This part of my life is called Italy

Sopio

My name is Sopio, and I’m from a faraway land: Georgia. I often have to explain where my country is located and what a long-dated cultural background it has. During my lifetime I’ve experienced many exciting and interesting adventures, but to be honest, I had never imagined to be thrown to Italy at the beginning of my 25th birthday. Especially not in such a small and peaceful city like Viterbo. Where streets are named after famous composers such as Puccini, Rossini, Vivaldi and Donizetti, you see beautiful flowers hanging from each balcony, and smell the air full of coffee and happiness.

You may wonder why I decided to leave my homeland, my “comfort zone” for living one year in a country still unfamiliar and strange for me. Well, there are several reasons. First of all, since I remember, I was always attracted by the idea of the “seeker hero”. The one who is searching for the meaning of life and for the personal identity. One of the first Georgian folk tales that my mom used to read me when I was very small was about a guy who left his family to discover the universe, as well as himself. Then I remember sitting in the second floor of my old house, in a village of east Georgia, reading a lot of books about travelling, while everyone else having fun outside. 🙂 I always thought that life was something more than that I used to see in front of my eyes. Moreover, it was my “personal responsibility” to explore those little magic things around the world and inside myself. But my “odysseys” were always so inner, like I was travelling but without leaving home. So I decided, it was time to challenge myself for something real.

“I read somewhere… how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong… to measure yourself at least once.” Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

It has been already four months that I’m living and working here, in Italy as a volunteer of Alicenova, and I can say that I have discovered more than I expected. I live with 5 other volunteers from such different countries as Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, Palestine and Portugal. We all have absolutely different personalities and languages. Sometimes it’s very complicated to find the proper words to express how we feel because of the language differences. However, we know the most important “universal human language”, the language of emotions, which can be understood even without spoken words. 🙂

We have several activities as EVS volunteers such as working in the farm with people with some disabilities. All of them have different problems, mental and physical conditions. It is strange. But when I’m in that environment, I do not feel like a stranger. On the contrary, my feeling is that I am one of them. I know it is selfish, but with their help I help myself too.

By the way, I started learning Italian language. It is not exaggeration to say that I’m addicted to this process, not only because of the communication, but also for the reason that there are very few such beautiful things in the world like Italian language. I like the feeling that when you are learning a new language you have to find and create yourself from your very basic roots. Sometimes I feel very helpless, but people always smile to me and understand what I’m trying to say.

One of the most pleasant part of the project is that we also have free time for traveling around and outside Italy. During these 4 months, I’ve visited such wonderful cities as Rome, Naples, Milan and several small towns in the region of Lazio. I remember my shock and speechless state when I first visited Rome “the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning”. And I’m so happy that last month my greatest wish came true, I went to Sigur Ros’s, my favorite band’s concert. It is extremely difficult to put in words what I felt in the moment when I was listening to their live show.

Finally, I can say that I’m sure this will be the one year which will have a fundamental effect on creating and shaping not only my present but also my future. It’s a process of endless discoveries and gains. Some days we’re happy, some days we feel pain but the most important is that we always learn something new.

“I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then.” Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Rome wasn’t built in a day

Lina

Ciao a tutti! My name is Lina. I am nineteen years old, from Germany and I have graduated school in June 2017. Since July 2017 I have been living here in Viterbo, Italy with five other participants, all from different countries such as Portugal, Palestine and Ukraine. In the following paragraphs I want to introduce myself and tell a little bit about my motivation and aims regarding my European Voluntary Service.

These circumstances such as living with other people, while being on my own and working with disabled people, while having no working experience in this field made me apply for the project “Intercultururality”. The project takes place in various locations and centres, resulting in my working place to change during the year. Thus I have the possibility to experience different ways of professional working and the broad spectrum of people with disabilities. Everything while learning the Italian language and living intercultural exchange every day.

Doing an EVS is exciting, at times eye-opening, yet challenging regarding all the impressions one has to absorb and comprehend. During these first three months I experienced amazing things with friends and/or strangers, I questioned my decision of coming here, I made mistakes and I felt like I shouldn’t be somewhere else than in Italy right now. This process of questioning, learning and growing is what I aim for in my EVS while doing volunteer work. After this year I want to study at a university. I do not know yet what and where I want to study but I am confident to know by the end of my service.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” – Great things need time. I see my time here in Italy like this. Which means I already have a lot of great memories. Moreover, there will be more difficult, boring, exciting and funny moments. And I can only judge at the end of my service what kind of an experience I have had. Lucky us, that we have got twelve months.

The gene of traveling

Inês

 

Deciding to go to another country, leaving your life behind can be a difficult task. But for me it was a decision that I set for myself many years ago. My name is Inês, I’m 23 years old, and I’m a volunteer in AliceNova in Italy. I took an airplane on the twenty-seventh of June from Portugal to Italy, and I stay here for one year.

If everyone’s path shows how they end up being in the place they are, mine is very simple. Since I remember, I always wanted to travel, pack one of those big bags, put on my back and go. It took me some time to get the courage or to find the right moment. The first time I went abroad was when I entered university, and I took the opportunity to do Erasmus in Finland for five months. I remember that the professor responsible told me that once you go, you will always crave for more.

This became my reality. At the beginning of 2017 I had the opportunity to do one month of volunteering in Guinea Bissau in Africa. Without thinking twice, I went for it. But those who are born with the gene of traveling, aren’t satisfied with just once or twice. And when I went somewhere, I would not want “just to visit”. I wanted to take part in something, mix myself in the culture, with the people. I wanted to learn the language, the culture, to work, not only be an observant but a piece of the machine, the place.

