On the Road Again (Tartu) - 14 - 15 July

On Thursday morning it was time again to pack our bags and head out. This time we walked up to the train station and caught the train to Tartu. Unfortunately, the journey was interrupted and we were transferred to a rail-replacement bus. With great Estonian efficiency, the replacement bus was run on time, and we were soon outside the Tartu train station. Here we were met by a local Guide Leader who took our bags while we walked to her city house. In Estonia it is quite common for families to have two houses - essentially a winter house (close to work and the city) and a summer house (in the country or near the beach). Traditionally schools only ran from October to April, to allow for labour to assist with the agricultural work in summer. Even now, schools are on holidays for all of June, July and August, and the main cities empty out as Estonians enjoy their wonderfully long summer days.

Our original plan was to stay both nights in Tartu in the Scout headquarters where we were to run the workshop with local leaders. Unfortunately, a group of scouts from Holland were in, so we spent the first night at the Guide Leader's empty house. The second night we still moved to the Scout HQ as it was much closer to the bus station for an early start.

After arriving in Tartu on Thursday we dropped off our bags and headed back into town to explore. It is a very beautiful town, with statues and monuments scattered throughout. It is primarily a university town, with the city's university being over 400 years old! The magnificent stone buildings in the centre of the old town area are flanked by wide, straight streets. In 1775 there was a very large fire which destroyed the old medieval town with its wooden buildings and narrow crooked lanes. The 1776 construction act widened and straightened the roads, and encouraged the use of masonry construction, resulting in the Tartu we see today.

Accompanying us on this part of our journey is Mila from Eesti Gaidide national office. Although she is not very familiar with Tartu, as a speaker of both Estonian and English, she has been a great help. She also knew where the best cake shop was, and what to order once there (it was so good, we went twice!).

That first night in Tartu was a rare night off for us, and we enjoyed a beautiful meal in the main square, before heading back to our house (via the supermarket of course).

One of the many cakes

Our wonderful guide Mila (Emily is on the left in conversation)

The following morning (Friday), we took our bags into the Scout HQ, before continuing into town. Mila had recommended that we go to Aahaa (Science Museum), so that is where we headed. There were halls themed around technology, water, sounds, chickens, anatomy, and much more. It was all very hands-on, and we had great fun. Emily was marvellous on the high-wire bicycle (despite her fear of heights), and with Margaret's mathematics we were able to put exactly 186kg on the scales to cause the sphere to expand (although Margaret's favourite was also the bicycle). Charlotte spelled out 'GOLD 2016' from the water fountain, and loved the pulley chair, sumo suits, and the robot thing to speak into (She really just enjoyed everything!) Alyson and Katie particularly liked the science theatre (with its big bang), but also listed the strobe lighting toy story, chickens and water amongst their fav's. Really - everyone just had a great time and a came away smiling. Even Mila loved it, with 'tricks' such as lifting the car using a lever. Once we had done everything (or close enough) in the centre, we enjoyed our packed lunch in the square before doing a touch of shopping and heading to our favourite cake shop for desert.

Alyson is strong enough to lift a car!	Children's view	Going up
View from the top	186kg Sphere!	High Wire Bicycle (Go Emily!)
GOLD in the water	Estonia	Playing with water

As we headed back to the Scout centre, there were lots of barricades being set up. Rally Estonia is a major rally car event in Southern Estonia, and tonight was the first leg here in Tartu. Our workshop was done to the drones, backfire, horns, and cheering of the crowd just metres away from our Scout HQ! Unfortunately, this also meant that our participants were late and had some difficulty getting through to us. Nonetheless, our expected leaders showed up (Including some friends from camp), and we got down to business.

Like in Tallinn, the leaders that we met with were extremely passionate about guiding, and had lots of ideas to improve the proposed scheme. Working with the leaders we have improved the scheme even more, and we are looking forward to taking this onto Parnu and Tallinn.

After we had finished the workshop, we headed back into town in search of food. The rally cars were still on the track, so we had to find our way to a controlled crossing point. Once into town, we were competing with hoards of tourists for a table, but eventually we found a pub serving traditional pub food. Being in Estonia, this included salad with Dill. After a very long wait for food (with the temperature dropping), we were glad that it was good, ate quickly, and headed back to sleep for it would be an early start for the 7am bus to Parnu.

