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

EVS Experience in Maribor (Slovenia) – March 2018

It is incredible how fast time goes. Almost two months have passed since I arrived to Slovenia.

I am truly enjoying this beautiful country and this small but cozy city. Now, I can say that my EVS is ongoing and I feel it is already amazing. One month ago, I confessed that I was a bit scared of everything that was going on in my new life in Slovenia: new people, new challenges, a lot of ideas and new projects..., but nowadays, I feel much more happy and sure that this project really fits me and that I will make the best of this experience. And then, what to say about Pekarna? I JUST LOVE IT. Each day in the office is great and there is always a perfect excuse to learn something new and to share with them our feelings and ideas. We always receive smiles and love from them. We are already busy. This organization is a non-stop World Changing Machine. In March, 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 8th of March. We went out to the streets of Maribor to shout women’s rights and to sing beautiful songs. My first time singing in a chorus and in Slovene. It was fantastic!

During this month, a lot happened. I will always remember the day Esme and I tried to do hick hiking to go to Ljubljana. It was a total fail: rainy, cold and windy day. People couldn’t see our wet banner and they just splashed water on us with the cars. But, as Slovene say, to je življenje. We laughed a lot, it was hilarious. We also made a trip to the beautiful Zagreb, the Croatian capital city. It was my second time there, but in this occasion was different. In august 2017 I had the opportunity to see the city in summer and now I saw the beauty of cold and snowy winter. I went with the others EVS volunteers. I really like spending time with them. I was also great to meet again and spend a weekend with my friend Katka in Ljubljana. It had been a long time since we met for the last time, I really missed her!

    

We started a Slovene course at University. I am super excited about it! I am very glad that some people are starting speaking with us in Slovene. It’s super KUL! The best thing ever is when you can understand (if you are veeeeery very lucky) 10% of what they are talking about. But I am sure we will make it in the upcoming months.

I am also very happy because we finally met Tili, Nataša’s puppy. She is the calmest and the sweetest dog I have ever met. And of course, she is one of our team!

Hvala lepa, Slovenija.

Rafa

My experience in Maribor

Dear Slovenia,

I still don't know many of your cities, and even less their names, and I still don't know a lot of places that I'm sure you have hidden from tourists (and some of those that you don't), but the little I know about you is charming me, from the cities that I've been, like Maribor, Ptuj, Koper or Ljubljana, to the people that I meet in them.
From Maribor I prefer the contrasts, modern, classic buildings and some old houses damaged by the passage of time make, at least for me, this a unique city. A place smaller than the city where I come from and still offers everything I never thought I could have in mine.

I hope we get to know each other more thoroughly in the coming months.

With love, Jesús.