Barcelona Project Reunion Feedback by Georgiana Achim

First of all, I wish to thank you again for the opportunity to take part in this wonderful experience.  Everything was very well organized and everybody worked really hard during this meeting. All 11 teams did their best to present the results on the generation gap questionnaire and after everybody finished their presentations the conclusion was that all the results were similar. This means that everywhere people face the same problems, that there is a conflict between generations irrespective of nationality and that the conflict manifests itself the same for every country.

  The Romanian team had an excellent leader, who made all of this possible and who was the liaison that finally turned the group into a family, where age was not important and who offered us the most incredible experience in our lives.

        What I loved most about this project was the constant communication between the adults and young people. Despite the age difference, everybody could find one or more interests in common and then debate and discuss different aspects of life.  For example, what really brought all of us together was the Bollywood lesson organized by the Spanish team as a surprise. Everybody tried to mimic the moves of the two Indian dancers and strived to keep up. Age was not a barrier. The dance and laughter were the key ingredients for an excellent night and excellent bonding time. 

After hard work came the fun part. Given that Barcelona has many wonders, we dedicated our free time in exploring them. The first of them was Montserrat, an amazing sacred mountain with the most exquisite views and landscapes which seemed to mark the line between Heaven and Earth. The basilica of Montserrat matched the beauty of the scenery. Afterwards, in the afternoon, the Sagrada Familia wowed us with its grandness and unique style. Everybody there could feel the mystical air and enjoy the wonderful light shed by the stained glass.

We got the best out of our last day in Barcelona and visited Montjuic and the Aquarium in Port Velle. Needless to say, Montjuic has probably the most amazing view of Barcelona which is absolutely breath-taking. From there one can see the entire town with its colorful buildings designed by the greatest architects that ever existed and the wonderful blue sea as well.

I returned home joyful because of the divine time I had spent there and knew that someday I would have to return and continue my visit, for Barcelona is one of the greatest cities in the world with a distinctive architectural style.

         For me this was probably the most incredible experience so far, not only due to the fantastical attractions of the town, but also because this project taught me how to understand better the elderly, how to talk to them and how to diminish the conflict between generations. In my opinion, this is a wonderful project which is bound to be successful due to amazing people who prepared and planned in detail everything and due to their determination, their abilities to accomplish everything they set their minds on.

Someday it will be my turn to teach my children what I’ve learned from this experience.

Georgiana Achim