Warsaw AGRYKOLA!!

Yes, it helped me make this EVS experience to be my own. I think my favourite day was when we went on this city challenge sorta thing to make short interviews with random Pols on certain topics. The outcome of that was fascinating. It inspired me to do more as a volunteer and made me think of Gdansk as "my" city. My place of struggles.

You see, there were 21 of us plus the two trainers. It wasn’t really a training nor a conference, more like cool people hanging out in Warsaw. The schedule was rather flexible: we made it happen with our own things, workshops and ideas (revolutionary settings for a conference-like event), which ended up very helpful. The trainers, Ania and Wojtek were amazing, helpful, interesting and always within reach if we needed anything. Our group was nearly perfect; full of young people with great visions, motivation and a rich mindset open to the world. Life is a happy life when you are surrounded with people like them. Makes you feel less worried about this world.

            I don’t wanna sound too cheesy. Only cheesy enough for you to understand how important this one week was for me. How much it made me remember things I was about to forget to focus on. But you know... I’m a sentimental person. So here you go.

I feel

I have this terrible fear sometimes that I am left alone without a soul to care for me. It haunts me usually when I’m on my own too much or when I’m not certain about something and I feel like I have no one to turn to. This terrible fear was harassing me on the beginning of my EVS, being one of the biggest reasons to look forward to the on-arrival training. And you see, it’s gone now. It’s gone because of that one week in Warsaw and I thank you for that, all of you who were there. It gave me confidence and reminded me of my potentials and skills I need to focus on. Sharing stuff, comparing projects and learning about how others experience EVS in Poland ensured me that everything will be alright.

            There’s that moment when you come out of your shell and start not caring about your inner world for a second, that is when you truly realize a whole wide world is waiting for you. I’ve been seeking for these moments for a while now and I wanna make sure to be there a 100% when they happen. I got lucky, I guess, since they happened every day of the training.

            It was a collision of worlds. Poland and all the nations represented by volunteers. EVS and the different hosting organizations. The world of Agrykola, football, beer, Pokémon and volunteering in general. We’ve got to learn about politics, religion and history, culture and eating habits, accents and language barriers. We met weird people, smart people, shy people, happy people. One week, guys, and we learnt about the world.

So, I need 

Every opportunity that makes me forget that time is passing and I’m worried about the future. Every opportunity that puts me in the “now”. All the fun and excitement, all the enthusiasm and spirit of our group is what I need.

Oh, and this grants me stuff to request, right? Well, listen up, because this is a message out there: let’s do it again.