October arrived and with it, surprisingly, cold temperatures. Winter was here but fortunately it was just for few days. The sun came out again and the days invited us to be outside.
This month I celebrated my 27th birthday. It was a lovely weekend. On Saturday we organized a day trip to Mount Olympus which was great. The nature there is amazing and I just want to come back as many times as possible before leaving this country. On Sunday, the little family that we created at home went to eat together to Ano poli, the upper part of the city, and our favorite.
On the other hand, October was an intense month in the projects. There were a lot of changes, beneficiaries moving to other programs, other new beneficiaries arriving… so again we had to adapt to these. I learnt that this kind of environments, and the volunteer projects are very cyclic, so you have to deal with fluctuations on motivation, assistance, needs… and it’s important to be able to recognize the different needs for the different periods and respond to them.
Also, we had our on-arrival trainings. To my regret, it was online due to COVID, but I tried to take the most of it. It’s true that it was a pity not to be able to meet personally other volunteers and the trainers, but at least we were able to share experiences and to learn about the European Solidarity Corps and how to start a personal project.
In general, the experience here is very positive. Now, I feel that we are more adapted to the place and the routines and it just feels quotidian.
Let’s see what the experience looks like when winter arrives…
María.
