Busy and "sexy" times!

Here Friday came..and another week has almost come to an end..

Yesterday has been a very busy day! I prepared the folders for the Conference for every participant. I put in the Conference's programme, one Coventry's map, some leaflets about MoE, the list and description of restaurants where we are going to have our dinners at, and so on!

Actually I am very happy with those folders as they look really really nice! Sanil had a brilliant idea, he suggested to me to print a cover for each folder so that every participant has their personal folder, with their names on the top!

The cover looks very sexy (another funny word which is very common here in England..or maybe only at MoE!!) as there is the Conference's logo on the top in the middle, then on the left side the logos of the partner organizations with MoE and finally, at the bottom of the paper, a box with the participant's name and Education and Culture's Agency and YiA logos!

I think I will upload a picture of it later, so everything will be clear enough!

Moreover, at 2.30 pm I had an appointment at the Corporate Training Centre at Elm Bank, Coventry of course, where MoE made a reservation for a room where we will have our Conference. Jarek asked me to go and check the place and talk with the organizer so I went.

It was very interesting!! The place looked really good; our room is quite small, but we are not a lot of people so it will be perfect! The tables are very big so everybody will be very comfortable for sure and there is also a huge and modern projector.

Then the lady in charge of arranging the room and the meals, Nancy, took me to the restaurant where our guests will have their breakfast in the morning and where everybody will have lunch. Again it seemed to me very nice and cosy!

I really liked to go there, it was very interesting, Nancy was very helpful and kind and I felt like I had some responsibilities in that (although I told her that it's Jarek the one who will have the last word about the placement for tables and chairs!).

On the way back from Elm Bank, I stopped in the city centre as I wanted to check out if I could find a little present for a couple of friends but unfortunately there was nothing interesting and worth to buy..:-(

So I came back to MoE office and I finish what I missed. All in all I went back home around 7.30 pm but just for an hour as at 8.30 we had planned to go to the cinema to watch the preview of Indiana Jones!

Honestly that kind of movies is not my favourite, even though I like adventure and action movies, cuz they are more likely science fiction sometimes.

As I expected Indiana Jones was full of special effects, people were fighting all the times and nobody got hit or wounded almost never!! But I really enjoyed the time at the cinema anyhow!

We were five of us: Sanil, Mark, Cyprian, Max and I. We bought something to eat (something I don't usually do in Italy, but whenever I am abroad I easily get used to the most typical habits of the country where I am or of the pepole whom I am staying with!!!) and took a comfortable sit and then enjoyed Professor Jones' new adventure!

Moving to today..I am very sad!!!!! Max will leave tomorrow morning..actually I could say tonight as he is taking the bus for Heathrow Airport at 3.30 am..

He is leaving to go back for a couple of months to Poland as he is working on his final dissertation for PhD and he has some work in Poland..

I feel really sad cuz I love "working" with him! I put the word working in quotation marks as we have not been really working together in these weeks as I was helping Jarek and he was doing his own job, but, what I was meaning is that it was nice to be working in the same place! having him around, talking also some Italian sometimes!!!

So it's not a very good day today..:-(

Anyway I must last the weekend and then finally Andrijana and Jarek will arrive, the Conference will take place and I am sure I will have once again a good time! ;-)

But..but..my post today isn't done yet cuz..cuz..there's another amazing news!!!!

Soon after the end of the Conference I am leaving for Lithuania for a few days!!! I am very excited!! I was really looking forward to going and visiting Baltic countries and I didn't expect I would have had the chance right at the end of my voluntary experience here in Coventry!

Finally back from Lithuania I will fly to Italy hoping that Croatia will send me good news in the meantime.. ;-)

Working on the Conference..and eating!

Second week at MoE.

Yesterday the second week at Moe started and actually half of my staying here has almost already gone. Next week the Conference about European Citizenship will take place and then my experience in Coventry will be done..so next week will be the last :-(

I am still working with Jarek on the Conference I mentioned thousand times! I am now waiting for the last confirmations then I will print the names of all the participants and prepare the tags for everybody!

I also have to call three restaurants to make reservations..it sounds lovely!! (This is a typical English expression..I think it's so funny! Lovely! anyhow..)

We will be eating in three different places where we will have the chance to taste very different kinds of food.

We are supposed to go to Nando's which is Portuguese, Weatherspoon's which is English and finally to MYO which is Asian.

I have already been to the last one here in Coventry that Friday evening I came to England just for a few hours before I left for Macedonia..It was amazing!

I was really tired and starving as I was travelling since 8 o'clock in the morning and eating just a few things like fruit or bread, so when Max came at the bus station to pick me up and take me to the restaurant where everybody from MoE was, I got a very "delicious and tasting" surprise!!!

