Skip to main content

Italian roots

Ciao to everyone! 

My name is Max Figuerola, I am 18 years old and I arrived in Jesi on the 3rd of July 2023 to leave on the 31st of January 2024, I come from Tarragona a city in the south of Catalonia with a great past directly related to the Roman Empire, which I have been studying during the last two years of my high school, also my grandparents were from Naples so I have always had a great appreciation for Italy.

Now that you know who I am and where I come from I will give you a little introduction of why I am here, I do not come from a family of great resources so I have always been aware of the inequalities that exist in this world, That's why I wanted to start a volunteer project with the aim of being able to help and improve the lives of as many people as possible who are in an unfavourable situation, and when I turned 18 I saw this advert for volunteering for Caritas in Jesi, Ancona, so I took it as a sign that this project was the ideal one for me. Now I've been here for two weeks and I want to share with you what has been this wonderful experience (at least for the time I've been here), well, let's start with the first day; since I left my house to go to the airport of El Prat in Barcelona where I took the plane to Bologna (I have to say that it was the first time that I took a plane and that I was leaving the country alone so I was nervous, but I have always liked challenges so I went ahead) once landed in Bologna I have to confess that first I was a little bit lost, because I didn't understand 100% Italian even though I have a good command of it, because of the fact that I do have a good command of Catalan and Spanish which are two different languages, but in the end they share a mother tongue which is Latin, the same as Italian, and so even though I was lost at the beginning, I was able to orient myself by the similarities between the two languages; once in Bologna I took a train that was in the same airport and that left me inside the main train station, once there I managed with some difficulty to buy two tickets, one to Ancona (a journey of 3 hours) and one to change trains and go to Jesi (40 minutes), So I arrived in the afternoon where my tutor Margherita and my new flatmate, Simona, were waiting for me. Once there, we went by car to my new home and place of work during this experience, the Caritas headquarters.

During the first week Simona very kindly offered to introduce me to everyone and show me what jobs I would have to do regularly while I was here, among which were the Cucina (the kitchen along with the soup kitchen), the Magazzino Rivestiamo (which is basically a clothing warehouse where clothes are picked out if they are suitable for people), and the Rivestiamo Negozio (which is a shop with a points system for people in need of clothes). So, I finished my first week already knowing how everything works thanks to Simona; now I can't wait to see what the future holds for me and what new personal and professional insights I will learn during this new journey.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Volunteer Oct24, Río's first blog. Life before Jesi

Ciao, Hola and Hi! I’m Río Rojas Mayorga, one of the two volunteers here at Caritas Jesi in October 2024. I’m from Madrid, Spain, and in this first blog, I will share my life before volunteering and how I discovered the ESC. The next one should be about my life here. I would like to start by providing some context about how I got to know the ESC by talking about my life in Majadahonda, Madrid. After the quarantine, my family and I moved from Aluche (in south-central Madrid) to Majadahonda (on the western outskirts) due to financial struggles, which was a significant change for us. The first year felt lonely for my sister and me. During that time, I began studying in the afternoons at the youth centre near my home, where I searched about local volunteering opportunities and eventually discovered international volunteering. However, I was still under 18 and thought I had to prioritise my formal studies. Then, in November 2022, I met someone who transformed my life; it all began with a si...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 2024 highlights

🌟 Reflecting on May 🌟 After a great start in April and returning from a long trip to Naples and Rome we decided to enjoy a more relaxed side of Jesi. Here are some of the things we did in May.  On Arrival training May started with a 5 days training in Rome. This training was organized by the Italian National Agency. During this training, we shared our volunteering experiences with others from all over Europe who are currently doing their volunteering experiences in Italy. We learned about our duties and rights as volunteers. As well as other opportunities after this experience.  Exploring Rome Exploring Rome is a captivating journey through history, culture, and cuisine. As Italy's capital and one of the most historically rich cities in the world. Our first point of the trip was Colosseum meaning one of the most iconic structures in the world, the Colosseum is an ancient amphitheater that once hosted gladiatorial games and public spectacles. The next stop was Roman Forum. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volunteer Oct24. 3 months so far!

Ciao, Hola and Hi!  I’m Río Rojas Mayorga and it's been 3 months since I'm an ESC volunteer here in Caritas Jesina. Let me update you briefly about my experience! The arrival and first week in Caritas was a mix of emotions between the excitement to start and the confusion of all the new people and information we were bombarded with. At first we didn't have a schedule and it was a little bit messy but, I'm glad I shared so much time with my project partner; it was nice having someone in the same situation. First month Once the schedule was set, we had to adjust not only to the work but also to the people we shared the time with. As all the services are done with local people, at first it was difficult the communication as I had no words in Italian, but I was gladly surprised to find out my will of talking and sharing was lovely appreciated and corresponded, I found out the language barrier was a challenge but i wasn’t fighting it alone.  My birthday arrived eventually an...
Post a Comment
Read more