Keep following the blog, Facebook and Twitter to find out what happens next.

Exploring the Past (Tallinn & Estonia History) - 11 - 13 July

Each night in Tallinn we worked with the training board, and each morning we looked through the previous night's notes and made modifications to the draft scheme. That left the afternoons to explore Tallinn, and we made the most of this time off.

As previously blogged, we arrived in Tallinn on Sunday, and then spent Monday prepping for the training board workshops, and finding the Harry Potter-esque chocolate cafe.

Tuesday was promising rain so we headed for an indoor attraction. First up, we took our planning out of the hostel and into an Old Town coffee shop. It was a fine coffee shop - noteworthy only for having a well in the toilet.



From there, we headed to the Guildhall Museum. This very old building has had a variety of uses in its life, and is now a museum on the history of Estonia. The Estonians are a very strong and proud people, who have survived despite successive invasions, and occupations. The various displays taught us about Estonian achievements, traditional ways of life, successive occupations, everyday life, and of course, just how awesome Estonian people are. The exhibit was exceptionally well curated (even though the layout was a bit illogical, and we learned a lot. Many of the exhibits were hands-on, and we had a lot of fun while we were there.

Why do Estonians love their country?

Shield & Helmet & GOLDie

Mozart's Manuscript

Leaving the museum, we had time for one more cake stop before our evening workshop. This was at Tallinn's oldest cafe, in plush surrounds.

Wednesday we went to the open air museum. Here, traditional buildings from rural Estonia have been saved from demolition, and relocated to a large site just outside of Tallinn. It was a fascinating look at the rich history of Estonian culture, and the regional variations within such a small area. Log cabin construction featured heavily, along with dry masonry and black smithing. We each had our notable affinity with aspects of the displays:
- Charlotte was right at home among the thatched roofs, and enjoyed the opportunity to learn about Estonian history
- Emily loved looking into every well, swinging on the village swings, and playing hide and seek in a strawberry patch
- Margaret was excited by the fire station and village swings
- Tamara got excited over all sorts of construction details
- Katie & Alyson were fascinated by the Estonian history on show

Thatched Roof	Village Swing #1	Village Swing #2
Wild Strawberries	Fire Station	Walking through the Woods
A farmstead

It was a beautiful and fascinating display. We could have spent longer there (we skipped a whole section), but we had to get back in time to meet the training board for our last session in this block.

Keep following our blog to find out what happened next when we headed to Tartu to deliver the draft scheme to the leaders 'on the ground'.

Creating a Plan (A Leadership Qualification) - 11 - 13 July

While in Tallinn, we embarked on Phase 2 of our project - to use the information gathered at camp and workshops with the Training Board to revamp their adult leadership qualification. We had 3 nights (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) with the board to help them develop a qualification that would meet the needs and expectations of the organisation, assist leaders to perform their roles, and help support recruitment of new leaders. We also needed to get consensus on the proposal before we left for Tartu. With so much to do, it would be no small feat!

Considering the proposal

Debating the proposal

Showing that we are as visible as the Scouts on Facebook (by Eesti Gaidide Lit)

Over our three nights we learned that:
- The leaders in Eesti Gaidide Lit are incredibly passionate about their organisation
- The Estonians are very proud of their heritage and traditions
- Being attuned to nature is a highly valued quality in Estonian leaders

Although reaching a consensus on what to include/exclude was challenging, we did it! As a team, we are very proud of what we have achieved, and are looking forward to travelling to Parnu and Tartu to show the leaders the new qualification, and get their feedback. We will be meeting many of the leaders from camp, and look forward to showing them how they have contributed to the new scheme.

Getting in the Rhythm of Camp

Once at camp, we soon got into the rhythm and swing of what went on each day. Here's a typical day at camp for our team:

8am - Wake Up

Wake up was quite late, and breakfast not served until 9am. Each morning we were given a different type of porridge for breakfast (oats or rice we think), along with sandwiches (bread, cucumber, tomato, cheese, butter). It was always filling, and a very good start to the day. We even did our turn on the kitchen roster, helping to cook breakfast one morning (and other meals too).

