Pop iela 2 - Super Reflections the International 8...! // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

After the hard work preparing our performance in Pop iela, our team "The International 8" wants to share with you reflections about Pop iela. 

If you like this post or you want to share your ideas about this post, you are welcome to leave us a comment! thank you :)

Initially I was thinking that I will be just a help with costumes and set decoration and I was really pleased to participate. But after a while it turned out that we all had to play and actively participate in the performance and I was afraid that I won’t be able to do it. For getting free from this fear and insecurity I owe it to professional director who was helping us. 

Preparation for “Pop iela” went like any other creative work and was changing all the time, till the very last moment. Personally, I was very interested in cooperation and interaction with other team members and get some new competences and of course get some new experience. 
Each activity has its own influence on every person’s self development and for me this was a great experience that gave me a chance to build up some new skills that I didn’t have before and I’m truly grateful to all my team members and I’m really happy that I shared this experience with those amazing people.

 

I was very happy, because this would be my first participate in Popiela.
EVS Volunteer were meeting each other during a month in JACis. We were working and inventing new ideas.

In the first part, I presented the old man, then I was a bad student, and in the third part I was an American football player.
My participation in Pop iela was a great experience for me!!

 

I thought that it would be great to take part in Pop iela because it was something new for me and the posibility to be on the Jorik's stage it was an amazing and unique experience.

It wasn't easy prepare the performance, because we didn't have enough time to meet each other, but finally with the great idea and motivation of Prokop and thanks to the incorporation of Julia and Marco to the team, we started to work and it was dificult but funny. We could rehearse with the help of Andris from Jorik's Theater and we were ready in a few days.

I realized that we were able to share ideas and work as a team, we did it!! I have been able to do a small role on a stage in a fantastic event and I proud to be the first International team in Popiela :)

From the beginning I thought I will be part of Pop iela. Because it sounds really interesting. And also the videos we looked with Prokop seemed really good.

Our preparation of the Performance was really short, we had someting about 3 weeks to plan the Performance since I joy in. But it was ok! And our Performance shows that we were a skillful group.
For me it meant a lot. Staying on stage is not usual for me. But I enjoyed it!! The audience was great. And my team also. So I will keep good memories when I think about Pop iela. 

It was a really great experience to remember our participation in Popiela!

At the beggining it was amazing think that an international people's group would be part in Popiela for the first time!! So, I was exciting and the same time thinking about it all time... because we were watching videos about performances of previous years and it was amazing how young people are able to create a story and then to tell about this story throught music...

The preparation wasn't easy... Do you know that feeling when you don't have great and interesting ideas? Fortunately, the inspiration arrived thanks to Prokop, and then thanks to Julia and Marco :)))

We went a great team and I think we did a good job. I enjoyed it and for me it was an excellent opportunity to gain new competences. 

My participation in Popiela will be in my mind forever!! ^-^

For me, it was a very nice experience to be a part of our group for Popiela ! 
It was the first time that I stand on stage! I was really nervous, but we all together had such a nice time and fun together! We train for Popiela only a few days -not like the other for more month- but I think we did a good job! 

I want to say thx -because I ever remember me to be a part of Popiela!
It was a really nice day! I will remember me for a long long time! Thank you too JACis that I was a part of polpiela!!! 

When Katja first mentioned us a possibility to perform at Pop Iela, I immediately found it an amazing idea, as it would be something totally different and cool, something I have not done in a long time and possibly better than my previous acting experience. 

The preparation for Pop Iela? That was when I felt the hard reality, as I realised this thing was not going to do itself, it would not be a piece of cake, it would be a hard work and above all, motivating others to be as excited as I was about it. Problem was that we lost quite a lot of time for preparation simply because we did not have a clear idea what to do but once that happened, things moved in the right direction. Very important was involvement of Marco and Julia, without whom it would probably be impossible to do it, especially Marco was a big help as he was also really excited about the idea of acting, just like me. 

