Hmmm what has been nice about April in Maribor?

It has got very warm. Which is slightly stressful for someone who burns very easily but it is also really nice, especially in the evenings when it is a little cooler and people are sitting outside the cafes and bars drinking and eating ice creams outside the ice cream shop below my flat.

At Infopeka I really enjoyed starting the English conversation class, I was surprised by how many people came, and it least to me it seemed like everyone was having fun, lots of laughing. Rafa has also started teaching us Portuguese which is cool, maybe I will leave Slovenia a Portuguese speaker?? And now it is warmer it has been nice to be able to play more games outside with Brezmejni svet, we had a great game of football in the park!

At the end of the month me, Rafa, Jesus and Lea went on a road trip to Bosnia and Montenegro. The trip was really exciting for me! Bosnia is a really beautiful country with lots of lakes and waterfalls, we had a couple of very very cold swims. I would really like to go back to Sarajevo, we were only there for one night but it definitely made a very good impression on us. All the people that we met were warm and friendly and we went on a really good walking tour by someone from Sarajevo, who told us about the war and how politics is in Bosnia today. It was lovely to swim in the sea in Montenegro, so warm! I could have swam for ever. Other than Rafa getting stopped by the Bosnian police for speeding, the trip went very smoothly!

Esme

A fantastic trip that definitely I would like to repeat ...

This month has been fantastic, finally the warmest days have arrived, sometimes too warm. It has been really amazing to see the city of Maribor recover the green colour and watch the plants grow again.

This month has been full of new things to do and learn, a workshop on 3D printing and cutting and printing on wood which I really liked, the first Portuguese class of Rafa and his travel log on Lisbon about gentrification. Without forgetting that at the beginning of the month we had the "Day of Change" event in which we arranged and decorated with other organisations some of the problems that the Park and the Pekarna area had.

And what better way to end a month than with a car trip through the Balkans. A trip in which I discovered incredible places and parts of the history of the countries we visited (Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro) as well as connecting more with Esme, Rafa and Lea, those who accompanied me on the trip. A fantastic trip that definitely I would like to repeat.

I hope, and I know, that the months that lie ahead in this volunteering are going to be even better than this one.

Jesus

EVS Experience in Maribor – April

1st of April: Vse najboljše za me. I started this gorgeous month turning 25. It is not my first birthday abroad, but this year it was completely different, fantastic but different, somehow. I spent the day in Ljubljana surrounded by great people, mostly EVS volunteers or better saying, EVS friends.

As I always write in my blog, I am amazed how fast time goes and flies. Almost three months have passed since I arrived to Slovenia and it seems it was yesterday when I met my lovely Nataša at the bus station for the first time.

I am truly enjoying this beautiful country and this small but cozy city. Summer is around the corner and I can feel it: crowed city, green everywhere, sun, hot days and happiness everywhere. Buuuut, there is one thing I would like to point out. Before the good weather, you have to survive winter, which is a good challenge) and then you have to suffer what I called “Slovenian winterspringsummer” that consists in a day like that: cold, a bit of sun, let's rain for a while, cold again, why not windy for some minutes, short heatwave, then sunny but nippy. It is fantastic, isn’t it? I love strolling up in this city! I love the work we do, I love the atmosphere in the office! I am learning and growing up personally and professionally. I am getting confident with everyone at Infopeka and I feel, somehow, at home. There is one thing left: my bike (but coming soon, I hope).

 

In April, I really loved the LGBT+ workshops in the schools and the welcoming people we met there. They were willing to learn from us and also opening to teach us new things. Other day I remember with special caress is the thousands of Albanian and Kosovar flags I drew for the Brezmenji Svet children, I loved it! I also enjoyed GALA ZIZ and Day of Change, it was very funny!

During this month, a lot of things happened. I will always remember Esme’s insomnia and all the nights she came to sleep to mine, I like her very much! And what to say about Jesús? I like him, I really do. He is sweet, calm, a great musician and he loves missing Prevozi. PD: I am still waiting for my portrait. It was also great to meet again and spend a weekend with my friend Katka in Ljubljana. In the end of the month we are traveling to Bosnia and Montenegro, it is like make a dream come true for a geographer like me. Komaj čakam! In this month, I also I have to say PARABÉNS to Nataša!
I am enjoying a lot the Slovene course at University and I feel like a child when I can understand or say something else in this beautiful and extraordinary local language! Great things are coming, a lot of ideas are flying around and I have good company. I couldn’t ask for more!

Hvala lepa, Slovenija. Rafa

March!

Zdravo! Sorry that my update on March is a wee bit late! I had 3 highlights… firstly, International Women’s Day!!...we learnt about socialist feminism and criticised liberal feminism, we sang (quite badly) and performed speeches in Glawni Try and watched EMA for a second time, maybe understanding slightly more Slovenian than the first time. For me this was a really exciting way to start the month, and maybe my highlight! It felt good to be making our opinions heard and although our singing was apparently bad I had a great time learning and performing Nabrusimo Kose, A Las Barricadas and Puntarska.

Secondly, the Theatre of the Oppressed workshop. This was a totally new experience for me and not something that I had ever imagined doing. I was kind of nervous at the start but was surprised by how comfortable I felt by the end. It was really nice the way we got on as a group and it was cool to express and discuss politics in this way.

My final highlight was of course meeting Tilli! Words cannot describe what a wonderful dog she is!

Esme 

... every day that passes this country I like it more ...

Every day that passes this country I like it more, not only the country, also the people that I have met here and the work in Pekarna, that I love. I also had the opportunity to visit one of the countries that surround it, Croatia. The time I spent there, in Zagreb, was fantastic and I also had the opportunity to see some of the people that we met at the arrival training in Koper during the first month of volunteering.

What surprised me the most this month is that I have learned that I can enjoy things that I would never have thought of doing it when I was in Spain, like participating in a choir in the middle of a square, (even if im a terrible singer) to have fun helping the children in Brezmejni Svet or Pekarna DOBIŠ DAŠ and give a talk about my city in Infopeka, which helped me a bit to end the shame that sometimes gives public speaking.

I hope that the following months dont go as fast as these two went, although I think that now that the good weather begins and I start to enjoy the city it will be difficult.

Jesus