At the moment I’m writing those words, it’s the 3rd of October 2023. One year ago I was arriving in Lucija and meeting Martina, Alberto and then Clara.
I’m writing my last post today as a closure of a cycle full of good moments and nice people who have become my friends.
My last days in Slovenia were special as I was saying goodbye to all the people that I had left in the country. I wasn’t sad, and I think I was ready to go because “my job was done” and I knew this experience had an end. I thought I was in denial too, because when Clara left I didn’t cry that much, and she’s the person who has been with me for the whole year. During good and “not so good” moments. I couldn’t imagine a better person as a roommate, flatmate and colleague. Since the “rivalry” in cactus at the beginning of our volunteering, until our connection to make jokes (btw, Anka: that story related to tequila shots wasn’t true). I love you, my dear krompir Clara. The only thing that I didn’t miss from you once you left was the fact of not having to change the seat of the bike to my height. But yes, thank you for everything. For being a confidant, for trusting me (in the dark), for making me laugh with Inspector Gadget song, for your storytelling skills and for not getting angry with me when I was annoying you -on purpose- when you were reading. Really, thank you.
Also to Alberto and Ibon. I wish I could have played more basketball and ping pong with you, because I enjoyed it every time. And, Ibon, keep enjoying the experience and never forget that one day I will beat you at four in a row.
Related to games, after three weeks of relaxing in my hometown… I miss playing Jamb. Can you believe it? No, don’t believe it because it’s not true. This is especially for Barbara and Lada: I don’t miss Jamb hehehe. But it’s true that in my last weeks in EPI I had less energy to play Jamb, Cactus, Witches and Wizards (actually, those last two games because I was bored of rule nº1😛).
Moving on to another topic, in chapter 6 of my blog (the one of April) I mentioned that Clara and I had a secret plan related to TKZ. Well, it seemed that we didn’t achieve it, but we had an amazing mentor -and amazing colleagues- who did actually help us. If you go to TKZ, first say hi to Keni and then look up the portraits of Lucija News.
By the way, living in Lucija might be a bit stressful for a person who likes to do things outside, meet locals and have some friends which are not ESC. I’m going to say that, if you want to do things and meet people, you need to work for it. But it’s not impossible because Slovenians are nice people (at least in the seaside). Thanks to the kindness of people, I could have dinner with a Slovenian family after I spent a day picking olives, joining badminton and meeting more people there, having a friend who treated me due to my knee problem, and being known in the florist’s and bars like TKZ. Plus, being on the seaside of Slovenia means sea, sunsets in the horizon, views to Alps, countryside… Well, I guess that thanks to the coordinators of Škofja Loka and Nefiks for not choosing me as a volunteer 😀 Actually, another thanks to Nives for recommending EPI to me.
Talking about friends, I was happy that all of my ESC friends stayed until the end of summer (special mention to Apolline: I miss you and I didn’t forget you). After saying bye to Léa, Anna, Jan and Clara, I went to Skofja Loka to spend my last days and keep saying “se vidimo”. This “Loka gang” are amazing, and we have shared a lot during this year. Their warm hugs, Alix’s laugh, Renaldas’ voice saying “SMRT KAPITALISM”, Oliwka’s curious hands touching everything and Stepan’s face while he sticks out his tongue are some of the things which will will stay in my head for a long time. I know time is precious, and I appreciate that people waste it it with me 😀
And my people from the seaside… I love you all. I really appreciated that some of the youngsters of EPI decided to spend time with me. I didn’t go so many times to the Youth Club and the fact of not creating stronger relations with them is something that I would have loved to do. But I can’t do everything, as I can’t stay longer as an ESC.
If I had to enumerate more things I will miss, another one would be to spend time with the duo Julia-Ualid. I don’t know how many times they have made me laugh with their jokes.
want to say one more -and last- thanks to the people who made me feel at home: my EPI (ex)colleagues and my (ex)mentor. Working with them was easy -despite some problems hehe-, I had a blast every time we met after work, and I appreciate all the help they gave me. Thanks to them for giving me their hands with my babies, for teaching me new games, for having some conversations, for worrying about me and for making me happy. There are a lot of things I won’t forget, specially when I went windsurfing with Varja.
I wanted to volunteer in a Youth Center because I wanted to see if I could get on well with kids and teenagers, so then I could think about the possibility of being a Math teacher in Spain. Now, I left Slovenia with the conviction that I enjoy working with them. Although, during this year I discovered that I like more things, like Slovenia or non-formal education. It’s hard to choose my next step, but life is long and I’m sure I will be happy with my decisions.
I will finish my last post with a beautiful phrase: I left Piran with a bigger heart and with a body full of mosquito bites (yes, they came back. Like me?).