I cannot say I love Asian food as most of the times it's very hot and spicy. But sometimes it's really interesting to taste things you don't know at all or you cannot have very often as you don't know how to cook them or there are no places where to find them..

For example yesterday for lunch I ate Indian as Sanil decided to cook for Max and I. He cooked a delicious dish. It was made out of vegetables such as mashrooms, peppers, tomatoes, onions and something else I guess, altogether with eggs and lots of spices!!

If my Mum read what I have just written she would call me to ask me if I am fine or I am on drugs cuz I really hate onions usually and I don't even like very much eggs!! But, as people can easily understand, why not trying if it is cooked by a real Indian man?!! And actually I really loved it!! I couldn't eat something like that every day as my stomach would be burnt but..every once in a while!!!

Moving to more serious things then food :-D, I am very looking forward for the Conference to happening. On Thursday I am also supposed to go to the place where we will have the workshops and lunches to check the rooms as Jarek will not be able to come to Coventry as he is busy in London..so I will go on his behalf! :-P

Working at MoE..

Sixth day in Coventry.

It's been almost a week since I moved to UK.

After a very quiet weekend during which I tried to recharge myself (as I had been awake for several hours on my way back from Macedonia..let's say 2 days in a row again!), Monday came and I started enjoying MoE!

First of all..where am I staying at the moment? I am living with two nice young men, Cyprian from Kenya, and Mark from a lovely place not too far from Coventry whose name I cannot remember..actually I could try but I think I would be wrong with its spelling so..never mind, I will ask him later!

Cyprian is a student of Maths at Coventry University and he's having his last exam for this academic year right tomorrow; Mark is employed at MoE, he deals with interreligious dialogue since he has studied something I found really interesting: theology!

I have already asked him something about his studies as I think they are really really interesting. I do think so as I am having the chance, whenever I join a TC, to get to know people who have different religious belief and little by little I am discovering some aspects related to other religions I didn't expect! Like when I got to know my room-mate from Kosovo at my first TC in Stip..she is muslim and thanks to her I got a very instructive insight on her religion.

Moreover, we are sharing a flat, everybody has their own single room and then we share kitchen, living room and bathroom.

Asha House (that's how everybody calls it here) is just next door with MoE office so..I can get up calm and quiet every morning since I do not have to hurry cuz of the traffic or anything else!

In the office there are several people working..the ones whom I am mainly in touch with are Kath, who deals with administrative and financial issues of the organization and Sanil, who is just next to me in the office and deals with some local and international projects for MoE.

My role at the moment is to help Jarek and Max with their projects, so for instance, I am following the confirmations for the participation at the "Europe for Citizens" Conference due at the end of the month here in Coventry, or taking care of the evaluations about a PBA held in Armenia last month.

I like being here, I am experiencing something totally different from Croatia. This is a real office while at Cnc I was in a Youth Club.

Whenever I stop and I start reflecting about these last months, actually since I left Italy and all these experiences I have been doing, I am so glad I am having such a great chance to get to know so many things! And even though we have been quite unlucky with our EVS, I feel it's ok like this as..who thought I would have had the possibility to spend a month in England while I was volunteering in Croatia??? and what about the beautiful and so useful TCs I participated in in Stip?!!

Whatever happens from now further I think it won't be more surprising than what has already occured! Anyway there's always something interesting to learn, anywhere at anytime! That's my philosophy! ;-)

And that's why I have not given up yet! ;-)

Of course I must thank some people..first of all my trainers from my first TC in Stip, Andrijana let me participated once again to her training; Max and Jarek who helped me at the beginning and also right now while I am staying in Coventry; in general lots of people I got to know in these months as I had many deep talks with some new friends, which gave me enough obstinacy to go on even though I was facing lots of problems with my EVS..and of course the person who is actually responsible for all our "EVS troubles"!! Honestly I am not truly thank him as he has put our motivation very low, but at the same time because of that I found some alternatives and I got other chances..so all in all..a little and different "thanks" to him too!! ;-)

Today it's cloudy, but it's the first time since I have been in England..I also got some tan on Sunday!

What else would I ask for? There's also a nice weather in the most rainy country of Europe!!!

I am only waiting for Andrijana to join me in Coventry and then the cherry will be on the top of the cake!!! :-P

II TC in Stip..report from Coventry

I am officially in England! To be more precise I am writing from Coventry where MoE has its main office.

After a beautiful week spent once again in Stip, Macedonia for a TC, I have set in Coventry in order to help Jarek, one of my trainers I got to know at the first TC I have been to in Stip, in organizing a Conference about European Citizenship which is taking place in Coventry at the end of the month.

