Eight teenage girls from Mijas took part in the youth exchange programme Dare to Europe (Atrévete con Europa). From the 4th to the 10th of July they shared this experience with eight other young Belgian girls in Antwerp. All of them came back from this trip very happy. "We spent many days visiting the city, doing activities, the instructors there were very accepting of our suggestions, the girls were also very nice", said Aitana Ruiz, one of the participants, while Jasmine Ioana Gravina said that "it was great, we learnt about another culture, met new people, other places". For her part, Ainhoa Mora stressed that "I didn't expect it to be so good, I really enjoyed, I got on very well with the other participants, it was a cultural project where we did a lot of sightseeing". 

On this trip, they have been accompanied by the Youth technician Rocío Rosa, who values this cultural exchange in Antwerp as follows: "The aim of this project was to learn a little more about Belgian culture, they have shown us different cities while the Spanish group shared their experiences, their Spanish culture, we also experienced the European Championship there, and we met people from other countries". 

From their stay in Belgium, they have brought a lot of memories and anecdotes with them. "The monuments were beautiful, the houses were very decorated, and everything was beautiful", said Mora. For Ruiz, the meal and shopping times were two things that caught her attention: ‘Their biggest meal is dinner, at six in the evening, although they did us the favour and moved it to seven o'clock, and the shops close by six o'clock’. 

Participation

The Mijas Town Hall invites other young people from the municipality to enjoy the Dare to Europe programme. "I encourage young people to go on exchange because it is a different experience, it is really interesting for them to leave their homes at this age" and added that "they are usually exchanges focused on a particular subject, and it is good for them to live with people from other countries and cultures", said the councillor for Youth, Mari Francis Alarcón (PP).

If you are a young person and you are interested in taking part in these youth exchanges in Europe, you can follow the Mijas Youth Department on Facebook and Instragram.

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