Participating in pop Iela meant a lot to me. Not only could I act on stage in front of audience which was both challenging and exciting at the same time, I learned, how to mix different audio tracks which I am sure to use later at some point of my EVS. I actually take it as a first step on my way to being able to create videos which I always wanted to learn, but actually never did, not yet.
But above all, I was really happy that all international volunteers in Rezekne kinda got together and worked on a common project and we were finally able to show it to others and make this Pop Iela special, not only for us but also for JACis, and I am sure in the end everyone enjoyed it =.)
 
 

A great week to remember ! Festival Pop iela 8 Rezekne (25 - 29 Noviembre) // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

Fue una semana de mucho trabajo para preparar el festival Pop iela 8 (iela=calle en letón).  ¿Qué????  ¿Todavía no conoces este festival? No te preocupes, haz click aquí para conocer mas detalles sobre el mismo o visita su facebook. (Info en Inglés).

Gracias al genial trabajo tanto de JACis como de Teatris-Studija Jorik, todo salió perfecto.

It was a busy week prepare the festival Pop iela 8 (iela=street in Latvian). What???? Don't you know Pop-Iela? Don't worry, click here for more details or visit facebook.

Now, you know more about it and you have an idea about the work involved the preparation.

Thanks to the great work of JACis and Tetris-Studija Jorik, everything was perfect.

http://my-evs-in-latvia.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/pop-iela-2-super-reflections.html

Durante toda la semana nuestro equipo "The International 8" estuvo trabajando muy duro ultimando los detalles de la música, actuación, vestuario, reuniones con Andris (Director del teatro), etc. ¡¡Tuvimos que trabajar a contrareloj!! Debido a que cinco de los voluntarios EVS tuvieron su "training a la llegada" del 22 al 26 de Noviembre.

The week before, our team "The International 8" was working hard in the music, acting, costumes details, meetings with Andris (Director of the Theatre), etc. We had to work against time! because of five of the EVS volunteers had their "On-arrival training" from 22nd to 26th November!

Y.... ¡¡Por fin llegó el gran día, Pop iela 8 Rezekne!! El 29 de Noviembre por la mañana, los "Rezeknianos" se despiertan con una gran sonrisa. Todo el mundo esta alegre con ganas de actuar y bailar, fuera los nervios y el estrés... ¡Hoy hay que disfrutar!
Cada año jóvenes estudiantes trabajan duro para dar lo mejor de ellos en sus actuaciones. Este año, había nueve grupos en la competición y además hubo otras actuaciones durante el festival.(Click aqui para ver todas las fotos)

And... The Big day has finally came, Pop iela 8 Rezekne!! It is 29th November morning and people in Rezekne wake up with a big smile. Everyone is happy and the participants are looking forward to act and dance, without nervousness... Today we have to enjoy!!
Each year young students work hard to do the best in their performances. This year, there were 9 groups on the competition and other performances during the festival.
(Click here to see all pictures)

Puedes leer las reflexiones del equipo después de la actuación.

You can read the reflections from the team after the performance!

Ančupānu skatu tornis un Ančupāni mēmorials // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

No, no estamos en Otoño en Rēzekne, el invierno llegó hace semanas...pero el blog no está muy actualizado y por eso vais a ver post del mes de Octubre jaja...

En Ančupāni hay una atalaya (Ančupānu skatu tornis) que tiene 28 metros de altura y esta construida de madera, y desde lo más alto se ve una panorámica espectacular con todos los colores del Otoño de Rēzekne y sus alrededores, o como se dice en Letón:“Zelta Rudens” u Otoño dorado.

Esta a unos 15 minutos en coche de Rēzekne y para llegar a la torre hay que andar unos 15 minutos por el bosque. Letonia es un país lleno de bosques, y éstos cubren el 54% del territorio del país!

No, we aren't in Autumn in Rēzekne, winter came weeks ago...but the blog isn't updated and therefore you're going to see posts of October haha ...