So, just a few months before finishing my bachelor in Social Education, I started searching for voluntary projects abroad. Once, I had already stumbled on the site of proatlantico which shows every volunteer opportunity in Europe and partner countries, but I examined every opportunity seriously and carefully only this time. And then I found it: one year in Italy where I could put in practice what I studied.

I would be lying if I didn’t tell that at first, I was a little unsure. One year is too long! I just finished university, shouldn’t I find a job? I don’t speak Italian, so how can I work? All these questions rushed in my mind, but you know, brave people aren’t the ones that have no fear, but are the ones that despite their own fears keep moving forward. With this in mind, I followed every step given by the site and enrolled.

After a few weeks I got an email, scheduling a skype meeting. I’m still not sure if I did a good job or not in this meeting, but after one week I received an email, saying that I was accepted. And so, here I am. Three months have already passed, three months living in Viterbo, sharing a house with five girls from different countries, three mounts of discovering and learning. The past three months have been an amazing experience and hopefully the nine months that are still to come will be the same or even more incredible. Before I completely finish, I leave you with a quote:

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination with reality, and instead of thinking of how things may be, see them as they are.”

Samuel Johnson

Why it is worth to be an EVS volunteer

Diana

“Add something to the world that only you can add”

(phrase seen in Cremona, Italy)

My name is Diana, and I am an EVS volunteer from Ukraine. The decision to volunteer came to me when I was 7 years old, and I perfectly remember this evening – the truth, I dreamed of Africa; who knows, maybe I can get there. Volunteering for me means that selfish behavior can also be altruistic. Man, based on his personal goals, still has a “desire” = volunta to help and bring a bit of joy in the lives of others. In any case, I really hope that my project will be like this.

In this article, I want to share my first observations and analysis of the EVS experience. Of course, in major part, EVS is a youthful, energetic and fun experience. However, I would like to write about the deeper phenomena, which, in my opinion, are the basis. So:

5 reasons why it is worth to be an EVS volunteer

(The following is randomly ordered.)

1. Intensity. A volunteer project is clearly deterministic, it has a precisely designated beginning and ending. As with our … life –  we prefer to forget and ignore that it has an end. As Irvin Yalom (existential psychotherapist) wrote, “the idea of ​​death saves a person’s life“, so that a real knowledge of what this experience is the finale, gives an extraordinary intensity to everything that happens and an acute sense of “here and now.” You do not think about the “after”, but try to realize everything is planned, do not hesitate long before saying “yes” and agreeing to a crazy adventure.
   Furthermore, you are open and active, ready to learn about the world around you, in a word – live with might and meaning. Exactly this intensity cannot be compared with anything you experienced before. Because it is an opportunity to live a small life that is an integral part of your big and old life. You are living.
2. It is just you. You will spend a lot of time with yourself, confronting yourself, as well as seeing different sides of yourself, even if you are a master of avoidance and departure from reality. Because when everything around you is unknown and incomprehensible (language, culture, customs), you will have to turn to a single familiar space = to yourself.
   Moreover, if you set yourself vital questions, then it’s a wonderful opportunity to find answers to them. If you have a little bit of reflection (and everyone is capable of it), you can analyze your strategies of behavior in problem situations and conflict solving, distinguish the true and false goals. Try to understand where social pressure ends and your own desires begin.
   You can find out what exactly is right for you. In this situation of dissociation, there is always a better chance to take a comprehensive look at the situation, your life. Of course, you will have time for a hobby. In addition, you will have time to improve your professional skills or try something completely different. It will be only you and your time!
3. Values. Your system of values ​​”before”, directly “during” and in the “end” of the project will be very different. This applies to material and spiritual values both. Let’s start with the material ones: you are a volunteer, which means that you are simply limited in material resources. You should learn to determine what is really important for you, and without which things you can live. Maybe you can give up something, but it may happen that you overestimate the significance of something and will want to keep it just obsessively. You can think that life is very complicated without the usual things, but one day, without warning (and this will happen) you will just feel completely happy without them. I can guarantee you, that you will be out of your comfort zone, revaluating material and social benefits.
   A little bit about other values ​… you are far from your family, relatives, friends. You will probably reconsider your relationship with them, understand the importance of other things, for example, how much a simple hug means. You will come into contact with the culture and values ​​of another country – and believe me, they will remain forever with you. And for sure, expand your worldview and the ability to understand others.
4. Personal capital. In the book “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay (I highly recommend it), she is using the term of “identity capital” – a collection of personal assets and investments that we make in ourselves. She says, we can build this capital by collecting a variety of experiences, including volunteering. There is no need to write about many things, the main idea, that it is a kind of piggy bank in which all the knowledge and experience will be, that will help you approach the best version of yourself.
5. Relationships. Relations with people in general, but especially with participants in your project. Many EVS projects imply that they involve several volunteers from different countries who live in the same place (as in my case). You have the opportunity to learn how to build close and sincere relationships with them (this is an opportunity, because if there is no desire, you can continue to use well-known “tricks”).
   During the project, you and them will know yourself the best and most – sometimes even better than old friends or relatives. After all, you will be together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Then you can observe the dynamics of the development of these relationships: at times you will regress, and regardless of how old you are, will behave like a real child, illogical, too crazy and sensitive. There will be a lot of misunderstanding, and not just because you are from different cultures (which is understandable), but simply because we are people and there is nothing more complicated and exciting than human relations. You will try your best in these relationships, first out of selfish motives “because you will have to live with this person for a year”.
   At one point this moment will come (and it will come for sure!), when you suddenly notice that you care about each other simply because you are not indifferent to this entirely different planet. Here you have your intercultural exchange.

 

Thank you for reading till end. And the last … result … in a word – only you decide … when and where to start your EVS. 🙂

Thanks to my English redactor Lina Al-Akel. 😉