So..I will try to explain what happened as much clearly as I can..

After my documents from Italy arrived in Osijek I sent them to Brussels and then I was ready to leave for Macedonia, in order to join a training about Intercultural learning.

First I left Osijek to reach Zagreb where I took a flight for London..it sounds quite funny but I spent only Friday night in Coventry to meet Max, another of my trainers, get to know some people whom I would work with back from Macedonia and then, at 3.30 am on Saturday I went back to London to take another flight for Skopje!

Finally, after 2 days around Europe, I reached Stip and a beautiful week working on intercultural learning started!

At first I was a little bit worried cuz people looked quite shy and unexperienced but after a couple of days, even though the group was not like the one I found in April, we started having a very good time!

It's been an interesting chance to debunk some stereotypes..for example I got to know two interesting guys from Lithuania..we in Italy usually have the stereotype for people from the northern countries to be very cold and detached..but they weren't! I really had a great time with them and I felt like being with some of my closest Italian friends!

But the best thing in Stip, what really made the TC different was my favourite trainer ever..Max!!!! he is such a great person! he is from Poland but works and study in England. I got to know him last time I was in Macedonia and we soon got along very well! I have already talked about him some posts ago, but I cannot avoid adding some other nice things!

It was him who helped me in finding this place while I am waiting for my new resident permit for Croatia, so that I won't waste my time in Italy but I will have the chance to see how MoE works, to experience life in Coventry and help Jarek with this interesting Conference about Europe for Citizens.

So..thank you very much Max!!!!

As regards the training on a whole, as I said at the beginning, even though people were less creative and active than at the previous TC, we had interesting activities.

Starting from the Intercultural evening as usual, where anybody has the chance to get to know some unknown aspects of any country which participates in the TC but above all to taste some food! And this time I was representing Italy with some sopressa and grana cheese from Padova!

It was really nice! Although my table was still poor compared to others I was happy to have taken with me something from Italy..just in case I thought..and it worked!!!

Moreover moving to the real activities related with our TC , I really enjoyed once again going around Stip in order to fulfill some tasks while getting to know the town and its population, or when we did an interesting game called "Step forward".

In this game we got a small piece of paper where it was written who we were (for instance I was an homosexual teacher who was teaching in a Primary School). We were altogether standing in a line and we had to make a "step forward" whenever we could answer "yes" to some questions our facilitators made to us. In this way we had the chance both to experience how other people feel in our society, cuz of some formal and informal rules, prejudices and stereotypes, and also discuss this experience in two small groups at the end of the game.

I really liked it!

So all in all I had a good time. I always love to participate to this kind of activities cuz it's a way to study and get information about topics and problems we face in our life and in our society at the present time and also cuz it's a fantastic way to get to know new people and their cultures! And, believe me, it's never enough! I have been only to 4 TC and everytime they were different from one another.

I also do like to participate as I would like to become a trainer in the future..I think it's a role which could be suitable for me! (Even though when we had the chance to organize our own workshop in small groups we were quite ridiculous..ops! ok, ok, I still have a lot and a lot to learn!!!).

How things can change so suddenly...

It's been a week and something more since I came back from Padova to Osijek..
I was very happy and full of energy as I had traveled with a friend of mine who stayed at me for some days, then I knew that in a few days I was meeting Magdalena and Madara in Belgrade to take a flight for Albania and go to a TC..so all in all, I was very enthusiastic despite of our problems with the resident permit!

But as soon as I went to Cnc I got very bad news again! The resident permit was not enough maybe..Danijela informed me that Bruxelles had never received my part III and project agreement so..they still didn't know who I was!!!
great, fantastic! I was really going to cry..
Thanks to somebody's lack of responsibility I couldn't join the TC in Albania cuz I had to wait in Osijek for those documents from Italy in order to sign and send them to Bruxelles.

I am having really horrible days..a lot of stress cuz we have to wait for the Embassies to give us the new resident permit, I am still worried about my position as EVS for Bruxelles and also we don't know if we can stay in the house where we have been living since the beginning cuz the owner's old parents are moving back there..