In Ančupāni there's a watchtower (Ančupānu skatu Tornis) which is 28 meters high and is built of wood, and from the top you can see a spectacular view with all the colors of Autumnand or as Latvian say: "Zelta Rudens" or Golden Autumn.

The tower is about 15 minutes drive from Rezekne and to get to the tower you have to walk about 15 minutes through the forest. Latvia is a country full of forests and it cover 54% of the territory of the country!

Cerca de la torre se encuentra un monumento en memoria de las victimas del terror Nazi de la Segunda Guerra Mundial(1939-1945). Cuando conoces la historia de lo que paso en ese lugar se te ponen los pelos de punta...'' En las colinas de Ančupāni fueron asesinadas 8.000 personas (gitanos, Judios, Rusos,Letones y otras nacionalidades) incluyendo a 200 aldeanos del pueblo de Audriņi (hombres, mujeres, niños) en la región de Rēzekne.

El 3 de Enero de 1942, los aldeanos fueron llevados al lugar y obligados a crear una zanja en el suelo congelado y antes del tragico final tenian que dar 8 pasos desde los tiradores a la zanja. Se pueden ver las ruinas de la caseta de vigilancia tras el muro de piedra que simboliza a los tiradores...
Al final del paseo de piedra en el muro de hormigón se puede leer una inscripción: ''Murieron para que vivas'', luego al entrar se sube unas escaleras y hay una pequeña plaza con una escultura llamada como ''Manzano madre'' que simboliza la inmortalidad.

Internacional Day of Volunteers (05.12.2013) // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

El 5 de Diciembre fue el Día Internacional del Voluntariado  y por supuesto que todos los voluntarios lo celebramos. Además, este día coincidió con la bienvenida de una nueva voluntaria, de Bulgaria, en JACis. ¡Ya estamos el equipo completo de voluntarios en el proyecto "Jóvenes Compañeros"!

On 5th of December was the International Volunteer Day and of course all the volunteers we celebrated that day. Moreover, that day coincided with a welcome of a new volunteer from Bulgaria in JACis. We are already the entire team of volunteers in the Project "Youth Partners"!

Nos reunimos voluntarios Europeos, de Eslovaquia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Armenia, España y Portugal; y voluntarios locales en JACis. Aquí algunas fotos de lo bien que lo pasamos, con divertidas actividades, música, bailes, comida típica de nuestros países (yo cociné tortilla de patata, como podéis ver, muy rica!! :) :) :) )

We meet European volunteers, from Slovakia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Spain and Portugal; and others local volunteers in JACis. Here some pictures about the good time we spend together, with funny activities, music, dance, typical food of our countries (as you can see, I cooked potato omelette, really delicious!! :) :) :) )

Our project "Discover EVS" / Nuestro proyecto "Descubre SVE" // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

Three months ago we started our EVS project and I want to share the poster that Linda, our cordinator, made to publish our arrival and our first activities in Zeimuls.

And also you can see the posters we made to publicize our first activity!

Hace ya tres meses desde que empezamos con nuestro proyecto SVE y comparto el cartel que hizo Linda, nuestra coordinadora, para publicar nuestra llegada y nuestras primeras actividades en Zeimuls. Hay que decir que no es nuestra mejor foto :)

Y tambien podeis ver los carteles que realizamos para publicitar nuestra primera actividad!

Daudz laimes Latvijas dzimšanas diena! mūsu mīļā Latvija / Happy Birthday Latvia! // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

Day before 18th November, Latvia's National Day, it took place several events in the city. On 14th November Zeimuls celebrated ''Latvijas Replublika proklamēšanas 95.gadadienai veltīts svinīgs pasākums ,,Mūsu Latvija!", it was a beautiful event, you can see a photo with children singing in Zeimuls.

La víspera del día Nacional de Letonia, 18 de Noviembre, se celebraron varios eventos en la ciudad, entre ellos en Zeimuls el 14 de Noviembre se celebró ''LR proklamēšanas 95.gadadienai veltīts svinīgs pasākums ,,Mūsu Latvija!'” un bonito evento en el que bailaron niños pequeños con la profesora, alumnas de la clase de canto interpretaron varias canciones, Joel a la guitarra y Agita con el acordeón , entrega de regalos a profesores,...¡me encantó !

