Keep your head up

Well, well, well. I might sound a little bit repetitive, but time really goes fast around here.

This week started with a sunny enjoyable Monday when I went to the Danube's riverside to relax a little after work, just reading Castaneda for a while in the sun. To come back home I decided to explore new paths so I took the pederastian bridge, in between Most Apolo and Nový Most, and found the way back home crossing a mighty lively park. This is something I like about Bratislava, even close to the center you can find some green spaces where you can just lay in the grass and chill. I took a sample picture from google images about the place I was, nice right?

At work we are writing now the Youth Exchange project. It is sometimes difficult because it's somehow an abstract topic and it requires lot of thinking, rephrasing and discussion about what do we want to do. In my opinion the most stressful day was Tuesday when making a draft about the planned activities for the agenda. I try to always listen carefully to my partner's point of view and respect his ways, but because we are quite different in some aspects sometimes finding an agreement is a little harder, but we manage.

Today, after that day stress, I tried to had a more open position and give him the reason most of the time -but of course I still have to deffend my opinion when different and I'm trying to work in how to express myself better :). Then again, I'm really happy to have Matiss as a colleague because he's a kind grammar-nazi and we'll have a properly written project. It's somehow dissapointing for me and I feel a little frustrated to not be the best at writing because of my grammar mistakes -or my unintended habit of writing spanglish words-, but I'm also learning in this way to not get upset when he corrects me, I'm trying to keep my ego low.

Moving forward in the week we reach yesterday, which for me I can say it was one of the most complete days since I arrived here. Half of the day we visited Integra social house for disable people. I must admit it looked quite challenging for me, I've never work with disable people before and I felt nervous because I didn't know what to expect. Finally I had the sense they were quite normal guys, only -because unfortunate circumstances- they have different needs than an avarage person. I really enjoyed playing with them and the fact they feel just happy to have someone to play with.

After Integra visit we spent some time in the office and then we went to Yoga, as we've been doing since March. I think from now one I'll be just attending Wednesday's lessons because I don't want to be sedentary but also it's not so important for me to be sporty. Then we had planned to attend an audiovisual compilation of greatests mistakes in movies in KC Dunaj, but it was so crowded that we didn't get tickets to enter -just with around 6 people in front of us.

Happily Tomas, also from the office, had a plan B and we went to a benefic concert in the university's dormitory. It's quite american-like kind of campus, with a lot of students so the atmosphere was quite nice. Also the only two bands we managed to watch were very good. Unizoono, as I checked few minutes before in the poster of the concert, was this young band close to indie rock with very nice voices from both female and male singers. And at the end we also enjoyed La3no Cubano, a Slovak band that makes latin music -I knew them from the TM and I was really looking forward to see them again. It's funny because their music is very danceable but half of the public had left in the previous band, and I felt like dancing but also so tired I just sat there and ate my piece of cake -it was benefic concert for some christian association anniversary and we had cake for free, yum yum! Anyway, I liked both bands and especially the version Unizoono made of this song -I think the lyrics are very good.

So yes, when I arrived home I was pretty tired and so I am today. I had an intense tandem conversation session with Nataliya, previous EVS volunteer at INEX -she is from Ukraine but good enough in Slovak to teach me. I think I'm getting good at the method of learning, always trying to create a fictional situation and a conversation about it, but still is tiryng for me to do it for longer than 45 minutes because my Slovak basis is not so strong YET. And I highlight this 'yet' because the list of people I will be making tandem conversation is increasing every day! Next Monday I'll be meeting another girl, friend of a volunteer in INEX friend of mine, and we will have another of these sessions. I should improve my Slovak soon - Musím zlepsit' sa moje slovencinu skoro.

Toto je vsetko. Zajtra viac a lepsie - That's all. Tomorrow more and better :)

It goes on

Another title that comes to my mind for this post is '¿Quién me ha robado el mes de Marzo?', rephrasing the lyrics of a big Spanish songwriter, Joaquín Sabina.

Yeah, for me it's like I've just blinked and suddenly we are in April (the 11th, btw). I would have to make a big effort to remember all last month and that's why I'm so glad that I've been writing previous experiences here.

After On arrival Training we had one week of work and then it was Easter holidays. I spent my holidays in Prague with some other EVS friends. It was a great experience and we were very lucky that we meet the city from diferent points of view, ie party in Cross Club, historicaly in the (three-hour) Free Tour and localy/culturaly by the hand of a Czech anthropologist, Milan, who kindly hosted us in his (I quote him) punky place and showed us the city. I enjoyed Prague and I'm looking forward to visit again with warmer weather -tough it was warmer and not so snowing as Bratislava those days. Here's a picture of us in John Lennon's wall.

Back in Petrzalka I got sick last week, that passed by mightly quick for me. I made the mistake of thinking I had recovered completely before I did and I went to the office on Friday, which made me got worst again and then I had to stay at home the whole weekend, missing the activities that Inex had prepared for celebrating its 20th anniversary -I can find somehow relieve that I made few collages for decorating Slovak Pub saturday night and that they took pictures of former Inex volunteers with the same frame we used in the Technical Meeting, there was at least a little bit of me there :P

Then, after this long mandatory rest my body demanded me I was willing to come back to the office this week, get back to the action. My colleague Matiss had already started last week with the writing of the Youth Exchange project and I'm very happy that we are moving forward quite fast -tough it's though work sometimes to put in words what we would like to achieve in this project.

Also, just happened yesterday in the office that I received a friday list (document with free places in workcamps) from an organization that was urgently requesting volunteers for a workcamp starting in 2 weeks. It is a project about Festival Namur en Mai and I am very excited I'll be taking part in it :D I will finally go to an international workcamp and it will be also my first time in Belgium, yay! I really liked Belgian people from TM.

Last but not least, two days ago I had my first tandem conversation Slovak-Spanish with my menthor. It was really enjoyable, I guess both at some point found the other person speaking quite funny. Anyway, besides the laughing, I think it's an useful way to improve my Slovak -that and a lot of studying at home, of course. Momentálne hovorím trochu po slovensksý ale mám rada ucim sa jazyky. To je vcetko teraz, zajtra viac.

Dobrú noc!

Excitement

So, we've been having intense days in INEX. We are getting ready to host the Technical Meeting for Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations members and partners. It might sound a little bit bizarre but it's just an encounter among many organisations that have been exchanging emails about different projects and these days will serve for having a face-to-face contact and discuss directly about their workcamps programmes.

INEX Slovakia is hosting this big event, and Matiss (my EVS co-worker) and I have been working hard in the office these days. Here's a picture of us, he drawing 'INEX-man', where people could bring their good wishes for the organization (which is having its 20th anniversary this year), and then there's me, I'm manually preparing a photocall (printing a lot of logos and sticking them with glue in two big flipcharts).

This event will comprise almost 200 people for all around the world, more than 80 organizations -so you have an idea about its size-, starting next monday with one week duration. My colleague and I will have an important part in the organization and administration of the participants, but also we'll have the fortunate chance of meeting so diverse people. I'm quite excited about it, can't wait for it to start.

Or maybe I could wait..., haha. I mean, this weekend, to chill a bit in between hard work weeks, I'll be visiting one good friend of mine in Munich. He's actually Turkish but he has some family there, and as he's staying for almost 3 weeks invited me to come over few days :). I think I'm even more excited about this, so yeah, nice days for me, yaaaay! :D

Anyway, I won't be taking my laptop to either destination, so I don't know when will I'll have some spare time and available computer to write again. But don't worry, I'll be fine -probably having lots of fun, hihihi.

Big hugs and,
take care, take care, take care