After a week away, here we are again. The reason for my absence is none other than having been an entire week in a small mountain village called Lofou. And the reason for having spent a week in Lofou is none other than having been an active part of the art and music festival “Xarkis festival” that took place there. But before talking about my experience in the village, I will make a brief summary of what was the week before the festival.

The day after the beers with my good friend Nikos, I mean, on Thursday, I worked at the office in the morning. On the evening several members of YEU Cyprus, my organization, and volunteers met at the Eirinis Park. There we did several activities such as putting in common our idea of professionalism and responsibility at the time of working in group, or a rain of ideas on how face different events and activities before and during them same, this is what is the most efficient way to prepare a certain activity and how to act where some setback occurs during the same. This information collected will serve in future both for the volunteers and the Organization to carry out any work that arises. It will be our guideline.

On Friday I spent the morning with the guys from Caritas at their flat, since the office remained closed throughout the week due to lack of staff. Gosia, the head of Caritas in Nicosia is a machine, but she also has her limits. And by overload work and lack of staff she decided to close the office for a couple of weeks. So on Friday morning we were at the flat. A time to chat with them and to check that the coexistence was well, and the truth is that it doesn´t run very well. Half of them are from Indian origin and the other half of Arabic origin. If we also add that a total of thirteen people live at the appartment sharing tasks, you can make an idea of what that means. First I asked to one of the Indian guys if it was complying with the cleaning schedule and he explained to me that they did it, but that some of the tasks corresponding to any of the Arabic boys wasn´t being undertaken. Listened the first version, I went to listen to the version of one of the Arabic boys and he offered me the opposite version. So my reaction was to explain them that everyone has a different concept of cleaning, but that ultimately coexist all together, and if they don´t respect the shifts of cleaning and each other, may be difficult for coexistence. I don´t have any idea if my words will have served for something or not, I hope yes, although all know that Rome wasn´t built in a day.

In the afternoon, and after three weeks without touching a ball, I went to play basketball with Dimitris and Hara, partner and member of YEU. Same time and same place. There we met several friends to get some baskets and by the desire that I had playing that evening “I was on fire”. Good basketball afternoon. But the day didn´t end there. In the evening we had planned a dinner at home. My friend Manu from Seville and I spoke days back of cooking together and dinner in family. In the end the family grew up to sixteen people, so with volunteer pocket it wasn´t possible to invite so many people, we proposed that each one would provide something to help the cause. And it was a success. Pumpkin croquettes by Manu, tomatoes and zucchini stuffed by Gioia, Romanian soup by Raluca, baked pasta by the Italian girls, my scrambled eggs,… I think that nobody was hungry. After the dinner, put heading to “New Division” to finish the night in the best way possible.

On Saturday I had rest and prepared my luggage, because on Sunday I would put heading to Lofou. But before that, on Sunday morning, my friend Barbara and I went to the beach with my mentor Elli and his friend Simos to Sirena Bay, in the area of Paralimni. A quiet morning and refreshing in one of the many beaches that this island has. In the afternoon, back to the capital, Barbara and I finished preparing our luggage to leave to “the countryside”. Gioia and Benjamin would reach us on Monday in the morning. At 20:00 Alexis, one of the organizers of the festival, came home to pick us up and between one thing and another, we arrived Lofou around 23:00. First night to greet the already known members, to introduce us to the new ones and to rest.

On Monday early in the morning we started throwing a hand in what the organizers were asking us, given that until Wednesday we wouldn´t have specific tasks. This way, some of the tasks that we did were: to enable the rooms where later the workshops would be made, to prepare part of the set, to move furniture up and down… there was work for everybody. At the time of the meal the first mishap came. The cook in charge of cooking for the staff of the festival gave up in the last moment, therefore several volunteers had to take charge of the task. Fortunately, these girls managed good enough to cook during the whole week for about forty people. In the evening, a little bit of rest and to keep on helping in what was needed. Coming the night, time to relax in group and to know each other a bit better.

The next day, very early, there was scheduled a trip to a nearby farm to learn how to extract milk from the goats. Nektarios, musician at the festival and reporter for one of the workshops put the car, and the priest of the village was commissioned to take us to the farm. In total there were six of us in the car, three of us and three more girls. After driving for about twenty minutes on roads that reminded me when I went to collet the harvest of almond by van with my grandfather Maximino (rest in peace), we arrived at the farm. But arriving at the small farm, it turned out that the pastor was sleeping, so it wasn´t any choice for us but to return to the village. In the road coming back, we stopped in several spots to enjoy of the nature of the place and of the flora and trash that there was in there, product of campers not very aware with the environment. The pastor, after the unsuccessful excursion, very kindly invited us to have breakfast at home, without the goat’s milk, but with other good food for the day that awaited us, accompanied of course by a good frappé. After the breakfast, we continued with more work in the morning and in the afternoon, in our free time,  I attended my first workshop. This was taught by Nektarios and it was about technology and music. Interesting information at some points which will help us in the future to edit audio and video files. After the workshop, more collaboration with the organizers, but without doing something exhausting. In the night, after the dinner, can you guess who entertained the night with his guitar? Nektarios! Very good guitar player no doubt.

