Carcaixent 2018

Anyone who looks back on the English Summer of 2018 will recall it was an absolute scorcher. But let me tell you, England's heat was child's play compared to the near 40 degree temperatures we go in Carcaixent during the Youth for Europe meeting.

Naturally, the Spanish had a means of combating the heat and once we arrived in the beautiful town of Carcaixent we were invited to dive into a swimming pool. I was only in the country for three hours and I was already drinking beer in a sparkling pool – I looked like I was in a Villa Plus advert. Not only does this say a lot about Spanish hospitality, it pretty much set the precedent for how the rest of the week was going to play out: warm, relaxing and a lot of fun.

The first half of the meeting we spent with host families in Carcaixent where we were indicted to the Spanish way of life. This meant daily dips in the pool and enjoying late lunches and even later evening meals. I immediately felt very welcome since my host family were immensely friendly and eager to showcase the regional cuisine. We spent the latter half of the week all together in a youth hostel in Piles, a small town right on the beach. Every evening after activities we had the chance to swim in the sea or just chill out and listen to the waves.

Every year the Youth for Europe meetings have a different central theme, because Carcaixent and the Valencia region was renowned for it's silk industry, this time we looking into the world of weaving. On the first day everyone was given either a crochet hook or a pair of knitting needles and were taught how to make a simple square pattern. Each day we were taught more advanced steps with the ultimate goal of combining our woollen squares into multiple blankets for a local charity. The theme even carried over into some of our day activities and we even visited a nearby textile factory to watch how intricately decorated blankets are produced using a loom – something I've never seen before.

Though we were up to our elbows in knitting, we got up to plenty of other activities. Some days we went swimming in a nearby pool or toured the historic buildings of Carcaixent. One morning we even found ourselves crawling through caves on a picturesque hillside. Not one for claustrophobics, but it was certainly unique! Early on in the week we were all separated into teams named after Hogwarts houses. Every day we were given a new task ranging from collecting photos of things that look like Pokemon to building a sandman on the beach. They were all great team building exercises and they were a great way to meet and talk to new people from all the other involved countries.

The crown jewel of the visit was the trip to Valencia. It started with a brief guided tour of the silk museum and Valencia's sweeping market which was bursting with fresh fruits and Spanish meats. Afterwards, we were given free time to roam the city and do as we pleased, we ended up visiting a church, Valencia's Cathedral and walked along several beautiful streets. Hot and weary from being tourists, we retired to a sleepy tapas bar completely off the beaten path and ordered 'one of everything!' We slept like babies on the coach home.

For our final night in Spain, the group met at a nearby event space in Carcaixent for an awards ceremony and a farewell party. We got to see the fruits of our weaving labour that night as all 15 of our blankets were laid out, ready to be gifted to a good cause.

Additional certificates were given out and the winners of the Hogwarts team challenge were announced. Modesty be damned, my team won overall and Hufflepuff carried home the house trophy! After the presentations and a slap-up meal a DJ appeared and we danced the night away.

I've been to my fair share of Youth for Europe meetings now, but each year I continue to meet new people and make new friends. I got talking to a German called Lukas and we bonded over our mutural love of Batman and I chatted to a young French girl called Ella who told me that she recently visited Newbury, she even whipped out her 'souvenir' English train ticket to prove it. In Carcaixent this year I noticed that more and more of the younger generation stepping up the plate and mucking in with the activities and that makes me confident that they will continue to carry the Youth for Europe torch well into the foreseeable future.

  

Plus, I know how to knit now! Once the temperature cools off back in England, I might just start knitting my girlfriend a scarf.