Active June

Good morning, beautiful readers!

Wow, this June is being intense and it looks like is not going to slow down in the next two weeks. But stay calm and let's start from the begining.

Two Sundays ago a big event around here took place: Sarah, from Belgium, joined the INEX team and the EVS flat so, just like Matiss, she is now a colleague and a flatmate. Few words about her: she loves cycloturism -making tourism while traveling in her bike-, she's quite excited about learning Slovak -she goes everywhere with her little self-learning language book- and she's also keen on photography -which means that in these days I've experience not being all the time in the back of the camara but also appearing in more pictures. Here's a picture of her -shame on us, we still don't have any together!

The first week of June pass by pretty fast -as always in EVS time. I was busy with new contacts of Spanish-Slovak tandem conversations but I also found some time to spend with Sarah and Olga -another INEX colleague-, who showed us a very cheap and tasty pancake place in Bratislava, close to the train station. You have a lot of different toppings, both sweet and salty, and they cost around 50-70 cents each -I told you, very cheap :D

 Then at the end of that week we went to Banska Stiavnica, one of the most beautiful towns in Slovakia, altough I can not say that we visited much because we had another aim. INEX Democamp, the practical part of how to become a workcamp leader, took place there from 7th evening till 9th afternoon. We actually learnt how to organise or how to react in a lot of different situations that can appear in a workcamp and I feel quite prepare now to co-lead the two I signed myself in. We even were give a short training about first aid and, funny fact, the rythm of making CPR is the same of 'Staying Alive' song of Beegies, as Vinnie Jones explains you here.

And because there is not better example than practice we also permormed some voluntary activities Saturday morning in the Scout House where we were staying. Cutting wood, transporting it, cleaning a storage room and -the task I was given- cut the grass -I felt like a samurai with this machine, it's fun but also quite tiring and you end up with a lot of small pieces of grass all around.

Also, I don't know if I mentioned it before but this EVS is really changing my attitude toward kids. Since INEX is like a big family with young couples with kids, sometimes you also have to babysit or just play for fun with the kids. This is Mishko, the head of the office son. He insists in calling me baby -'babo' in Slovak- everytime he sees me, but I have fun teasing him also.

Then, because attending this training on the weekend, we had Monday free and I had a complete picnic day. I met a Slovak friend for going to Slavin at lunch time and we had sandwiches and Moldavian wine -yap, interesting yet tasty combination. Then when he started singing and playing guitar it started raining -unfortunate coincidences, he actually sings quite nice-, so we waited a little until it stopped, passed by this pancakes place and then I had a tandem appointment. After it there was the second picnic in Medicka Zahrada, with more sandwiches, frisbee and badmintoon.

Next day we had the official INEX lunch in Slovak pub for welcoming Sarah, since Matiss and Tomas had only arrived two days before looking good, tanned and smiley after two-week training in Sicily. The part of the introductions was hilarious, how we see and talk about each other. For Sarah might had sounded a little bit strange, but she'll eventually get and share our particular humour. After lunch we came back to the office and we prepared for the afternoong the Tea Meeting where Sarah talked about herself and about her country -now we can say we are experts in Belgium. This funny video is quite explanatory.

On Thursday it was Saint's Anthony day in Spain. Here in Slovakia they also celebrate it but they call it 'name day'. We call it 'saint day' and it was my grandma's and aunt's day, so my mother decided to take the laptop to my aunt's house where they were waiting for me to come back from the office and have a lovely familiar Skype meeting. It's always so good to meet them and hear all the compliments and affectionate words they have for you :) Here's a captured image at the end of the session. Unfortunately I forgot to make it at the beginning so my uncle, my older cousin and her boyfriend are missing. My sister is not in the picture either because she was in Cordoba because of her university exams, but still you can appreciate how beautiful family I have -as my grand-grandmother said: '8 grandchildren and non of them ugly!', haha.

In this last week we've been also getting ready for 'Nase Mesto' days. It's an event all over Slovakia that consists in a weekend of voluntary activities not only by voluntering organisations but also private companies. On Friday we went to Integra center for making some gardening work -I was in charge again of cutting the grass, my father would probably complain that I was trying to avoid it always back home, lol-, and also yesterday we went to a kindergarden -and again some work in the garden and playground. I must admit physical work is not my favourite, especialy yesterday that I was already tired from the day before. But is so automatic that I find it also relaxing -maybe only for a short time period. Some pics from Friday.

Also on Friday afternoon we had an informative session for the so called 'first timmers', the volunteers that are going for the first time abroad. I made a presentation about the origin of volunteering and the workcamps, but we also treated more practical issues like what to bring or intercultural differences you have to be aware in this context.

Yesterday, after this long days, I decided that a good way to chill out was going to this barbaque I was invited. It's a pity we don't have any pictures because I think it was quite unusual to sit in a park, make a fire in a huge pot and sit in an also mighty big piece of textil with Indian motives. We were meeting at 6 pm but it actually started a little bit later and we stayed there until almost midnight, in a cosy atmosphere with candles, friendly people and interesting conversations.

Today is Sunday and I will take it calmly, haha. There's a plan of going to watch -or even joining- this bungee jumping in Lafranconi bridge later at 3pm, but I think I won't stay long. I still need to pack my things for tomorrow, that I'm going together with other volunteers to our Mid-term training in High Tatras until Thursday.

On Thursday I will stay the night over with some friend -I'm not sure yet if in Kosice or Liptovsky Mikulas-, because next day my menthor -who will be also co-leader with me in one workcamp- and I have an appointment with the local partner of Jasenov Castle in the eastern part of Slovakia. It's an ordinary visit to the place we will be living and working for one week at the end of July, so we can inform better the volunteers coming about things like accomodation, food and location. Google images sample.

And well, after Saturday morning visit we will come back to Bratislava and finally on Sunday morning my adventure to Montenegro and Croatia will begin. It's odd and yet perfect for me, because I was looking forward to make a trip to some Balkan countries but I still had no idea how to make it. And then two weeks ago Olga, from the office, asked me if I wanted to join her and some friends of her in this trip she had planned, sweet! She even has an agenda, this day beach, that other day lake, and the other visit to a city. She's really good at this and the places look very nice. So I will let you know when I'm back how great it was :P

Take care, pretty readers

Hugs,
Ali