On Wednesday early in the morning there was another excursion to a nearby monastery, but this time preferred to rest. The previous day it was very busy and I ended up dead. The morning started like the previous, quiet but non stop doing things. Workshops continued their rhythm, and in the village still this characteristic of rural tranquility was breathed. After eating, Katerina, also voluntary of the festival, asked me if I could cook vegetable paella on Thursday evening. She was one of the volunteers who took the reins of the kitchen when we knew of the absence of the official cook. The menu of the week was based in a vegan diet, and although the cook didn´t come finally, Katerina and others volunteers cooked in that line. She asked me to cooked because that night she was going to be absent, by what I said yes. It didn´t sound very resounding at the beginning my confirmation, given that neither the tools nor the ingredients were the most appropriate. I already knew what I was going to cook wasnt a proper paella because of the reasons I said before, but I could cook something. The afternoon and the night passed as the previous, helping in the afternoon to Valentin, the general technic in charge among other things of mounting the areas of shadow in the camping and gathering us after the dinner in the hostel.

In the morning on Thursday was a reflection of the previous, and after lunch I took a relaxing time because I would cook in the evening. At 18:00 I was waiting for the boys in charge of making the purchase to arrive with the ingredients to start to cook, but the time passed and until 20:00 didn´t arrive with the purchase. When we began to take food out of the bags for cooking, instead of buying rice for paella, they brought a kind of pasta in grain called “krisaraki”. At that time I was sure that we wouldn´t had dinner vegetable paella. We began to cook the pasta, to chop vegetables and fry them. Around 22:00 the dinner was ready. The menu was finally “krisaraki with vegetables” and we had to feed a regiment. Thus, on Friday we already had prepared the meal. After dinner, the majority of the group we went up to the school, in the highest part of the village to chat, drink and gaze at the stars. In places like that you realize the light pollution that there are in the big cities and not so big ones. Gaze at the stars that way was great.

At the beginning of the weekend, already beginning to notice the arrival of more people at the village, although not so much as expected, and last-minute details and the rush by leaving it ready kept us all without stopping until dinner time. After dinner came the time to enjoy. School square was enabled for the concerts, and the stage was located just in front of the facade of the school. Several groups played, among them the Greek group “BAiLdSA” and we enjoyed a great night of dancing and drinking. The concert ended at 2:00 and I went to rest, that on Saturday we would still keep busy.

The next day, we started at 9:00 in the morning. More preparations and more movement of people from one side to another. Some people attending to the workshops, other helping for the correct operation of the same. After eating, I stayed in one of the workshops as assistant of the reporter, for which all proceed normally. And in the evening I had to work at the entrance to the concert venue (where the school), although I was lucky to be in the first round from 20:00 to 22:00, given that the concerts didn´t begin until practically that time. About twenty minutes later, arrived directly from Nicosia our friends Manué, Benjamin, Ángeles and her friend Maria to enjoy with us the concerts. Good music in charge of “Afriquoi” and good atmosphere along with some whiskies was the perfect combination for a perfect night. The pity was that not many people came to the concert in particular and to the festival in general. Perhaps by the distance between the city and the village, perhaps by the date that was organized.

On Sunday, the last day of the festival, was the day that more people came to the village. Latest workshops and activities were conducted in the morning and the early afternoon. From 18:00 a group of girls sang a series of traditional songs at the town square, and then came two Turkish Cypriot gentlemen playing the first a kind of drum by both sides and the second a sort of traditional wind instrument from here. Among these men and other groups with typical instruments from the island made dance to everyone Greek, Cypriot and Turkish dances, me included. Good way to close the festival. Just before I go to sleep, I said goodbye to most of the people I met there (Anthoula, Anastasia, Angie, Paris, Athos,…) and who I shared an incredible week with. I´m sure that we will see them in Nicosia.

On Monday, Rafaella, Barbara and I returned to the city, with desire of getting home, resting correctly and putting a couple of washing machines. By the afternoon I could do all this calmly. Nothing better than relax to recharge batteries and start the new week.

See you next week! Yasas!