With a special “THANK YOU” to Isabelle from IVCA, my personal photographer, Lalita and Aurelie (girls, you know why) 🙂

On the 8th of march we have been invited to the YWCA Antwerp (Antwerp International Women’s Centre, which is part of the World YWCA – Young Women’s Christian Association) to celebrate together with them the International Women’s Day and also to organize for all women a fun workshop. The theme was: Healthy cooking and eating.

I was asked to prepare interesting, healthy and quick appetizers with information, for women from all over the world: Africa, India, Madagascar, Morocco, Europe …

After the opening ceremony all ladies were split into smaller groups, depending on what workshops and events they had chosen. In my group there were about ten women of different nationalities, but eventually we were joined by others as the demo went on.

At the beginning we explained the benefits of the selected raw materials for our health and our wallets, and then we embarked on the creative part of the program. If you live abroad like me, you definitely do not want to miss programs like these. You will practice not only your social skills as well as the language and the ability to adapt “by the way” to not only people but also a completely new environment and forms of cooperation. And when you’re on the event itself for the very first time like I did, it’s really a very interesting and rewarding experience.

First of all I successfully “graduated” from prying open a new package of salty sticks. But it’s ok, I’m only richer in experience 🙂
I was then able to prepare our first yummy Cheese brooms →. And I really had to prepare them quickly, as all cheese brooms disappeared as fast as the first snow on the sun.

The brooms were being followed by the preparation of Sardine tomatoes →. To my surprise all women responded to these appetizers really amazingly. They liked most the filling of the tomatoes using a confectionary bag with a tip. And although I have prepared really enough of them, they were gone in less than a minute. Further proof that simplicity can not be anything wrong.

Another type of appetizer – Salmon pralines → – we did not produce. In fact I decided to bring them together with our typical Slovak Honey cookies and give them as a present. And believe it or not, even if I had brought an entire potato bag, it would not take a minute and they would be gone.

I can only conclude that in this International Women’s Day I was rewarded many times: I met many interesting women, gained valuable experience and could watch the faces of completely unknown women and mothers shining from joy and happiness while receiving a little present.

And it is true, that the most beautiful in the world are truly not things, but the moments.