So the situation right now is as follows: Madara and Magdalena are still in Albania..they are leaving tomorrow very early in the morning; then Madara will fly back to Latvia and Magdalena will probably go home to Austria, even though she wanted to find another solution while waiting for being allowed to come back to Osijek.
At first we thought to go to Bulgaria for a sort of join project in partnership with Cnc, but then I found another chance for myself so Magdalena was not sure with going to Bulgaria anymore.
Finally as regard myself, I succeeded in having a place for May in another partner organization with Cnc in London!
As soon as I realized we were going to stay away from Croatia for the whole May I tried to find another option instead of going back to Italy so I asked Danijela if I could apply for going to work with that organization in order to get to know something more about youth works and especially minorities, as it's the main topic people deal with in that organization (MoE - Minorities of Europe). She said ok and luckily in MoE they accepted me so..in three days I am leaving for London!!!

I hope I won't have any other bad news for the next three months at least..I cannot bear them anymore!!!

I also hope everything will be ok cuz we were so motivated with this project and now our feelings and mood are so low..

Anyway I want to be positive once again (although it's such a difficult role to play right now) and enjoy the next experiences I am going to have!

still waiting..

I am still at home..nothing new about our resident permit..
I am really anxious to know if Brussels succeded in contacting Croatian Embassies and Consolate in our countries so that they will understand the situation..


We want to come back and finish our EVS!!!

At the moment Magdalena is in Serbia, Fruska Gora, for a TC. Next week Madara and I will go to Belgrade and altogether we will fly to Tirana for another TC due in Durres..
I cannot wait for that, as I have very good memories of my last TC in Stip! But I really hope we will get to know something about our future..after Albania..what next if we cannot still enter Croatia?!

Training in Stip: what we have done

On 3rd April, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the TC about "Minorities, Integration, Inclusion - Promoting Minority Youth Empowerment in Europe" started.

As usual, the first day was mainly focused on those activities which allow participants to get to know each other and to create the right confidence to share experiences and reflections.

We made some games I had already done in Sarajevo at the on-arrival training for EVS.

One of my favourites is the one where you put all the chairs in two circles, one in the middle and the other one around the first. The chairs look at each other and every people have the chance to talk to one of the participants for a couple of minutes about a specific topic which has been decided by the trainers.

Then everybody must change sit, moving at his/her left or right side, so that everybody meets someone else. In this way you can learn something about almost everybody and it can be the right input to get curious about someone and to get to know him/her better later on, at the coffee break for example!

In the afternoon we went around the city for a sort of "treasure hunt", we were divided into groups and we had to fulfill some tasks..like to take a picture with 6 Macedonians or to do something helpful for the local community!!!

After dinner we had the Intercultural Evening, we presented our countries thanks to some traditional drinks and food.

As I was representing the CnC, I had to present Croatia!! But unluckily I didn't have a lot for people to taste since part of the food and materials remained in Magdalena's luggage when we left at the bus station..

:-(

But never mind! There was so much food (and drinks!) that people didn't miss too much the Croatian one I bet!

The next days we had the NGO fair, where we presented our organization..I was happy with my presentation of Cnc..I wrote a nice flipchart about it and then I explained everything!

Of course during the second day the real activities started! We had a PPP on migration, then some social works, other PPPs, workshops, swapping cultures initiative as a mean of social inclusion and finally projects development.

The presentation I liked more was the one about Macedonia and its minorities as it's been very clear and I had the chance to get an insight in that issue. For instance, I really didn't know about the tough and critic issue Macedonians had with Albanians..it was very interesting. We also watched a Macedonian movie in the night about that, called "Before the rain". It was quite cruel but I liked it cuz we could see how people lived in the countryside, how much they feel the differences between Muslims and Orthodoxes, and so on.

I would like to describe the whole TC in details but I really guess it's going to be too much for the readers so I think to move to the emotional side of it!

Once again this experience gave me the opportunity to get to know interesting people..but it's not only about it! I really felt the group was great! we got close to each other very easily and very quickly! It was in a way similar to the atmosphere at the CMS (and definitely the opposite of the on-arrival training in Sarajevo..) but as long as the group was even more omogeneous I felt the harmony was even stronger!

We spent lots of time (out of the TC hours) talking about our experiences in the youth field, for example I got to know an ex volunteer from Turkey, who participated in the EVS in Portugal..we shared our feelings about it and I really appreciated his advice!

I had a great time, I cannot find the right words to explain that (this is the limit of English..as it's not my mother tongue of course!)

I also met two guys form Sardinia..at first I wasn't very excited..it's always risky to meet other Italians abroad..so many times it happened that I found they were very spoiled and posh..

But this time I got a nice surprise..actually the surprise was for both sides! Mine and theirs..as they had the same fear about me!

We spent a great time together, at the traditional dinner and the night after!

I want to mention also the trainers..Andrijana from Macedonia and two crazy Polish guys from England..Max and Jarek! well done everybody!
Thanks for these beautiful days and thanks for all those funny, useful, interesting activities we did altogether!