Palanga trip
‘This trip was truly one of the most enjoyable trips I have been on. My entire weekend was filled with nothing but fun and I would repeat it all again!’ – Hytham Dafalla. This was one of the many comments that were given about the recent Palanga trip.
This year, the mentoring program collaborated with ESN LSMU to organize a trip to Palanga for all the international students, the mentors of the Erasmus students and international students, and the Erasmus students of LSMU. Although it was the first, it was certainly successful, bringing 106 participants all together.
The trip started on Friday, the 4th may, where the participants were taken by two buses to Palanga. A trip which lasted approx. three hours but felt as if it was three minutes due to the extreme excitement of the participants. The first of many organized activities started on the bus as we were travelling, which included fun filled games, such as “Guess the song”, “brain war” quiz and of course who can turn down a game of “Bingo”. These activities filled the atmosphere with friendly competition and light hearted pleasure for all. The prizes given to the winners filled them with joy and excitement for the next games.
Once we reached KTU rest house “Politechnika”, all the participants were without a question ready to explore the city and run to the beach, but first we had to be registered into our allocated rooms. The comfort of the rooms filled us all with a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness. But it wasn’t long before all the participants were up and ready to tour the city. The participants were given activity free time for the remainder of Friday in order to allow them to unwind from the long journey and be ready for what Saturday would hold for them.
The next day, after breakfast, all the participants were ready to explore what the day had in store for them. It all started with one of the most anticipated activity, the scavenger’s hunt. Most of the participants made it their top priority to move through the stations of the hunt and be the best team there is. The Team work put in by each of the teams made the scavenger’s hunt all the more fun to watch. This activity, unquestionably, brought out the creative side of the students. In order to carry on this activity, the participants were split into groups. Each group had to go through all the five stations and in each station a different task was given, whether it was singing or solving a puzzle. It most certainly challenged their imagination as they had to put all the pieces together at the last station to finish the story of the scavenger’s hunt. The winner was selected by the participants based on the team which had the best acting and imagination skills at the last station. The effort of all the teams in making the winning video was not only amusing but it was also filled with imagination. To the participants, the scavenger’s hunt was the most testing yet joyful activity in the trip.
After the scavenger’s hunt, all the participants were filled with energy to do more and to continue their journey of exploring the wonders of Palanga. Once more, the participants were taken by the buses to the spectacular HBH where they were able to get lunch, take a look at the most adorable pets and to some who wanted the extra adrenalin rush- visit the spine tingling Adventure Park.
In the evening, back near the beach, the most anticipated activity, beach volleyball, was played. The participants proved their resilience and their outstanding volleyball skills as they showed their passion and enthusiasm into making their team be the champion of the game.
As sun started to set on Saturday evening, it came time for the activities to come to an end. The winners of the activities were announced along with a closing ceremony to appreciate the time spent with the students. The participants stood from their seats to cheer and clap as the mentors and the organizers of the trip were called up to receive a certificate of appreciation which was signed by the dean of LSMU to show gratitude for all their work. And of course the cherry on top, ice cream was given to all the participants of the trip and regardless of the chilly evening, no one can say no to ice cream.
On Sunday, the 6th of May, as much as we all wanted to stay in the peaceful and calming seaside of Lithuania, it was time for us to return back to Kaunas. It was pleasing to see that even though the trip exhausted the energy of the participants, they still had the vibrant spirit to keep the bus journey back home filled with positive and memorable vibe.
(author and photos: Samah Kamal, LSMU student of Medicine, 4 year)
