Peacecamp for me was a wonderful experience. First I didn’t know what to expect but when we arrived among the teenagers of various nationalities and the kind trainers, I realized it would be more than a holiday camp.
In the first days, when a they talked about her experiences, I was shocked. I have never lived in a war but I understood, their everyday life is different in Israel from ours. As we later found out, we watch the same films, listen to the same music, still, they live in much more fear, their life area is more restricted and they don’t have the freedom we have in Europe.
The original Large Group was really serious and helped consider the whole world from different perspectives. Sometimes it was hard to make compromises between the Palestinian-Israeli group, even though they like each other. At least, we realized, the Austrian-Hungarian conflict does not exist in our eyes.
I got amazing roommates. We talked through the nights, had memorable moments together and we managed to create valuable friendships.
The large groups we created were also a lot of fun. We sang together, danced together, thought each other a few words in our languages and forgot about our problems for a while.
I really enjoyed the culture evenings. Before the camp, I hadn’t known much about Ramadan, now I got to understand it. Shabbat Shalom was a very interesting dinner. And at the Austrian evening I realized Vienna and Budapest are really similar to each other. And all the dances and the music were marvelous and I still remember them now.
All the games Lucas and AnnPhie made cheered us up, even in a tiring morning. My favorite game was when we were in the woods, and we needed to help each other to get to the goal. It had more meaning than just an adventure. It showed me how important it is to focus not only on my own way but to notice others’ needs as well.
The Show4peace was a great performance, I think. I enjoyed it immensely, as well as the sightseeing.
The saying goodbye was the worst part of the week. Even when we did yoga at the airport, I knew, I can hardly have a chance to meet them all ever again. Now I miss all of them.
So, that was peacecamp for me.
(Tábi)