Hello hello!
Time to tell you a bit more about my fourth month in Slovenia!
January was a bit slow for me. First, coming back from Belgium was more complicated than I thought as I really felt weird to be alone again in this country after seeing some of my friends and family. It made me ask myself a lot of questions about the project and this experience.
The first weekend we were back, we decided to do a small trip to Škocjan caves, because we were still a bit tired by our way back from Belgium. We met with a volunteer from Koper, took the bus to Divača and then walked to the caves. We waited there, in the cold, for the next visit (until my fingers got this stupid syndrome where they turn completely white). Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the caves, with or without flash, which was kind of a pity because it was really impressive. At some point into the caves, when you arrive in the biggest chamber, they turn off the light and you find yourself in the complete darkness. You can completely understand what the people who discovered this cave felt when they arrived here, hearing the sound of the river below.
Next week, without overthinking, I booked a flight to go and see my sister in Spain 5 days later. This was basically my first time travelling completely alone from start to finish. It was such a nice small break and I would recommend to not think too much when you have opportunities like this!
This month, I also attended a training to be an artistic swimming judge. I joined a club in Koper (as I was doing this sport in Belgium) and the coach asked me if I’d like to judge the championship. I’m trying to say YES to many things as I can and enjoy this time here in Slovenia to try new things. So I followed 3 times 2 hours of training, learned the theory and all the marking scales. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be because you really need to put attention to a lot of elements and to be as precise as possible. I spent one whole Sunday at the swimming pool, judging for my first time this sport! I was a bit stressed at the beginning because of course, I wanted to be fair and give good points.
This same weekend, I went back to Strunjan, as it was really sunny and the view over the Alps was incredible. I enjoyed this small hike and then went for a coffee alone. That was one of my goal: going alone in a café. So I’m happy I finally did it!
Last week of January, me and Anne went to the highschool to present the European Solidarity Corps. We prepared an escape game, as a fun way of learning and then talked a little bit about our experiences here in Slovenia.
Another of my goal was to hike in the snow before it’s gone. I really wanted to see a white Lake Jasna so guess what? That’s what I did for the last weekend of January. With 3 other volunteers, we did a hike in the snow there, constantly amazed by the landscapes and the view over the mountains, stopping every 2 minutes to take pictures.
Also, it’s a bit random, but now that the weather is getting longer again, I can sometimes go and watch the sunset (I missed that!), which is something I never get bored of.
And then, it was already my mid-term training but I’ll wait next month to tell you more about it…