28th of July: Jam session and chill out evening

Thursday is a bit lazy day as everybody needs some rest and most of the work concerning the workshops is done. The participants are rehearsing and the workshop leaders are conducting the trash rash orchestra. During the rehearsals, the atmosphere is very pleasant, as the participants cooperate very well with each other and follow the instructions of the workshop leaders. They seem to enjoy what they are doing and they are doing it quite well. The percussion instruments' sound dominates and the two workshop leaders, Dobri and Robert give the rhythm. One of the Turkish participants, Merve, who comes from Turkey sings in Turkish and her voice is absolutely marvellous. We all listen to her with so much attention and are charmed by the wonderful melodies this girl produces. At the end of the rehearsal, the jam sesssion follows which is full of power and energy!

At night the participants are gathered around the fire, listening to some music, dancing, chatting, playing the game "One night in Palermo" or just enjoying the peaceful night.

27th of July: Let's play the trash instruments and Freiberg by night!

 The morning starts with a lot of motion and exercise! The jugglers and fire performers from Bulgaria, Belarus, Serbia, Spain and Hungary have arrived and they have decided to do the warm-up activities of the TRASH RASH project. Some stretching, some yoga combined with pilates are the main part of this training which is done by the Argentinian juggler and fire performer Carlos who lives in Mallorca, Spain.

The participants get excited with the power and the spirit of the jugglers' training and they are ready to start the workshops and rehearsals. The worskshops are going very well and the participants have decorated their instruments very nicely. The workshops leaders show some techniques about how to play these musical instruments and the participants are divided in small groups and play the instruments they have chosen.

Everything goes really well apart from the food, which is quite disappointing but we try to find alternative ways to compensate the people such as the excursion in Freiberg at night!!

 Freiberg by night is a cultural night where the participants have the opportunity to see the city of Freiberg, some of its most important momunents, museums and sights as well as its nightlife. Freiberg is a very beautiful and picturesque city with an interesting architecture and a lot of tunnels. In the past there used to be a lot of mines full of silver and therefore the city is quite rich and wealthy. However, now the mines are empty and some of them are used as museums. We wander around the streets and cobbled alleys and feel the great atmosphere of the city even if there are no people outside..

The Turkish participants are delighted to notice that there are quite a lot of döner kebab restaurants and we decide to make them a surprise and offer them a nice dinner with their national food. However, in order to satisfy all the participants we also decided to go to a pizzeria which is closer to the taste of the Italian and Greek people. Unfortunately the Bulgarian participants are very tired and could not join us.

After dinner a shisha bar and some relaxation is all what we need. Lying on the comfortable pillows on the floor, smoking some shisha and drinking tea or alcoholic drinks is a great way to have a rest, chat and enjoy this beautiful night. Everybody seems to be happy and quite satisfied with this city tour by night but it is time to go back to the project area as the workcamp volunteers are having a Spanish night and we should not miss it!

26th of July: Sunny and warm day at last!!!

Today the weather is really good, we are with T-shirts and shorts and we all can't believe it after the first cold days..! The young participants have apparently adapted to the environment even if they are again a bit late in the morning for some energizers. Some body exercises and gymnastics are always good to start the morning dynamically! The participants and especially the Italian people really enjoy doing some warm-up activities in the morning and taking some exercise even if the workshop leaders are quite stressed with the work that they have to do, but everything is arranged so after 20 minutes of energizers and warm activities the workshops start!!

Some instruments and music installations are already finished, some others need a bit more work but the positive thing is that everybody is quite engaged and motivated. The workshops last for almost half a day and the participants have some coffee breaks, lunch break and some free time.

The night is again quite exciting as the Bulgarian and Italian people make a presentation of their countries. Each participating country has its own way to present and show some of the things that they find interesting about their country but both of them use music which is always welcome in this project!

25th of July: Building instruments and having fun!

 In the morning it is always difficult for the people to wake up but they are trying hard to be on time for the workshops. The reason is that the nights of the project are always long and full of fascinating activities, dance, songs and of course a lot of chat around the camp fire. All nationalities are gathered together, as at the same time in the same area there are workcamps and there are also two more projects which are going to be held in a few days. Young people from China, Taiwan, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Belarus, Greece, Germany, Turkey, Chile, Argentina etc. are all interacting with each other, sharing experiences, telling jokes and enjoying this multi culti environment.

The participants of the Trash Rash are getting day by day closer to each other and are more focused on their aim. Some of them are building stringed instruments, some others are constructing percussion instruments and other participants are creating wind instruments. The work is quite hard as it needs a lot of concentration and guidance by the workshop leaders. The time is running though as on Sunday the 31st of July at 13.00 the participants of the TRASH RASH project should be ready for their live performance on the main stage of the Sun Flower Festival!!!

24th of July: The workshops are getting started!!

The weather is getting better and the workshops have already started!! The workshop leaders; Matthias and Robert from Germany, Dobri from Bulgaria and the workshop assistant Johannes from Germany have brought their instruments, their good mood and their ideas so that they will inspire the participants to imagine, create, build and experiment! Eveybody shows to be interested and quite curious to learn what these workshops about are as it is something completely new to them and they have never done something like that before!

23rd of July: All the participants are here!

 On Saturday the 23rd the Bulgarian and Greek participants finally arrived at the project area in Freiberg. We gathered altogether so that we would start to get to know each other. The ice braker activities started as well as some warm-up activities so that the participants would familiriaze themselves to the materials and the trash and start getting ideas about how to create musical instruments and installations. All people were quite excited about the multicultural spirit of the project even if they got surprised by the weather conditions since all of then come from Southern countries and are used to much warmer climate. However, this could be a unique experience for all of them!

22nd of July: First day of the Trash Rash project

While we are preparing everything and trying to find out what time our first participants are coming to Freiberg's train station, we are arranging lots of different things concerning the organisation, the free time and the cultural nights of the project. The phone is ringing and yes around 18.30 in the evening the first participants from Turkey are arriving at the train station of Freiberg. Everybody is safe and sound and they seem to be quite excited about it! The only problem is that they forgot to bring warm clothes because they are used in very hot weather in the summertime in Turkey...but here it is like Autumn; rain and cold dominate! Nevertheless, we will find a solution to keep them warm and happy! We are showing them the facilities and serving them dinner. Very late around 23.00 the Italian participants show up, quite tired and very hungry. We end up around the camp fire, socializing and talking with the workshop leaders about the next days. The following day we are expecting the Bulgarian and Greek participants and then we are ready to start!!