On 17th November in Gors took place another event free entrance! Viteri folk group performed many song and then, it was projected a documental about Latgale region, we have the privilege to watch it in the premier, the director and contributors to the film were speaking in Latvian of course :).
The documental was amazing and interesting! it was in Latvian language, but we could know many places and latgalian traditions.

El día 17 de Noviembre en Gors se celebraba otro evento ¡gratis!. El grupo Viteri interpretó varias canciones y luego se proyectó un documental sobre la región de Latgale, tuvimos el privilegio de verlo en primicia porque era el estreno y antes de verlo el director y colaboradores estuvieron hablando un rato largo...en letón ¡claro!. El documental fue precioso y muy interesante, aunque era en letón claro, pero pudimos ver y conocer lugares y tradiciones de la región y  en el documental aparecía Sandra, profesora en Zeimuls y buenísima persona, que acompañaba al periodista porque ella recuperó con el grupo Viteri los bailes y canciones tradicionales de la región.

Fue un evento muy bonito, aunque al final resultaba un poco largo, creo que fueron como 2  horas y media, pero cuando acabó había fuera en el pasillo pastel,¡ojo! decorado como si fuera la bandera Letona, y champán gratis para todo el mundo ¡increíble! ¿verdad?

On 18th November, the Independence Day of the Republic of Latvia, it was a big celebration! First, there was a mass in the Jesus Cathedral , then "Ieelpo Rēzekni 2013", a race down the main avenue in Rezekne.

Y ya el día 18 de Noviembre, el día de la independencia de la República de Letonia, era un día de celebración. Primero hubo una misa en la catedral y luego "Ieelpo Rēzekni 2013" una carrera por la avenida principal de la ciudad en la que corren profesionales y también grupos de gente disfrazados para pasar un buen rato, nosotros preferimos ver la carrera desde el otro lado...

 When the race ended, there was a concert and a DJ livening up waiting till the awards ceremony. After that, about 16:00 people started to be ready on the street for the procession with candles to go together to the monument "United for Latvia" "Vienoti Latvijai",where the mayor gave a speech and it were sung many songs and citizens read some messages. Finally, fireworks and tea (hot for some second) with cake for everybody and we went running to the concert Hall Gors to take sit, because it was celebrated a big concert free entrance.
The concert started at 17:30h with the on live speech of the primer minister in Riga, after that we were surprised for the big chorus concert with the participation of groups from Ukrania, Russia, Belorus. Two hours of an amazing concert! 

Al acabar la carrera había un pequeño concierto y un DJ amenizando la espera hasta la entrega de premios y diplomas. Después sobre las 16:00h la gente se empezó a preparar en la calle en fila con velas para ir juntos hacia el monumento “Unidos por Latvia" "Vienoti Latvijai", donde el Alcalde dio un discurso y se cantaron varias canciones y varias personas leyeron mensajes, y para acabar fuegos artificiales y té (caliente sólo por unos segundos,) con tarta para todos y corriendo para Gors para coger sitio porque se celebraba un gran concierto de entrada gratuita.
Empezó a las 17:30h con la proyección en directo del discurso del primer ministro en Riga y luego la actuación de un gran coro y varios grupos de otros países como Ucrania, Rusia, Bielorusia,... con sus trajes típicos, fue impresionante verlo. Fueron 2 horas largas y gratis!

 PHOTOS: Rezekne TAC

El día de Lachplesis, se acerca el día Nacional e historia de Letonia en 9 minutos // Lachplesis's Day, National the day is near and history of Latvia in 9 minutes // By Carmen Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

This week in Rezekne there are Latvia's flags everywhere, lampposts, buildings and children, young and old wear pins, ribbons with the colors of Latvia in their jackets, as a bracelet or hair, and Zeimuļs also has been decorated for the occasion, and what is celebrated?

