ESTONIA

Worst case scenario in Worldpackers

"Welcome To Pillapalu, the medicinal mushroom farm"

First experiences often leave a mark, even if they do not determine your future.

Volunteering has become the new gateway for many young people trying to find themselves or adults trying to redefine their lives. Apps like WorldPackers facilitate communication between hosts in different countries who offer to give you room and food in exchange for your work.

Sometimes these conditions are overlooked, and the concept of a volunteer is misunderstood as that of a worker.

~Here my experience

Estonia was my first destination at the start of my Gap Year. I was welcomed with -5 degrees, a possible snowstorm and vast expanses of vegetation. It seemed like an ideal destination to start working on a farm specialised in Chaga, a type of mushroom, famous for its medicinal properties.

A deep breath of fresh thin and cold air filled my lungs after leaving the airport. Heading to the farm by train, we passed through immense forests full of tall and slender trees that hid all the small villages we were passing through.

To my surprise, when me and my friend finally arrived at the house where we would spend the next two weeks, I realised that it was on the outskirts with no hint of civilisation.

After a short introductory talk and a tour of the facilities consisting of an abundance of vegetation, wooden huts and even a sauna, we were introduced to Camilo, the other volunteer.

It took us five minutes to realise that there was a strange atmosphere — let's say some vibes were off with the hosts.

The first few days as a volunteer can be very tough. Having to quickly adjust to a new environment while being assigned tasks as part of a job you've never done before can totally make you feel out of place.

Packing mushroom powder in plastic bags for hours was the task that brought those exact feelings out of me.

I didn't sign up to do a job like that... I came here to enjoy and have fun.

Along with this repetitive work, we were sent to cut wood with axes and build a hut to store the 30 kilos of firewood we were producing per day.

Many times, our host did not explain the tasks clearly which led to several misunderstandings and a constant feeling of frustration.

This would become our everyday routine...

"Don't take things without permission", was the good morning greeting our host gave us after ordering us to bottle the wine and permitted us to consume it before it lost its properties and then clearly changing his mind.

"Get out of here right now" the wife shouted at us after entering the living room to place the 15 kilos of firewood she had previously ordered us to bring and then clearly also changing her mind.

"This is not a 5-star hotel" he cleared us after not letting us the olive oil. 

Clearly, this caused some reactions.

• We teamed up with one of the guys who helped with their business, who turned out to be a 5-star chef. With him, we learned numerous recipes and how to use a chainsaw (see video below).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/35cdfd_c3dd2492cb1d464fbe6ccd75f6437c54/480p/mp4/file.mp4

• The last volunteer that joined left earlier, fed up with the situation with the host, which caused a revolution among the four of us remaining.

• Every evening, we escaped with our bikes for beer and snacks until one of the bikes got a flat tire, and we ran out of ways to escape.

These events, apart from making us reconsider our first experience as volunteers, it also made us create a deeper friendship.

As the days passed, so did our feelings of frustration

It was in one of our last days when I was abruptly awakened from my nap by a knock on the door, followed by the phrase:

"Guys come out, something has happened"...

" Camilo got kicked out " was the next thing we heard.

An unexpected and high increase in the energy price and an attempt to bake an apple pie in an industrial oven were the cause of an argument that ended with Camilo being fired.

“Thanks to you, now I am homeless”

These were Camilo's last words as he was taken to the train station. We spent hours talking about it, between reasoning with the boss, which was mission impossible, and planning our escape the next day. We made an unanimous decision among the three of us who manage to keep going (at least for one more day).

After postponing the alarm a few times, once fully awake, we packed our bags quietly and persuaded the cook to take us secretly to the station. As we were preparing our farewell speech, the hosts appeared. Amid uncomfortable stares and thick tension in the air we announced our departure. Half an hour later, we were on our way to Tallinn, where we met Camilo.

Next day we departed to Finland.

Many people assumed that this experience was the perfect example of why not to volunteer. That was a mistake. Thanks to the incongruity of the host, group support and great mental strength to go through with the first volunteering experience, I learned not to settle I learned that there is always a solution and to always have a plan B, an escape route even. As I previously pointed out, a first bad experience does not define the path for the following ones