Well, last time I wrote here it was 3 weeks ago, but don't get me wrong, I've been only back home since last week and I needed some time to rest and process all the places I had visited. So yeah, time to exercise the memory.
The 17th of June I took a train with some of my other EVS volunteers friends destination Novy Smokovez, in the High Tatras mountains -the highest of Slovakia-, with good mood to start our Mid-term Training for volunteers, which turned out being more a meeting that a training but still enjoyable.
We arrived in the afternoon, after around 5 hours train trip from Bratislava, close to the magnificent landscape you can see above. In some places of the mountain you could still see snow remainders. The train from Bratislava was picking up more people attending this meeting and when we changed in Poprad to take this tram-train we found more, what meant that half of the participants were arriving a little bit late -ale nevadi. You can never trust Slovak railway timetables on time, believe me.
Anyway, the place, the people and this great atmosphere that involved us all it was simply perfect. The topics of the discussion might not be for inmediate practical use like there was the first time in the on-arrival but still I learnt a lot about my past experience in the exercise of creating an evaluation graf of emotions of our project. Of course there were also group discussions, teambuilding exercises and games and more games -and breaks with watermelon, yummy!
Nevertheless, the most intense and interesting day was the last one (before the departure day). In the morning we went hiking and I loved the landscape. I know, I've already said it a few lines before, but really, so nice! An especially so different from back home, it makes you appreciate the diversity and beauty of nature.
Then, this night we probably had one of the nicest group conversation of all the meeting. We were discussing about what do we want to do once our EVS projects are finished and it was nice to hear how people describe a bright and happy future for themselves. Some of us were more optimistic than others, that called themselves realistic but sounded rather hopeless. Anywho, we had a moment when optimistics took the word and we all agreed that at least you need to try. Because it doesn't matter how much society insists on calling us the lost generation, they could never take dreams from us, and if we dream strong enough then we are able of doing anything ;) Aha! Forgot the context of this relaxed and inspiring talk: with the sunset as a background, and later the cover of the night, out in the garden, surrounded by stars and with the light od the candles.
Next day we got more practical and we made a bit of review of useful websites to continue volunteering projects, other kinds of youth exchanges and internships, study possibilities in Slovakia and ways to work abroad without money but without expenses either -like workaway or woofing. Note to self: make a word document with all this sites not to forget them!
And that was all. After that session in the morning we had a quick lunch -quicker than what I would had like to- in order to take our tram to Poprad. Then the Bratislava group took their train and I waited for mine just in the opposite direction: Kosice. Why I was taking this I would tell only in the next post, so be attentive, soon more and better :)
PS:that moment when I was waiting by my own -after 4 days
without much privacy-, and then I noticed our beautiful trainers also waiting
for their train two platforms far from me. That exchange of mimical hugs and
kisses from the distance right before the first vagons makes them dissappear
from my sight, and the sudden certainty of their magical cappability to take
the best from our group. Geez, I feel so lucky I'm having this great
experience^^
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
Oh, my! It's difficult to catch up once I've already had some delays in the reporting, but let's try.
Let's exercise the memory. The 17th of May I arrived at home at 3 am and I stayed the whole weekend at home and rested -I think it was the sensitive thing to do after such intense experience in Belgium. I only left the house for meeting some other EVS volunteers friends briefly, like Miguel on Friday for a beer, Michele on Saturday for playing billard and a few friends more on Sunday for some national and bio products that took place in Sad Janka Krala, this huge park in between the Danube and Europark.
Then the week started and we had a special event on Thursday: a presentation of volunteering and INEX in one school for 12-year-old students. In this pictures you can see Matiss and Mirka having a little energiser to wake up our public before the presentation, and below there is me in a presentation we made the next Thursday with a little bit older teenagers. I think one week difference was enough for me to develop my presentation skills. I was more relaxed and I felt quite more confident in the second presentation, which is good because I'm always complaining how I don't like public speaking and how nervous I become. Yap, practise makes perfection -or at least improvement :)
Then the weekend was mighty relaxed, except maybe on Friday. I went with my friends to a Balkan-electronic music party in Nekapri Inn, an underground bar here in Bratislava. The music was fun and we were surprised of finding out a ping-pong table in the very last corner of the bar. I enjoyed playing first with Michele -that you should have already realised by now that is my playmate- and then in this 'Slovak' way that consisted on hiting the ball and running because we were like 8 people playing at a time -very enjoyable.