11. November. Latvian Freedom Fighters' Remembrance Day - Lāčplēsis Day.
On this date in 1919, the Latvian Army won a decisive battle against Russian and German forces led by Pavel Bermont-Avalov. This victory succesfully ended the Latvian War of Liberation (1918-1920) and enabled the people of Latvia to realize their dream of an independent state. The day is named in honour of Latvia's legendary warrior-hero,  Lāčplēsis (The Bearslayer)


 

 

 

18. November. Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia.
The REpublic of LAtvia was proclaimed an independent state on this day in 1918 in the building that today houses the NAtional Theatre in Rīga. Latvia's first period of independence lasted until June 17, 1940, when Soviet forces occupied the country. The independence of the REpublic of LAtvia was restored on August 21, 1991. Many festive events take place throgh the country on this day, including a nationally televised address to the people by the President of the Republic of Latvia. In recent years this speech is given before large crowds in the square by the Freedom Monument in Rīga. (Latvia.lv)


Nice pictures of decoration with Latvian colours in Zeimuļs and then a short video of history of Latvia in 9 minutes!

 

 

 

 

My on-arrival training (11-15.10.2013) - Pilar // By Pilar Encuentra // Be the first to comment!

Todos los voluntarios de un SVE tienen una Formación a la llegada al comienzo  del mismo. En mi caso fue en el complejo "Puduri", Región de Keguma, cerca de Riga.
Realmente, compartí buenos momentos con voluntarios de Alemania, Turquía, Hungría, Georgia, Bielorusia, España y Austria. Y también con gente de Letonia, nuestros tutores.
En total fuimos 25 (15 voluntarios y 10 tutores) y 3 formadores (Baiba, Sintija y Valters). Además, el lugar donde tuvo lugar la formación era precioso :)

All EVS volunteers have an On-arrival Training at the beggining of their EVS. In my case, it was in the guest house “Puduri”, Ķeguma Region, near Riga.

Actually, I spent  a good time with volunteers from Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Georgia, Belarus, Spain and Austria. And Latvian people too, our mentors. In total we were 25 (15 volunteers and 10 mentors) and 3 trainers (Baiba, Sintija and Valters). Moreover, the place where the training took place was amazing :)

Durante cinco días, estuvimos desarrollando varias actividades relacionadas con nuestras expectativas, retos, nuevas ideas, más información sobre el "Youth Pass", cultura Letona, trabajo en equipo, etc. Para mí lo mejor de la formación fueron los formadores, ¡Realmente buenos comunicadores! Así que, he guardado todas sus palabras en mi memoria porque estoy segura de que serán realmente útiles durante mi voluntariado.
 

During five days, we were developing several activities related with our expectatives, challenges, new ideas, more information about the Youth Pass, Latvian culture, team building, etc. For me, the best thing during the training was the trainers, really good communicators! So, I have kept all their words in my memory because I am sure that will be really useful during my volunteering.
 

Personalmente, esta formación ha sido una fuente de inspiración que me ha servido para darme cuenta de que puedo dar mucho más de mi y ser capaz de organizarme para realizar muchas actividades durante mi proyecto, incluso desarrollar actividades que nunca habría pensado hacer. Tengo la suerte de ser voluntaria un proyecto EVS lleno de oportunidades e ideas. ¡Nuevos retos me están esperando! Y para ello cuento con el apoyo de todos los que forman parte de JACis y nuevas personas que voy conociendo.

¡¡Muchos pensamientos positivos en pocos días. Una  experiencia realmente enriquecedora!!

 

Personally, this training has been a great inspiring experience which helped me to realize that I am able to be more active and being able to organize myself to do many things in my project, even to develop activities that I had never thought to make. I am really lucky to be volunteer in an EVS project which is full of opportunities and ideas. New challenges are waiting for me! Moreover, I have the help of JACis's team and other people.
Many positive thoughts in a few days. A truly enriching experience!!