In the kitchen

Serving Breakfast

Cooking Dinner

10am - First Session

By 10am (or a bit later on camp time), we would begin the first session of the day. On most days we would run a morning training session/workshop, and an afternoon training session/workshop. In typical GOLD fashion, our training sessions were always subject to change, and we evolved our trainings to meet the needs of the groups we were working with.

ROVERS: We had been asked to run some sessions on empowering and motivating Rovers attending camp; however, due to university entrance activities, we only had 1 Rover participant on camp! Instead, these sessions were attended by the older Guides and we turned our focus to motivating them to remain in Guiding, and teaching them international games/songs to share with their units. Overall, the standard of English among participants was very high, and we worked with participants to help them write down what they were saying. On our session with younger participants, we also had the help of an older Guide as a translator. Each of these sessions was filled with laughter and smiles, and we hope they will share their experiences with other Guides (they said they would!).

Our sessions did not require much equipment - but the beach ball great once it was blown up	Our first training space was an over-grown area full of ants and bees	So we found a better space to work with the Guides and Rovers nearby
Thinking about what we do at Guides	Everyone having their say	Looking at the responses
Guide / Rover Scavenger Hunt - Group 1. Best Item: The Baby	Guide / Rover Scavenger Hunt - Group 2. Best Item: The Wheelbarrow	The Estonian Guides teaching us Mousetrap
Hand Slapping Game	Learning about World Guiding	Working together
	With every new group we did a human knot. Great fun and almost all were solvable

1pm-ish - Lunch

At around 1pm we would head back to the kitchen for lunch. Although we occasionally had pasta, the stews and soups continued to dominate. Lunch was also a time to sit and relax, and have a look at what the other groups had spent the morning doing.

Estonian Guiding is a very family affair, and children born into Guiding families are considered Guides from the moment they are born. There were lots of families on camp, with children of all ages; but children who do not come from Guide families are also very much invited, included and similarly part of camp.

2.30pm - Second Session

Afternoon sessions were more trainings with either the Leaders or Rovers.

LEADERS: Our project aim was two-fold when it came to training with Leaders. We needed to collect information about what they thought of their training scheme and collate suggestions for how to improve it. We also wanted to enthuse, motivate and empower the leaders to continue in Guiding, and spread our messages to other leaders across the country. We were training with a small but dedicated group of leaders, ranging from new leaders, to one with 27 years experience! We collected a lot of very valuable information about their existing training programme, and their experiences with it. The feedback from the leaders was that we had made an impact on them - and that they were taking lots of ideas away to help with their troops, and plans to continue more learning and development as a result of the sessions.

Leader sessions were held beside our tent where it was flat, ant-free, and shady	Working together to identify what motivates Estonian leaders	Playing changing sides - we all have a lot in common as leaders, no matter where we are from!
Using the beach ball for evaluation & feedback	Reviewing session plans between sessions	Session in the tent - it was raining outside
Introducing a session	Working together to plan activities	Our training group of fantastic leaders - we hope they are motivated to spread what they have learned!

7pm-ish - Dinner

Dinner was always a type of stew. Stew with potatoes, stew with mince, stew with chicken, stew with tomato, stew, stew, stew (served with a type of salad). It was always delicious, but by the end of camp we did not want to eat any more stew for a while!

8.30pm-ish - Campfire

The evening entertainment centred around the fire, with a campfire programme full of songs, skits, games and yells. Each night was run by a different group (Camp Leaders, Guide Leaders, Guides, Brownies), and took on a different feel. After the first night we were asked to contribute each night, so we shared British skits, songs and games. One night we even presented a skit completely in Estonian! On some nights we shared marshmallows or damper twists, and there was tea available. We were told that if we did not drink the tea, then "the queen will be pissed".

Marshmallows	Campfire	Singing
Damper Twists	Everyone getting involved	But the insects drove us crazy (in the evenings and all day!)

11.30pm - Bed-time

With darkness not closing in until after 11pm, we headed off to bed quite late each night - ready for a late start the next morning.


Our camp continued like this for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each day had its perks, and lots of things to learn - Estonian Guiding culture, camp cooking, games, songs, workshops, Estonian language, and of course the 24hr hike on Friday! Stay tuned to our blog as each of us explores some of the different facets of camp.