Monday, 27th of May, we had our second visit to Integra and we had a thematic day: Indian style. I think they are quite happy to have some new faces around and they especially enjoy the music, you can see their expressions while listening to it, it's remarkable. There's a little collage I was asked to make to remember it.
Next day there was a big event in Hviezdoslavovo namestie for celebrating European Youth Week. Tomas, Matiss and I went there representing INEX, we even had a shared stand with leaflets and so on and we were helping anybody that could speak English with further information. Also we read some text in Slovak for a 'interview' they made us, talking about our experience as EVS so far for encouraging other young people to go for this kind of enriching experiences.
Then in the last weekend I went to visit Slatinka, this beautiful and peaceful eco-village where I will be leading one INEX workcamp that will take place in August for two weeks. This meeting with the partner was nice because I got to know the place where we will stay and work, and also the kind of work they need us to do there. I had spoken before with my mentor, Dasa, that was a leader there the previous year and therefore I had some idea about some problematic issues I got to ask and I was happy to find out that this year they are solved.
I stayed the night in Zvolen for a EVS volunteer birthday party and I had quite a nice time. We started in her flat with some karaoke and a nice sunset from their 10th-floor terrace, then bowling, then Hospital -that is not actually a hospital but a club-, then Ministry of Fun -another club, with better naming-, and then back home. I was hangover the next day, maybe because I was invited to some borovicka -national drink, 40 degrees- by some locals, but I regret nothing -I think my past me from that day will totally disagree, but nevadi. We played ping-pong in the most difficult conditions ever (with rain, wind and strange people around that insisted on speaking Slovak with us even when we said we didn't understand), had some shameful lunch and then back to Bratislava.
I was so tired that I slept on the car the way back but the rain was so strong that at some moment I woke up because of the loud noise it was making when reaching the car's glass. You've probably heard some news about the floods all around central Europe. We still have the Danube close to collapse but it's not raining anymore and it is supossed to start decreasing tomorrow, so don't worry about it. This is a picture from yesterday that a friend post on Google+, you can check the whole report here.
What else? Aha! I had my Slovak exam on Tuesday and I had quite a good mark, yay! I will eventually retake all of my Slovak-Spanish tandem conversation contacts and I hope by the summer I'm speaking a little more than now -it's still easier for me written than speaking.
For the rest, June's just started and I have already all weekends booked with INEX activities, but I think I will enjoy. Tomorrow to Banska Stiavnica for democamp -practical part of how to be a workcamp leader-, then next weekend some voluntary activities around Bratislava -nase mesto (our city) days-, then during the week the mid-term training in high Tatras -I'm looking forward to meet all these people again and have some nice hiking there-, and then maybe the visit to another workcamp I will also be leading, but that's still need to be confirmed. Now let's cross fingers, last week of June I will be enjoying a well-deserved vacation time in a nice sun in Montenegro and Croatia, why not? :D
I think that's all for now. I will try to write more often again because if not this very long texts is what you get, haha. Take care, my dearest readers.
Hugs,
Alicia
[edit] PS: actually, the Danube did collapse this afternoon in Bratislava, but it doesn't seem like a big deal or at least I hope so =/
I've been posponing this moment when I will talk about my workcamp experience because it was so huge it's difficult for me to put it in words, but at least I will try.
Last 1st of May I took an early train to Budapest, where my plane would take off the next day to Charleroi, Belgium. Aldona, a very kind Lithuanian girl who I had meet the year before in our Erasmus period in Braga, was waiting for me in Keleti station, ready to showed me the city. I changed some money to Hungarian florints and bought a 24 hours public transport card that we definetively afforded. I was very happy to had a guide that could take me to nice places besides the touristic yet must-see spots of the city. We combined metro and walking whole day until afternoon when we sat down in Szimpla Kert for a beer and just chill.
Next day she had to get back to her research internship and I spent my morning visiting the castle district -the only part we hadn't visited the day before- and also I passed by the Old Market for some langos for lunch and then headed to the blue metro line trough lovely Rastay street.
