The time was ticking until 1st of September, I was sitting at my room with no plan what to do after graduating from high school. The Covid-19 was pretty intensive at the moment, so I was strongly considering to push away the plans of my gap year and apply for the university. One day I have received an email which said something about volunteering in Italy. Me? A volunteer? I simply marked the email as read and never paid attention to it.
Oh, the irony, later I filled that form and got accepted for the long-term volunteering program. I had half of the week to pack my life into the luggage and catch the flight to Pesaro, Italy.
The siesta, the balconies and the pasta & pesto. That’s how I would describe my Italian lifestyle in three words. I consider myself very lucky because I had an opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the Europe. Only seeing the sun setting not to the Adriatic Sea reminded me that I am not at home. Discovering the hidden gems of Pesaro and Italy, meeting lots of new people, getting to know different cultures and creating memories were the part of my daily routine.
Of course, the life there was not only fun and games. We are were there for a reason. I worked in the artistic field. Because of the Covid-19, at some points my main project was closed, so I did plenty of different activities, like learning to count in Italian from the kids in the artistic summer camp, working at the national theater festival, participating in the discussions about cultural identities with the teenagers and much more.
I could say that those two weeks while being the part of the communication team in the festival were the best ones in whole volunteering service. First of all, the event took place in one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever been, Rossini Theater. With the team we were able to see all the performances and get to know Italian culture. Our main task there were to create the video diary and show the audience all the things that happened behind the scenes. The collaboration with the Italians helped us to overstep the language and cultural barriers. We have given the interview for the local TV and for me it was the most memorable moment of all. The work in the theater was like going to the celebration every day.
At the first glance, the life there was a fairytale. Don’t let me trick you. There have been some time management and communication problems. Sometimes we could get a message two hours before the meeting. Sometimes the meetings were canceled two minutes before the beginning of it. Sometimes there were no messages at all. All these problems were mostly because the things were changing rapidly of the Covid-19. At first it was difficult to be prepared for everything, but after some time fluyendo (to go with the flow) became everyone’s motto, even very organised and strict person like me had to adapt to it. Our organisation there did the best what was in their hands to control everything and I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities they have created for us.
I would be lying if I said that everything was nice and easy. In the beginning, it was strange to change the comfortable life to one from which you don’t know what to expect. Even though everyone was super supportive and nice, I missed myself a lot. At this point I understood what is so-called comfort zone, because I didn’t have one anymore.
I could say that this was the main lesson I have learnt during my volunteering program. Facing a lot of different people from various backgrounds helped me to understand and value mine more. In general, when you’re facing the foreign culture for the first time, you put yourself in a position when you think that only yours values, behaviour and understanding are only ones right. After living with people with 5 different cultural identities under the same roof I don’t think so anymore. So, confronting foreign cultures helped me to broaden my horizons.
To conclude, if you’re considering to take the decision like mine or not, don’t think so much, just do it. It is not as scary as you think. The household tasks are the same everywhere, the alarm clock is ringing the same, you also will be the same, even though you imagined that after this adventure you will came back as the different person. The truth is, the only thing that changes is your point of view to life. Yes, that’s true that the volunteering service is about the others, but in the end is mostly about getting to know yourself.
Urte was participating in European Solidarity Corps project “ESC in Marche II”, Sending Organisation: Innovation Office (Lithuania), Hosting Organisation: Merope – Associazione culturale di Promozione Sociale (Italy), Coordinating Organisation: Vicolocorto (Italy).
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Innovation Office: info@inovacijubiuras.lt.
