The Spirit of Europe

Hungary, Portugal, France, Austria, Spain, Basque, Poland, Germany and Italy. When nine people from different european countries sit around a table, it's either a small political conference, or a happy gathering of European Solidarity Corps volunteers.

Last weekend we visited our colleagues in Cingoli. They are ESC volunteers with the Italian Red Cross and Vicolocorto is also responsible for their project. Until now, we only knew each other from stories of our common mentor Giulia and a small online competition about the Eurovision Songcontest. That's why we were very happy to finally meet in person.

A joint city walk through the beautiful Cingoli (it absolutely deserves the name "Balcone delle Marche"!), the obligatory stop at the ice cream parlour, dinner at the pizzeria and card games until late at night. Little by little, we got to know each other better: Nine young people from nine countries with different ages, languages, backgrounds, interests and plans. Looking at it this way, isn't it amazing and great?😊

Finally, we went for a little hike the next day. On white sheets in front of a breathtaking panorama, we had a picnic together and enjoyed the sun and life. And then our visit was already over.

Thank you guys, for the lovely weekend, your hospitality and good company 💙

For those whose projects end now: All the best for your future!

And to those who're staying a bit longer: Maybe see you soon!

Comments

Arrivederci, Jesi!

I can’t believe time has passed so quickly. It feels like yesterday that I arrived in Jesi and got a tour though the whole Caritas facility. But since then, six months have passed. This experience has been valuable to me in more than just one way and I will never forget the precious time that I spent here. It’s hard to put into words how much this project helped me grow personally and how much I learned while volunteering here. I’m so grateful for all of the people I got to meet during my stay in Jesi. My ESC project here gave me the opportunity to make friends from all over the world who shared a lot about their countries and cultures with me. Therefore, they made it possible for me to widen my horizons and it’s their fault that so many places got added to my travel list 😆 Of course, I also found a lot of new friends from this area who introduced me to Italian dinners (something I’ll certainly continue after coming back to Austria!) and who often planned trips to show me around the a...

Arrivederci, Louise!

After nine months of volunteering here at Caritas Jesi, Louise's project has come to an end. However, she wanted to say goodbye to you: It's strange to think that it's already over. As I write these lines, I'm already on the Flixbus, but I find it hard to believe that in a few hours I'll be in France! If I had to sum up my experience here in one word, I would say: encounters. I've learned a lot in 9 months: speaking a new language, opening up more to others, learning how to cook pasta properly 😅...but none of this would have been possible without the people I've met. Whether it was the other volunteers, the beneficiaries of Caritas, the people who follow us on our ESC journey, and above all the friendships I made along the way! Thanks to you, I decided to extend my experience, I gained confidence in myself and, sitting on this bus, I'm already thinking about when I'll come back to see you! So thank you very much, everyone, for everything, and welcom...

Cristina

Hi, my name is Cristina I'm 21 years old, I'm come from Spain and I am a recent graduate of social work. A few months ago, when I graduated, I was very happy but then I realized that I didn't know what to do with my life now, If I should continue studying or working. Then one day I saw a video of a girl who did the ESC volunteer program, and my eyes lit up. I already knew what I wanted to do this year! The next step was to choose what I wanted to volunteer about and in which country. I was clear that I wanted to do it focused on social work. And since I was little I had in mind going to live in Italy for a while, so this was the time to fulfill that dream. So it wasn't difficult for me to choose volunteering. I am very excited about this experience!

From Europe to Jesi

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