Intercultural night

It was an unforgettable night!  The night full of positive energy, amazing traditional food and drinks and of course dances! We had an opportunity to share a piece of our culture with Greek people and other volunteers and to receive knowledge about theirs. Thank you guys!

Waiting

Maybe it is because of the weekend...a lot of free time can cause deep thinking. And, what I'm thinking about, now, is waiting.
I'm enough of waiting! My whole life I'm waiting for something.
Even when I enjoy life (when I am satisfied with the moment), there is something that I'm waiting to be truly complete. Even when I achieve that, it appears something else that I should wait for. Even when I do everything that I can, that I should, there is always something I miss.
I really love this time I spend here and it helps me in my waiting, but soon I will finish this project and start to wait more intensive. I know it is part of life and sometimes "waiting" is extremely sweet, it moves us, motivating us. And I often enjoy a lot of things in between waiting, I'm thankful for that. But also, comes the time when you are sick of it. It pierces you, the fact that it will take a long time before you get something.
I can't wait to stop wait, especially "something", later will be easier to wait for the other.

Sorry if this was too personal. Leisure mind is the devils' playground (folk proverb). So, volunteers, if you start to think, just keep busy your mind with something else. 

Weekend in Athens

One of the worlds oldest cities. It was a real pleasure to be in that ancient environment. 

We went with a car, but we also experienced metro and buses in  Athens. It was almost night when we started to explore the city and we enjoyed in bright streets and Aeropagus Hill-the big piece of rock that stands out on the north-east side of the Acropolis, which was brightened only with moonlight.

The city lights look pretty cool from up there and it’s only 10′ away from Monastiraki square so, many friends and couples find their way up there after sunset.

The next day we visited Acropolis. There were a lot of people regarding that the entrance was free (every first Sunday in a month). The Acropolis of Athens is famous for one reason: the Parthenon. This huge temple dedicated to Athena, the beloved goddess of the Athenians, constructed entirely out of marble. The view from up is insane.

 

 Later we entered in National Garden. The National Garden distinguish for the narrow labyrinth paths, the wooden benches and the small lakes in between. It hosts a small zoo, a Botanical Museum, a children's library, a playground and an open coffee shop. A beautiful area to escape the noisy city center and relax in a lush green environment. It is almost unbelievable that such an amazing garden is situated among the busiest avenues of the city and still it is so well-protected from noise.

 

We have been in a few bars (included gay bar-unintentionally :D), prices are high, but service too. And of course, a lot of beautiful churches draw attention.

At the end of the day, we caught a bus and arrived in Kalamata around 22:00. On our way home from the bus station, tired because of the trip, we met some people we know and then I felt something... Strange, unexpected, weird feeling like at home. It is the first time that I feel something like that in another city, in another country. And it's good. J

 

Thank you EVS! 

Thank you K.A.N.E!

White Athens, you are great!

Kalamata, you are perfect!

MIRELLA KA: VOLUNTEERS HAVE A BUSY LIFE

It’s unbelievable how busy and diverse your program can be when you are a volunteer!

For example last Monday I attended all the classes that the Youth Center in Kalamata is running. I wanted to get an idea how it is before taking the decision for which one to subscribe. So in one day in a row, I took part in Yoga, Trash Art, Tai-Chi and Salsa for Beginners. Even if those activities are supposed to be for fun and relaxation, it was really tiring to focus on 4 different things for 5 hours!

Now I’m in the process of “exploring the new”, but honestly that requires a lot of energy!

My biggest discovery for this week is Kyttaro Bar! I’m so excited about it, because there I found one of my favorite things in life - Weiss beer, all kind of rock, reggae, ska, electro swing and very party environment…

Then, in the middle of the week something very interesting happened. It’s some of those meetings that are meant to happen, because they are already recorded in a parallel reality in the Universe, where there is no past, present and future, but time is ONE and it’s a matter of the perfect synchronized moment to be materialized on Earth.

So, a guy found me in a Facebook event of the Youth Center of Kalamata. We met during the presentation that one of the local hiking clubs - ΠεριηγητέςΜεσσηνίας-Messinian Travellers gave in the Kentro. As himself, he is a traveler, this guy was attracted by the name of the event, while he was passing through Kalamata during his trans-continental-for-several-months trip. In the beginning I wasn’t very sociable and not in the mood for talks because of the accumulated tiredness from the previous days, but then the vibes we exchanged were so peaceful and nice that we couldn’t stop talking and share experiences for hours. I prepared masala chai, and that’s how we discovered a common topic – about the rainbow gatherings. It was such a warm feeling that Universe sends me a “rainbow brother” here in my “new” life on the “new” place. The funny part is that on the last Rainbow Gathering that he has joined, he has met the same people that I did during the Balkan Rainbow. In those moments you remember how communication was happening before Facebook existed. As this guy travels a lot, constantly, which is like my biggest dream, the strongest message from our conversation that will stay forever in my mind is that when someone starts travelling around the world, in the beginning he/she is just a tourist and a traveler, but then later in time, they become a messenger. Because moving from one place to another, you always bring something to the new place, that you took from the previous one – an impression, a story, a memory, a daily life cultural-differences experience… and then from speechless traveler you become a storyteller who make the others travelling by their minds and that’s beautiful! To read the breathtaking stories about traveling, written by the Volunteers of Kalamata, take a look on our magazine LiNK here!

Another exciting moment from this week was my first Bulgarian language class for foreigners in Kentro Neon Kalamatas. Not surprisingly I started the class by showing to my students the Cyrillic alphabet and joking that if Cyril and Methodius hadn’t invented it 11-12 centuries ago, now neither me I would suffer to study Greek, neither them to study Bulgarian, but that’s how it is. If people from Kalamata would like to have fun with me and a language where „З“ and „Ч“ are not numbers, but letters, you are very welcome to join my workshop!

  I just wanna mention that I really love working in a “volunteer’s” atmosphere! There is no other place, job or activity that I could compare with the energy, enthusiasm and freshness of the volunteer’s vibes! And then of course the productivity gets higher than in a “normal” environment. 

Like this Friday. Look at these photos and tell me isn’t it like the paradise of the working process? We have a wall full of notes with ideas and plans for future activities.   

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Put your mask and grab a party!

Kyttaro Rock Bar Kalamata was the perfect place for us up to almost 4 in the morning...Great atmosphere, pleasant service and "floral" taste of beer :D