One of the outcomes of this kind of experiencing, as I see it, is that you become more independent. Last year when I was travelling sometimes home from Braga and back it wasn't so challenging because the airports and bus stations were familiar to me, as also was the language. But having to travel on my own to Namur, and especially back to Brussels-Charleroi-Budapest-Bratislava (in a more than 12-hour trip) made me more self-sufficient.
I arrived at Namur around 6 pm of the 2nd of May, found easily the place where I should meet the others thanks to a map I had print and just entered the room as it was time to arrange it for sleeping there. The facilities weren't the nicest, I must say, but after the first night the heating system was working again and we manage to share the only shower with 12 people and even more. Here's a funny family picture.
The guided visits of the first days were really nice. We visited a brewery (Brasserie du Bocq), a fortress (Poilvache) and we went kayaking for about 2 hours and a half -the Korean girls a little bit longer =P. Also one day we dedicate the visit to the Citadelle of Namur, the biggest in Europe, very interesting. That same afternoon we experienced the Wallonian culture with the Molons -their foklore group- who invited us to their society after the public In our free time I also went to Dinant, a small town were the inventor of the saxophone -Adolphe Sax- was born; to Luxembourg, which is surprisingly nice, I didn't expect it -I didn't expect nothing from it, never heard before about it, lol-: and last but not least to Brussels, because we finished the work one day earlier than expected. I loved the country, is really nice! If it wasn't because of the rather shitty weather and the fact that besides French you need to learn Flemish I would consider moving there.
And just a little testimony of the Wallonian Folklore Day
Finally, it was time to start preparing the festival. We had hard work, actually, I didn't picture something like that before but more related to decoration and painting and arts -that we also had, but in less amount. We helped loading and unloading trucks with material for the festival, we decorate the streets with grass -real grass, the kind that gets you dirty, haha-, we helped with the electric installation for the lights and the music system... Basically anything they needed and we could help, because we were really willing to help :)
And when the festival started I felt so rewarded! I saw the people enjoying the shows in every corner of the streets, the squares crowded when there was some performance and I knew it was somehow possible because of me and the other volunteers, and I had this strange feeling, I felt proud of our little contribution to this fantastic festival. In my opinion the espectacles were of a very good quality and -with the exception of spoken theater that I avoid because of language barrier- I especially enjoyed those that combined mime and clown, so creative and expressive with so little! Just amazing. Also, every night the day would conclude with diverse concerts in the main tent -the Cabaret, oh how I miss it!-, and I will never forget above all the groups Chapell Hill -with the devilish singer and the witchy violinist- and the great fun of the mosh-pit of Prima Nocta -celtic heavy music with 3 gaita players, not bad at all!
I forgot to say that during the festival and after it the nice weather we had before disappeared and instead we have this kind of London silly rain that eventually gets you soaked, so after the festival tiredness and a little bit of demotivation got into the group, but neverending jokes helped us go trough it and finish the work.
Saying goodbye in Brussels was nice because almost all the group met in a different framework. This wasn't the little cute town of Namur anymore, but the fancy capital with the perfect place to gather us all: the Maneken Pee -it's a rather little dissapointing statue tough. I arrived a little bit earlier and gather with a Spanish friend that is studying there and kindly took some hours of her time -still in exams- to show me the city around, very nice. Then in the evening we meet at this little boy peeing statue and we headed to Delirium bar -with 27 tab beers and more than 2000 in total- to say goodbye in a quite surrealistic night.
Next day it was raining, which means perfect mood to say goodbye, get nostalgic and travel calmly back home. Yeah, 24/7 with the same people you make bounds, I really liked hanging out with them and our no-very-political-correct humour, with some part of the group didn't seem to understand, lol. So now I have some contacts in Greece and also in Brussels, where our workcamp leader -greek EVS in JAVVA- will stay more or less the same period than me here in Bratislava.
I feel I should finish this sort of 'novel' I wrote about my experience with a deep and meaningful message about experiencing adventure and traveling and meeting new cultures, but I have the feeling that I can not put that down in words -even when nobody can say I didn't try!- but you have to live it yourself. So, I'm telling you, dare to join this amazing experience :)
Happy to finish in her second session writing (edit: third session adding pictures),
