youth centre was wonderful. It had 2 buildings and a massive stage in the middle. The right building was the kitchen and the eating room and the left building was where the vending machines were, wifi also was there (which meant I could finally contact my boyfriend!) and it was just basically a chill room. I liked that place a lot and I wish I could go back there. 

We had a lot of games there, we also had a guy who works in Tanzania who prepared us a traditional meal from Tanzania. It was disgusting. I liked the veg though even though I hate veg. I was hungry for the whole evening then but sure I survived. I think that my favourite game in the whole programme was eco-orienteering. We got a partner, a map and a few points we had to find and answer questions at each of them. I got a cool partner. His name was David and he made me move quite fast but he was a good person to talk to.

Food wise in the youth centre, it didn't shock me either. I didn't like it as much as I did on my previous holidays in Italy with my parents but again, thats all I had and I survived. I ate a shit load of orange mentos mints on that trip which tasted amazing and had great packaging too. 

I did learn a few things about the enviroment and how to reduce my carbon footprint a bit which seems really cool to me as long as I can change something.

The last day of the exchange we had a massive party in the youth centre with great music, a barbecue and everyone looking fancy and just being generally lovely. I danced a lot and had a lot of fun with so many people from different countries. There were a lot of selfies involved. Everyone loved selfies on that trip and even if they never said a word of english to me, they knew the word "selfie" which was rather hilarious. We stayed up until like 3.30 am as the Turkish and Finnish people were leaving at that time. I told myself I won't cry and I stopped myself three times but when I saw a few of the guys crying I just burst into tears and couldn't stop. At that moment I realized that it's all over and that we will probably never see each other again and we became such amazing friends. I was going to miss them all. I do now and I always will. 

Even though I complained at the start I grew to love the exchange, the people, the leaders, the staff and the games. Giulia and Fabio (the creators of this exchange) were amazing people and I thank them for such a great opportunity. I made a lot of friends and a lot of amazing memories. 

Thank you for everything and I love you all.